Federalist staff writer Bre Payton joined “Fox and Friends” Friday morning to discuss the consequences of publishing unverified claims about Russia’s involvement in the election.
“It’s very clear that Russia’s involvement in the election — to whatever extent that truly was — was an attempt to make Americans unsettled or distrust our electoral system and distrust our government,” Payton said. “Reporters, when they’re not precise about what happened, I think that they’re aiding and abetting Moscow’s disinformation campaign, and aiding and abetting the Kremlin by extension.”
.@Bre_payton: Journalists who are not precise in reporting Russia's involvement in election are aiding and abetting the Kremlin pic.twitter.com/K43enrRUWc
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 13, 2017
On Wednesday, Donald Trump told a CNN reporter he worked for a “fake news” outlet after the network published a story containing unverified information regarding the president-elect and Russia.
“Journalists have an obligation to tell the truth,” Payton said. “We have an old newsroom adage that we like to repeat as reporters: ‘If your mother says she loves you, you should check it out.’ I think that very clearly sums up the ethical obligations that reporters have. We have an obligation to publish the truth, and not just what we think is the truth, but what can be verified as true.”
