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Politico Admits Fabricating A Hit Piece
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Nov 7, 2015 13:28:39   #
AuntiE Loc: 45th Least Free State
 
http://thefederalist.com/2015/11/06/politico-admits-fabricating-a-hit-piece-on-ben-carson/?utm_source=The+Federalist+List&utm_campaign=d2a7106b09-RSS_The_Federalist_Daily_Updates_w_T***som&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cfcb868ceb-d2a7106b09-83828933

Politico Admits Fabricating A Hit Piece On Ben Carson


Politico‘s Kyle Cheney admitted that he fabricated a negative story about Ben Carson. At least, according to his own standards, he admitted the grievous journalistic sin.

In a story published early on Friday, Politico’s Kyle Cheney authored a piece headlined “Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point scholarship” with a subhed “Carson’s campaign on Friday conceded that a central point in his inspirational personal story did not occur as he previously described.”

There were at least five major problems with the story:

The headline was completely false
The subhed was also completely false
The opening paragraph was false false false
The substance of the piece was missing key exonerating information
The article demonstrated confusion about service academy admissions and benefits
But other than that, A+++ work, Kyle Cheney and Politico.

It could take all day to parse the problems with Kyle Cheney’s now-somewhat-cleaned-up hit piece on Carson, but let’s just look at his original introductory claims:

Ben Carson’s campaign on Friday admitted, in a response to an inquiry from POLITICO, that a central point in his inspirational personal story was fabricated: his application and acceptance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The academy has occupied a central place in Carson’s tale for years. According to a story told in Carson’s book, “Gifted Hands,” the then-17 year old was introduced in 1969 to Gen. William Westmoreland, who had just ended his command of U.S. forces in Vietnam, and the two dined together. That meeting, according to Carson’s telling, was followed by a “full scholarship” to the military academy. West Point, however, has no record of Carson applying, much less being extended admission…When presented with this evidence, Carson’s campaign conceded the story was false.

Roughly none of this is true. Ben Carson’s campaign did not “admit” that a central point in his story “was fabricated.” Quite the opposite. The central point of the story is falsely described by Cheney/Politico as being that he applied and was accepted at West Point. Carson, in fact, has repeatedly claimed not to have applied. So any claim regarding the absence of West Point records of such an application would not debunk Carson’s point. And, again, Carson’s campaign never “conceded” the story was false at least in part because the story, as characterized by Politico, is not one he told. Further, Cheney is unable to substantiate his claim that Carson told this story. Nowhere in the article does he even explain, with facts, where he came up with the idea that Carson has ever made this claim.

Politico stealthily edited the inflammatory headline and lede, after the damage was done. They made changes without adding a note about what was corrected. They didn’t update the piece or add an editor’s note. The new headline is very much toned down to “Exclusive: Carson claimed West Point ‘scholarship’ but never applied.” This is a claim not exclusive to Politico and not newsworthy in the least. Carson himself broke this news 23 years ago when he said he was offered a scholarship to West Point but never applied. The cleaned-up story still says that Carson “conceded that he never applied nor was granted admission to West Point.” To concede is to admit that something is true. But, again, Carson himself made this claim more than two decades ago, so he’s not conceding the point to Kyle Cheney or Politico simply because Kyle Cheney and Politico misread him.

The Washington Post‘s Dave Weigel, who immediately expressed skepticism about the significance of the Politico hit that was taking everybody by storm, has a balanced take on the kerfuffle here. He also noted:

Also, taking “fabrication” out of that headline is like taking uranium out of an A-bomb.

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) 4:22 PM - 6 Nov 2015
One other quick point to make about Politico and Kyle Cheney’s piece. The original story claimed that Carson also lied by claiming he was offered a full scholarship to West Point since the service academy is entirely taxpayer funded. Or, as Politico put it: “indeed there are no ‘full scholarships,’ per se.” The only problem with this is that the academy itself describes this benefit as a “full scholarship.”

Ben Carson was a brilliant student who had already shown an interest in the military and had demonstrated leadership sk**ls. It would be weirder if West Point hadn’t tried to recruit him than tried to recruit him. This doesn’t happen to us journalists, for obvious reasons, but exceptional students are recruited by top colleges and universities all the time.

