“Trump Memo”—Media Technique Revealed
The “Trump Memo” furor is an example of how the controlled media manufactures fake news by using a devious technique known as “leading with rebuttal”— whereby defamatory, unproved, and unprovable allegations can be publicized without fear of legal action, a former journalist with one of the large media corporations has revealed.
Speaking to the New Observer in the wake of the latest controlled media publicity being given to a completely anonymous, 35-page, error-littered, MS Word document containing the most fantastic, lurid, and preposterous allegations against Donald Trump, the former journalist said that “journalistic” technique provides a “legal cover under which any outrageous claim can be presented as news.
“It works as follows,” the journalist said. “Often the media masters are confronted with an unprovable allegation against their chosen target which cannot be published without facing instant, and certain legal action.
“The latest ‘Trump memo’ is a case in point. This document offers not even the tiniest shred of evidence, and if the controlled media had to run the obvious outrageous lies it contains, they would instantly be hit with a defamation case they would be guaranteed of losing.
“However, the technique they use to avoid legal responsibility for publicizing the allegations is to employ something known as ‘lead by rebuttal,” the journalist said.
“This entails first getting ‘reaction’ to the allegations. This reaction can be from anyone at all, ranging from opponents or supporters of the target, but preferably the target himself.
“The media will then run this ‘reaction’ as the ‘news’—and insert the original allegations which have now been commented upon, as the excuse for publicizing the original claims themselves.”
Read the rest at The New Observer.
