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Fox News retracts online Seth Rich report while Hannity keeps pushing the conspiracy – By Media Matters staff / May 23 2017
Fox News has retracted an online story promoting conspiracy theories about the murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, saying the May 16 article “was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting.” Despite the online retraction and objections from Rich’s family, leading Fox News host Sean Hannity and other personalities at the network continue to aggressively promote conspiracies about Rich’s death.
FoxNews.com originally posted a May 16 piece headlined “Slain DNC staffer had contact with WikiLeaks, investigator says.” The story relied on a report by D.C.’s Fox 5 and Rod Wheeler, a former D.C. homicide detective and Fox News contributor, for its sourcing. The Fox 5 story soon fell apart and Wheeler backtracked — according to CNN, he told the network “he had no evidence to suggest Rich had contacted Wikileaks before his death.” Through a spokesperson, Rich’s family asked on May 17 for “a retraction and an apology from Fox News and from the Fox 5 DC affiliate for inaccurate reporting and damaging the legacy of their son.”
Six days later, Fox News has finally retracted its story.
The network’s May 23 statement reads: “On May 16, a story was posted on the Fox News website on the investigation into the 2016 murder of DNC Staffer Seth Rich. The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting. Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed. We will continue to investigate this story and will provide updates as warranted.”
Continue to mediamatters.org article: https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/05/23/fox-news-retracts-online-seth-rich-report-while-hannity-keeps-pushing-conspiracy/216613