Now, as for Kyle Cheney’s concession that he fabricated his piece on Carson. He didn’t. That’s how I’m interpreting his decision to stealthily edit his piece to remove much of the error. But Ben Carson didn’t “admit” or “concede” to fabrication and he’s been tarred by Cheney as if he had. So I’ll keep the headline.

Other critiques of Cheney and Politico are available from across the political and media spectrum here, here, here, here, here, and here.

At a time when the media need to demonstrate good faith efforts to cover Republicans and conservatives with even a modicum of fairness, Kyle Cheney and Politico have done a tremendous disservice to their brands.



Sent from my iPad

Reply
Nov 7, 2015 13:45:44   #
oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)
 
AuntiE wrote:
http://thefederalist.com/2015/11/06/politico-admits-fabricating-a-hit-piece-on-ben-carson/?utm_source=The+Federalist+List&utm_campaign=d2a7106b09-RSS_The_Federalist_Daily_Updates_w_T***som&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cfcb868ceb-d2a7106b09-83828933

Politico Admits Fabricating A Hit Piece On Ben Carson


Politico‘s Kyle Cheney admitted that he fabricated a negative story about Ben Carson. At least, according to his own standards, he admitted the grievous journalistic sin.

In a story published early on Friday, Politico’s Kyle Cheney authored a piece headlined “Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point scholarship” with a subhed “Carson’s campaign on Friday conceded that a central point in his inspirational personal story did not occur as he previously described.”

There were at least five major problems with the story:

The headline was completely false
The subhed was also completely false
The opening paragraph was false false false
The substance of the piece was missing key exonerating information
The article demonstrated confusion about service academy admissions and benefits
But other than that, A+++ work, Kyle Cheney and Politico.

It could take all day to parse the problems with Kyle Cheney’s now-somewhat-cleaned-up hit piece on Carson, but let’s just look at his original introductory claims:

Ben Carson’s campaign on Friday admitted, in a response to an inquiry from POLITICO, that a central point in his inspirational personal story was fabricated: his application and acceptance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The academy has occupied a central place in Carson’s tale for years. According to a story told in Carson’s book, “Gifted Hands,” the then-17 year old was introduced in 1969 to Gen. William Westmoreland, who had just ended his command of U.S. forces in Vietnam, and the two dined together. That meeting, according to Carson’s telling, was followed by a “full scholarship” to the military academy. West Point, however, has no record of Carson applying, much less being extended admission…When presented with this evidence, Carson’s campaign conceded the story was false.

Roughly none of this is true. Ben Carson’s campaign did not “admit” that a central point in his story “was fabricated.” Quite the opposite. The central point of the story is falsely described by Cheney/Politico as being that he applied and was accepted at West Point. Carson, in fact, has repeatedly claimed not to have applied. So any claim regarding the absence of West Point records of such an application would not debunk Carson’s point. And, again, Carson’s campaign never “conceded” the story was false at least in part because the story, as characterized by Politico, is not one he told. Further, Cheney is unable to substantiate his claim that Carson told this story. Nowhere in the article does he even explain, with facts, where he came up with the idea that Carson has ever made this claim.

Politico stealthily edited the inflammatory headline and lede, after the damage was done. They made changes without adding a note about what was corrected. They didn’t update the piece or add an editor’s note. The new headline is very much toned down to “Exclusive: Carson claimed West Point ‘scholarship’ but never applied.” This is a claim not exclusive to Politico and not newsworthy in the least. Carson himself broke this news 23 years ago when he said he was offered a scholarship to West Point but never applied. The cleaned-up story still says that Carson “conceded that he never applied nor was granted admission to West Point.” To concede is to admit that something is true. But, again, Carson himself made this claim more than two decades ago, so he’s not conceding the point to Kyle Cheney or Politico simply because Kyle Cheney and Politico misread him.

The Washington Post‘s Dave Weigel, who immediately expressed skepticism about the significance of the Politico hit that was taking everybody by storm, has a balanced take on the kerfuffle here. He also noted:

Also, taking “fabrication” out of that headline is like taking uranium out of an A-bomb.

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) 4:22 PM - 6 Nov 2015
One other quick point to make about Politico and Kyle Cheney’s piece. The original story claimed that Carson also lied by claiming he was offered a full scholarship to West Point since the service academy is entirely taxpayer funded. Or, as Politico put it: “indeed there are no ‘full scholarships,’ per se.” The only problem with this is that the academy itself describes this benefit as a “full scholarship.”

