Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Why Newsrooms Haven't Published Iranileaks Documents

An alleged Iranian hacking operation that the Donald Trump campaign says leaked internal documents to reporters has run into a surprising problem: So far, newsrooms have been reluctant to run with the material.

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Over the past few weeks, reporters at Politico, The Washington Post and the New York Times received emails from a mysterious figure who called himself "Robert," offering internal Trump campaign documents, most notably a 271-page one listing JD Vance's potential vulnerabilities as a running mate, apparently compiled well before Trump picked the Republican senator from Ohio.

All of it - an alleged hacker hiding behind a pseudonym offering internal documents of questionable news value - has echoes of the Russian hacks of Democratic campaign emails in 2016, which were then published by WikiLeaks and eagerly picked over by the press.

Now, eight years later, media organizations are being tested again with how best to cover news from an alleged hack, without playing into the hands of foreign actors looking to interfere in American elections. For now, the decision among the outlets that received the documents has been not to publish them, focusing instead on the possible hack itself.

This is not quite like 2016 because there isn't a middleman - unaffiliated to US media - like Wikileaks to put the hacked information on the internet where it THEN becomes a news story, and seemingly fair game for candidate Trump to publicly repeat on the stump.

Having said that - and easily understanding none of the US media that received the information wanted to be the first to publish directly disseminated illegally stolen documents - part of me also feels that if this information had been negative towards Kamala Harris or Tim Walz the media wouldn't have been as principled. I think the specter of getting on Trump's bad side and him siccing his hoards, along with the near certainty of him filing lawsuits against the outlet(s) were all chilling effect inside newsrooms.

#1 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-08-13 09:50 PM

#1 | Posted by tonyroma

The narrative that the media is actually "left wing media" is being slaughtered as we speak. This is no longer the "left leaning media" that fawns over the likes of B. Hussein Obama. This is now the media that is in competition with social media; it's all about clicks, likes, and shares. The modern version of MSM is now all about massaging narratives, ensuring that people are consistently triggered enough to pay attention, if not spend their hard earned money to gain "insight" and behind the scenes context that only certain outlets can provide.

It's a new game. And the "left wing media" trope is now dead. They're in it for the money. Not for objectivity, or journalistic sake, simply for clicks, likes, and shares.

Convince me otherwise.

#2 | Posted by rstybeach11 at 2024-08-13 11:14 PM

Just send it to the NY Post. They have no problems with reprinting hacked data.

#3 | Posted by johnny_hotsauce at 2024-08-14 01:38 AM

#2

I agree completely. There have been multiple stories in alternate media about the NYT and Washington Post trying to create a counternarrative to the Harris/Walz blitzkrieg of positive coverage of the energy with their campaign by writing intentional page one articles such as "When will the Harris honeymoon end(?)" or "When will Harris/Walz sit down with the media and answer OUR questions(?)" as if the rally coverage isn't the candidates speaking directly to the electorate and expressing their message and vision as they want it to be done without the media's filter or commentary.

Did you notice there was no live coverage of Saturday's Las Vegas rally on the major news networks? In my opinion, the media is making a shift to try and coerce the campaign to acquiesce to their agenda by withholding live coverage.

Personally, I'd inform the media that policy papers often take months to compile because no candidate wants to misstate or wrongly imply a stance which can harm their electoral chances and become a target for their opponents to use to upset momentum. Harris/Walz are telling the public exactly what they believe in and what policies they will fight for. And perhaps most importantly, they're contrasted themselves taking a forward-looking positive vision for America as Trump's whole focus has been on relitigating his past grievances, getting his own revenge, and taking America "back" - completely negative, regressive messages.

Harris has been a successfully elected candidate 5 times over from local offices, to state office, to US Senator from America's largest state, then as Vice President of the United States, and now as the "break glass in case of emergency" presidential candidate. If the media doesn't know her or where she stands on issues, it's the media's fault for their mind-numbing failure in allowing the right to demeaningly define her for years (dumb, stupid, diversity hire, can't speak, unaccomplished, et._al.), and now when the nation sees not only a strong vital leader, unafraid to articulate her message of determination and unity with smiles, laughter and confidence, but also someone obviously with next level political skills and acumen, generating positive political energy and momentum seldom seen in US politics. NOW the media wants the access for discourses they should have had over the last 4+ years. Screw 'em and keep talking directly to the actual voters, ie. continue to do what's working and let the media report it instead of them trying to define this campaign for their own clicks and ratings.

#4 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-08-14 07:43 AM

... and now when the nation sees not only a strong vital leader, unafraid to articulate her message of determination and unity with smiles, laughter and confidence, but also someone obviously with next level political skills and acumen, generating positive political energy and momentum seldom seen in US politics.

#5 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-08-14 07:47 AM

Just send it to the NY Post. They have no problems with reprinting hacked data.

#3 | Posted by johnny_hotsauce at 2024-08-14 01:38 AM | Reply | Flag

They have no problem printing hacked data of DEMOCRATS.

#6 | Posted by Nixon at 2024-08-14 08:07 AM

If they report the available facts, then Trump may well further collapse, and the Money Based Commercial Media losses literally billions in ad dollars over the next few months.

We should love what democracy of by and for the People we have while we still have a bit of it.

#7 | Posted by Corky at 2024-08-14 05:33 PM

Firstly even if they're real it's ill-gotten secondly even if they did come from the Trump campaign this is likely just another one of Roger Stone's dirty tricks and by publishing them they would be helping stones plan.

#8 | Posted by Tor at 2024-08-14 05:35 PM

Look at the source of the documents"Roger Stone. This is a failed disinformation campaign run to try to get the sympathy vote for Der Dotard. It's not working, because of hesitancy on the part of the MSM. This is yet another fail on the part of the Trump campaign and the creeps, criminals and lunkheads surrounding the fat orange criminal insurrectionist and golf cheat ...

#9 | Posted by catdog at 2024-08-14 07:20 PM

This is a failed disinformation campaign run to try to get the sympathy vote for Der Dotard.

It's a follow up to the staged assassination attempt.

#10 | Posted by ClownShack at 2024-08-14 07:26 PM

Yep, this story seems like it's bogus.

#11 | Posted by a_monson at 2024-08-14 09:40 PM

CATDOG

I'm beginning to doubt these documents even exist, regardless of what "some" outlets claim they have but won't print. Or if they are what Trump says they are.

Anytime I hear the words "Trump says . . . " there's room to smell a rat.

Anything Rober Stone is involved in, there's room for two rats.

#12 | Posted by Twinpac at 2024-08-14 09:42 PM

I don't think that there is any doubt the documents are real since every story contains corroboration of authenticity by each outlet that received them.

Also the FBI wouldn't investigate a non-existent crime. The first thing they'd do is connect that the documents were indeed among the hacked materials.

#13 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-08-14 11:35 PM

TONY

"The first thing they'd [FBI] do is connect that the documents were indeed among the hacked materials."

That's what I was getting at, but you said it much better. Thanks.

#14 | Posted by Twinpac at 2024-08-14 11:54 PM

Dateline June 13, 2019,

'I think I'd take it': In exclusive interview, Trump says he would listen if foreigners offered dirt on opponents ...

"I think you might want to listen, there isn't anything wrong with listening," Trump continued. "If somebody called from a country, Norway, [and said] we have information on your opponent' -- oh, I think I'd want to hear it."

#15 | Posted by donnerboy at 2024-08-16 11:35 AM

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