After spreading more layers of fake news, and well after their meme has spread across social media, Newsweek issues “Retracted: How an Alt-Right Bot Network Took Down Al Franken”:
Newsweek has retracted its story about a conservative botnet effort to force the resignation of Senator Al Franken.
The initial report was based on research conducted by Unhack The Vote, a group examining outside influence in U.S. elections and politics. It alleged that a “decidedly alt-right” botnet “weaponized” anti-Franken stories and amplified pressure on Franken to resign after allegations of sexual misconduct. Newsweek was unable to independently verify their claims after a further review of their work.
Newsweek regrets the error.
Something tells me their staff doesn’t really regret the error.
Prima facia reasoning would have revealed that ‘Alt Right Bots’ could not have explained how a sizable majority of Democratic Senators all called for Franken to resign. No, this was the laziest of journalism, with zero critical review, done by one of the largest and most ‘respectable’ news publications. IOW, something that is all too typical these days.