Ben Carson was a brilliant student who had already shown an interest in the military and had demonstrated leadership sk**ls. It would be weirder if West Point hadn’t tried to recruit him than tried to recruit him. This doesn’t happen to us journalists, for obvious reasons, but exceptional students are recruited by top colleges and universities all the time.

Now, as for Kyle Cheney’s concession that he fabricated his piece on Carson. He didn’t. That’s how I’m interpreting his decision to stealthily edit his piece to remove much of the error. But Ben Carson didn’t “admit” or “concede” to fabrication and he’s been tarred by Cheney as if he had. So I’ll keep the headline.

Other critiques of Cheney and Politico are available from across the political and media spectrum here, here, here, here, here, and here.

At a time when the media need to demonstrate good faith efforts to cover Republicans and conservatives with even a modicum of fairness, Kyle Cheney and Politico have done a tremendous disservice to their brands.



Sent from my iPad
http://thefederalist.com/2015/11/06/politico-admit... (show quote)


A part of what that article did to Carson and for Trump and the others would be that although it was untrue the story has been out long enough that many, on both sides, have come to believe it and aren't about to be swayed by anything to the contrary. Of course, the school didn't find any record of him asking for admittance, since he never did apply.

Again, the damage has been done, new polls will show a drop in his numbers and a rise in Trump's and others. This has been a well thought out blast at Carson and has worked very well.

An example of the damage that has been done comes from a small group of conservatives that I sometimes take part with and the two real leaders of the group want Trump and are very much against Carson. I noticed that they were writing just like I have mentioned many are doing from this story and those that followed it. I didn't read those little bits, though, so maybe they didn't say what they have been saying for weeks.

Darned good post AuntiE. Now lets see what our leaners and weak kneed conservatives have to say to you.

Reply
Nov 7, 2015 14:03:05   #
Worried for our children Loc: Massachusetts
 
AuntiE wrote:
http://thefederalist.com/2015/11/06/politico-admits-fabricating-a-hit-piece-on-ben-carson/?utm_source=The+Federalist+List&utm_campaign=d2a7106b09-RSS_The_Federalist_Daily_Updates_w_T***som&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cfcb868ceb-d2a7106b09-83828933

Politico Admits Fabricating A Hit Piece On Ben Carson


Politico‘s Kyle Cheney admitted that he fabricated a negative story about Ben Carson. At least, according to his own standards, he admitted the grievous journalistic sin.

In a story published early on Friday, Politico’s Kyle Cheney authored a piece headlined “Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point scholarship” with a subhed “Carson’s campaign on Friday conceded that a central point in his inspirational personal story did not occur as he previously described.”

There were at least five major problems with the story:

The headline was completely false
The subhed was also completely false
The opening paragraph was false false false
The substance of the piece was missing key exonerating information
The article demonstrated confusion about service academy admissions and benefits
But other than that, A+++ work, Kyle Cheney and Politico.

It could take all day to parse the problems with Kyle Cheney’s now-somewhat-cleaned-up hit piece on Carson, but let’s just look at his original introductory claims:

Ben Carson’s campaign on Friday admitted, in a response to an inquiry from POLITICO, that a central point in his inspirational personal story was fabricated: his application and acceptance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The academy has occupied a central place in Carson’s tale for years. According to a story told in Carson’s book, “Gifted Hands,” the then-17 year old was introduced in 1969 to Gen. William Westmoreland, who had just ended his command of U.S. forces in Vietnam, and the two dined together. That meeting, according to Carson’s telling, was followed by a “full scholarship” to the military academy. West Point, however, has no record of Carson applying, much less being extended admission…When presented with this evidence, Carson’s campaign conceded the story was false.

Roughly none of this is true. Ben Carson’s campaign did not “admit” that a central point in his story “was fabricated.” Quite the opposite. The central point of the story is falsely described by Cheney/Politico as being that he applied and was accepted at West Point. Carson, in fact, has repeatedly claimed not to have applied. So any claim regarding the absence of West Point records of such an application would not debunk Carson’s point. And, again, Carson’s campaign never “conceded” the story was false at least in part because the story, as characterized by Politico, is not one he told. Further, Cheney is unable to substantiate his claim that Carson told this story. Nowhere in the article does he even explain, with facts, where he came up with the idea that Carson has ever made this claim.

