Fox News Staffers ‘Embarrassed’ by Hannity’s Conspiracy Theory Crusade

By artappraiser on Mon, 05/22/2017 - 11:42pm |

Fox News staffers are growing increasingly dismayed as network star Sean Hannity and others continue to promote the unfounded conspiracy theory that Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer was murdered last year for talking to WikiLeaks.

The Daily Beast spoke to nearly a dozen reporters, pundits, and hosts inside Fox News who all conveyed the same sentiment: Hannity is “embarrassing” the network, and the promotion of the Rich conspiracy theory is senselessly cruel to a grieving family.

“ARE WE STILL AIRING THAT SHIT?!” one Fox News political reporter, who says they are furious that the conservative cable-news giant is entertaining the conspiracy theory, messaged The Daily Beast when informed of recent coverage [....]

URL:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/05/22/fox-news-staffers-embarrassed-by-hannitys-conspiracy-theory-crusade

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Fox News Retracts Seth Rich Story That Stirred Controversy

@ NYTimes.com, May 23

[....] “The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting,” Fox News said in its statement. “Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed.”

The retraction appeared to put the network’s news-gathering operation at odds with Mr. Hannity, who serves as a commentator. On Twitter, Mr. Hannity has been unapologetic about his focus on Mr. Rich’s murder.

Mr. Hannity is not the only Fox News personality to embrace the theory. Newt Gingrich discussed the case on “Fox and Friends” on Sunday, and Geraldo Rivera, a correspondent at large, tweeted about it on Monday [....]

by artappraiser on Tue, 05/23/2017 - 8:41pm

some editorial policy changes clearly going on at Fox News:

Sean Hannity says he will drop the Seth Rich conspiracy theory and stay at Fox News

@ WaPo, May 23 at 11:22 PM

Sean Hannity threaded the needle Tuesday night, telling his Fox News viewers that he would stop talking about a conspiracy theory surrounding the death of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich — but only because Rich's family asked him to.

And Hannity once again sought to tamp down speculation that he might leave the network, something he has now had to do at least three times since the fall.

Hannity is in a precarious position. His musings about Rich's murder are catnip for his audience, yet Fox News suddenly seems unwilling to abide them [....]

I think that is we are are seeing other media writing on this: they are seeing surprising changes but don't know if it means much yet

by artappraiser on Wed, 05/24/2017 - 3:45am

Fox News Staffers ‘Embarrassed’ by Hannity’s Conspiracy Theory Crusade

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