The Wall Street Journal's breathlessly reported series of scoops, which have come in drip, drip fashion since mid-September, are more remarkable for the total lack of interest they have generated outside the halls of, say, CNN than for the mark they are likely to leave on the tech company.
The Journal's latest report on the alleged scandal is a case study in the lengths to which the mainstream media, led by Murdoch's paper, has gone to dramatize, hype, and draw out the drama.
The report cited, among others, a Free Beacon report that broke the news that the Obama flack Bill Burton was orchestrating Haugen's public rollout and noted that Burton-not Haugen-was "Deeply integrated with an emerging infrastructure on the left comprised of individuals and organizations, including the nonprofit Center for Humane Technology, seeking to press Facebook to more aggressively police political content."
In a city overrun with political reporters hungry for any scrap of information that will advance the day's biggest stories, it is telling that it was left to the Free Beacon to shed light on Burton's role.
The Journal's report was the first we have heard of somebody called Josh Althouse, though the Journal insinuates that he was our handler.
The Journal made no mention of facts that would have undercut or complicated its narrative of a right-wing press in cahoots with Facebook-chiefly, that several mainstream outlets, including the New York Times and Politico, picked up on the Free Beacon's reporting precisely because it provided relevant political context to the larger story.
We're no fans of Big Tech-check out our reporting on the industry, including Facebook, here.
https://freebeacon.com/media/the-facebook-scandal-that-wasnt/
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