Politico stealthily edited the inflammatory headline and lede, after the damage was done. They made changes without adding a note about what was corrected. They didn’t update the piece or add an editor’s note. The new headline is very much toned down to “Exclusive: Carson claimed West Point ‘scholarship’ but never applied.” This is a claim not exclusive to Politico and not newsworthy in the least. Carson himself broke this news 23 years ago when he said he was offered a scholarship to West Point but never applied. The cleaned-up story still says that Carson “conceded that he never applied nor was granted admission to West Point.” To concede is to admit that something is true. But, again, Carson himself made this claim more than two decades ago, so he’s not conceding the point to Kyle Cheney or Politico simply because Kyle Cheney and Politico misread him.

The Washington Post‘s Dave Weigel, who immediately expressed skepticism about the significance of the Politico hit that was taking everybody by storm, has a balanced take on the kerfuffle here. He also noted:

Also, taking “fabrication” out of that headline is like taking uranium out of an A-bomb.

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) 4:22 PM - 6 Nov 2015
One other quick point to make about Politico and Kyle Cheney’s piece. The original story claimed that Carson also lied by claiming he was offered a full scholarship to West Point since the service academy is entirely taxpayer funded. Or, as Politico put it: “indeed there are no ‘full scholarships,’ per se.” The only problem with this is that the academy itself describes this benefit as a “full scholarship.”

Ben Carson was a brilliant student who had already shown an interest in the military and had demonstrated leadership sk**ls. It would be weirder if West Point hadn’t tried to recruit him than tried to recruit him. This doesn’t happen to us journalists, for obvious reasons, but exceptional students are recruited by top colleges and universities all the time.

Now, as for Kyle Cheney’s concession that he fabricated his piece on Carson. He didn’t. That’s how I’m interpreting his decision to stealthily edit his piece to remove much of the error. But Ben Carson didn’t “admit” or “concede” to fabrication and he’s been tarred by Cheney as if he had. So I’ll keep the headline.

Other critiques of Cheney and Politico are available from across the political and media spectrum here, here, here, here, here, and here.

At a time when the media need to demonstrate good faith efforts to cover Republicans and conservatives with even a modicum of fairness, Kyle Cheney and Politico have done a tremendous disservice to their brands.



Sent from my iPad
http://thefederalist.com/2015/11/06/politico-admit... (show quote)




Good, now the WSJ needs to apologize for their article also👍👍👍👍👍

Reply
 
 
Nov 7, 2015 14:13:27   #
Trooper745 Loc: Carolina
 
Worried for our children wrote:
Good, now the WSJ needs to apologize for their article also👍👍👍👍👍


Of course they will, ... look for it in a small box, near the bottom of page 14C.

Reply
Nov 7, 2015 14:18:02   #
oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)
 
Trooper745 wrote:
Of course they will, ... look for it in a small box, near the bottom of page 14C.


:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Reply
Nov 7, 2015 14:48:57   #
archie bunker Loc: Texas
 
AuntiE wrote:
http://thefederalist.com/2015/11/06/politico-admits-fabricating-a-hit-piece-on-ben-carson/?utm_source=The+Federalist+List&utm_campaign=d2a7106b09-RSS_The_Federalist_Daily_Updates_w_T***som&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cfcb868ceb-d2a7106b09-83828933

Politico Admits Fabricating A Hit Piece On Ben Carson


Politico‘s Kyle Cheney admitted that he fabricated a negative story about Ben Carson. At least, according to his own standards, he admitted the grievous journalistic sin.

In a story published early on Friday, Politico’s Kyle Cheney authored a piece headlined “Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point scholarship” with a subhed “Carson’s campaign on Friday conceded that a central point in his inspirational personal story did not occur as he previously described.”

There were at least five major problems with the story:

The headline was completely false
The subhed was also completely false
The opening paragraph was false false false
The substance of the piece was missing key exonerating information
The article demonstrated confusion about service academy admissions and benefits
But other than that, A+++ work, Kyle Cheney and Politico.

It could take all day to parse the problems with Kyle Cheney’s now-somewhat-cleaned-up hit piece on Carson, but let’s just look at his original introductory claims:

Ben Carson’s campaign on Friday admitted, in a response to an inquiry from POLITICO, that a central point in his inspirational personal story was fabricated: his application and acceptance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The academy has occupied a central place in Carson’s tale for years. According to a story told in Carson’s book, “Gifted Hands,” the then-17 year old was introduced in 1969 to Gen. William Westmoreland, who had just ended his command of U.S. forces in Vietnam, and the two dined together. That meeting, according to Carson’s telling, was followed by a “full scholarship” to the military academy. West Point, however, has no record of Carson applying, much less being extended admission…When presented with this evidence, Carson’s campaign conceded the story was false.

Roughly none of this is true. Ben Carson’s campaign did not “admit” that a central point in his story “was fabricated.” Quite the opposite. The central point of the story is falsely described by Cheney/Politico as being that he applied and was accepted at West Point. Carson, in fact, has repeatedly claimed not to have applied. So any claim regarding the absence of West Point records of such an application would not debunk Carson’s point. And, again, Carson’s campaign never “conceded” the story was false at least in part because the story, as characterized by Politico, is not one he told. Further, Cheney is unable to substantiate his claim that Carson told this story. Nowhere in the article does he even explain, with facts, where he came up with the idea that Carson has ever made this claim.

Politico stealthily edited the inflammatory headline and lede, after the damage was done. They made changes without adding a note about what was corrected. They didn’t update the piece or add an editor’s note. The new headline is very much toned down to “Exclusive: Carson claimed West Point ‘scholarship’ but never applied.” This is a claim not exclusive to Politico and not newsworthy in the least. Carson himself broke this news 23 years ago when he said he was offered a scholarship to West Point but never applied. The cleaned-up story still says that Carson “conceded that he never applied nor was granted admission to West Point.” To concede is to admit that something is true. But, again, Carson himself made this claim more than two decades ago, so he’s not conceding the point to Kyle Cheney or Politico simply because Kyle Cheney and Politico misread him.

The Washington Post‘s Dave Weigel, who immediately expressed skepticism about the significance of the Politico hit that was taking everybody by storm, has a balanced take on the kerfuffle here. He also noted:

Also, taking “fabrication” out of that headline is like taking uranium out of an A-bomb.

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) 4:22 PM - 6 Nov 2015
One other quick point to make about Politico and Kyle Cheney’s piece. The original story claimed that Carson also lied by claiming he was offered a full scholarship to West Point since the service academy is entirely taxpayer funded. Or, as Politico put it: “indeed there are no ‘full scholarships,’ per se.” The only problem with this is that the academy itself describes this benefit as a “full scholarship.”

Ben Carson was a brilliant student who had already shown an interest in the military and had demonstrated leadership sk**ls. It would be weirder if West Point hadn’t tried to recruit him than tried to recruit him. This doesn’t happen to us journalists, for obvious reasons, but exceptional students are recruited by top colleges and universities all the time.

Now, as for Kyle Cheney’s concession that he fabricated his piece on Carson. He didn’t. That’s how I’m interpreting his decision to stealthily edit his piece to remove much of the error. But Ben Carson didn’t “admit” or “concede” to fabrication and he’s been tarred by Cheney as if he had. So I’ll keep the headline.

Other critiques of Cheney and Politico are available from across the political and media spectrum here, here, here, here, here, and here.

At a time when the media need to demonstrate good faith efforts to cover Republicans and conservatives with even a modicum of fairness, Kyle Cheney and Politico have done a tremendous disservice to their brands.



Sent from my iPad
http://thefederalist.com/2015/11/06/politico-admit... (show quote)


Can you say Dan Rather? Torches and pitchforks? Tar and feathers?

Reply
Nov 7, 2015 14:57:38   #
Worried for our children Loc: Massachusetts
 
Trooper745 wrote:
Of course they will, ... look for it in a small box, near the bottom of page 14C.





Lol, noooo kidding. Not sure if you heard this but, the rumor mill is saying that Trump is behind all this, using his connections in the media. They say Trump is really sore about being overtaken in the polls by Carson. It certainly wouldn't be beneath Trump to do something like that....

Reply
 
 
Nov 7, 2015 16:09:49   #
oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)
 
Worried for our children wrote:
Lol, noooo kidding. Not sure if you heard this but, the rumor mill is saying that Trump is behind all this, using his connections in the media. They say Trump is really sore about being overtaken in the polls by Carson. It certainly wouldn't be beneath Trump to do something like that....


Hot dang. Finally someone who agrees with me on this subject. We all know he is well placed and doesn't bother to say what the others say about the media.

I am really ready to agree with you about who is responsible for all this. Of course, the DC establishment may be the ones who did it. Remember what they did to Herman Cain?

Reply
Nov 7, 2015 16:52:45   #
Worried for our children Loc: Massachusetts
 
oldroy wrote:
Hot dang. Finally someone who agrees with me on this subject. We all know he is well placed and doesn't bother to say what the others say about the media.

I am really ready to agree with you about who is responsible for all this. Of course, the DC establishment may be the ones who did it. Remember what they did to Herman Cain?





Indeed I do 👍👍👍

I suspect this will all come out in the wash soon enough my friend....

Reply
Nov 7, 2015 17:16:41   #
Worried for our children Loc: Massachusetts
 
Neurosurgeon Ben Carson is lashing out against the media, saying the “piling on” by reporters since he emerged as a front-runner for the GOP p**********l nomination “is actually going to help me.”

The American people, he said “understand that this is a witch hunt.”

Carson, who’s been leading a crowded Republican field in some polls, is beginning to attract more scrutiny to his inspirational life story. Earlier in the week, it was suggestions that his story of a violent and angry upbringing in Detroit wasn’t as violent and angry as he suggested. And on Friday, it was a report by Politico that he “fabricated” the story of an offer to attend West Point.

That report, Carson said, is a “boldfaced lie.” (Politico responded late Friday with an editor’s note on the story saying that Carson had implied he applied to West Point but that was not the case.)

Speaking to reporters in a sometimes-combative news conference Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday night, Carson said he expected similar attacks to come:

“There is a desperation on behalf of some to try to find a way to tarnish me, because they have been looking through everything. They have been talking to everybody I’ve ever known, everyone I’ve ever seen. There’s got to be a scandal, there’s got to be a nurse he’s had an affair with. There’s got to be something. They are getting desperate. So next week it will be my kindergarten teacher who said I peed in my pants.”

Carson said the West Point story had been largely debunked in The Washington Post. “There are actually some people with integrity in your business,” he told reporters in Palm Beach Friday night.

“What you’re not going to find with me is somebody who’s going to sit back and let you be completely unfair without letting the American people know what’s going on. And the American people are waking up to your games,” he said.

Carson said then-senator Barack Obama did not receive the same level of scrutiny when he ran for president, and he challenged reporters to investigate his college transcripts.

http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/11/07/ben-carson-west-point-media-bias/

Reply
Nov 8, 2015 11:56:16   #
DamnYANKEE
 
AuntiE wrote:
http://thefederalist.com/2015/11/06/politico-admits-fabricating-a-hit-piece-on-ben-carson/?utm_source=The+Federalist+List&utm_campaign=d2a7106b09-RSS_The_Federalist_Daily_Updates_w_T***som&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cfcb868ceb-d2a7106b09-83828933

Politico Admits Fabricating A Hit Piece On Ben Carson


Politico‘s Kyle Cheney admitted that he fabricated a negative story about Ben Carson. At least, according to his own standards, he admitted the grievous journalistic sin.

In a story published early on Friday, Politico’s Kyle Cheney authored a piece headlined “Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point scholarship” with a subhed “Carson’s campaign on Friday conceded that a central point in his inspirational personal story did not occur as he previously described.”

There were at least five major problems with the story:

The headline was completely false
The subhed was also completely false
The opening paragraph was false false false
The substance of the piece was missing key exonerating information
The article demonstrated confusion about service academy admissions and benefits
But other than that, A+++ work, Kyle Cheney and Politico.

It could take all day to parse the problems with Kyle Cheney’s now-somewhat-cleaned-up hit piece on Carson, but let’s just look at his original introductory claims:

Ben Carson’s campaign on Friday admitted, in a response to an inquiry from POLITICO, that a central point in his inspirational personal story was fabricated: his application and acceptance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The academy has occupied a central place in Carson’s tale for years. According to a story told in Carson’s book, “Gifted Hands,” the then-17 year old was introduced in 1969 to Gen. William Westmoreland, who had just ended his command of U.S. forces in Vietnam, and the two dined together. That meeting, according to Carson’s telling, was followed by a “full scholarship” to the military academy. West Point, however, has no record of Carson applying, much less being extended admission…When presented with this evidence, Carson’s campaign conceded the story was false.

Roughly none of this is true. Ben Carson’s campaign did not “admit” that a central point in his story “was fabricated.” Quite the opposite. The central point of the story is falsely described by Cheney/Politico as being that he applied and was accepted at West Point. Carson, in fact, has repeatedly claimed not to have applied. So any claim regarding the absence of West Point records of such an application would not debunk Carson’s point. And, again, Carson’s campaign never “conceded” the story was false at least in part because the story, as characterized by Politico, is not one he told. Further, Cheney is unable to substantiate his claim that Carson told this story. Nowhere in the article does he even explain, with facts, where he came up with the idea that Carson has ever made this claim.

Politico stealthily edited the inflammatory headline and lede, after the damage was done. They made changes without adding a note about what was corrected. They didn’t update the piece or add an editor’s note. The new headline is very much toned down to “Exclusive: Carson claimed West Point ‘scholarship’ but never applied.” This is a claim not exclusive to Politico and not newsworthy in the least. Carson himself broke this news 23 years ago when he said he was offered a scholarship to West Point but never applied. The cleaned-up story still says that Carson “conceded that he never applied nor was granted admission to West Point.” To concede is to admit that something is true. But, again, Carson himself made this claim more than two decades ago, so he’s not conceding the point to Kyle Cheney or Politico simply because Kyle Cheney and Politico misread him.

The Washington Post‘s Dave Weigel, who immediately expressed skepticism about the significance of the Politico hit that was taking everybody by storm, has a balanced take on the kerfuffle here. He also noted:

Also, taking “fabrication” out of that headline is like taking uranium out of an A-bomb.

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) 4:22 PM - 6 Nov 2015
One other quick point to make about Politico and Kyle Cheney’s piece. The original story claimed that Carson also lied by claiming he was offered a full scholarship to West Point since the service academy is entirely taxpayer funded. Or, as Politico put it: “indeed there are no ‘full scholarships,’ per se.” The only problem with this is that the academy itself describes this benefit as a “full scholarship.”

Ben Carson was a brilliant student who had already shown an interest in the military and had demonstrated leadership sk**ls. It would be weirder if West Point hadn’t tried to recruit him than tried to recruit him. This doesn’t happen to us journalists, for obvious reasons, but exceptional students are recruited by top colleges and universities all the time.

Now, as for Kyle Cheney’s concession that he fabricated his piece on Carson. He didn’t. That’s how I’m interpreting his decision to stealthily edit his piece to remove much of the error. But Ben Carson didn’t “admit” or “concede” to fabrication and he’s been tarred by Cheney as if he had. So I’ll keep the headline.

Other critiques of Cheney and Politico are available from across the political and media spectrum here, here, here, here, here, and here.

At a time when the media need to demonstrate good faith efforts to cover Republicans and conservatives with even a modicum of fairness, Kyle Cheney and Politico have done a tremendous disservice to their brands.



Sent from my iPad
http://thefederalist.com/2015/11/06/politico-admit... (show quote)


AS I said the day after , it was shown to be a LIE . Posted on OPP , I asked , Where were ALL the OPP LIBTARDS . They Vanished . Not one came back to admit they were wrong . They STILL are nowhere to be seen , hmmm . figures

Reply
 
 
Nov 8, 2015 12:02:44   #
AuntiE Loc: 45th Least Free State
 
DamnYANKEE wrote:
AS I said the day after , it was shown to be a LIE . Posted on OPP , I asked , Where were ALL the OPP LIBTARDS . They Vanished . Not one came back to admit they were wrong . They STILL are nowhere to be seen , hmmm . figures


Actually, the member SamDawkins continues to contend Dr. Carson lied. His basis is the Westmoreland meeting.

Reply
Nov 8, 2015 14:02:08   #
oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)
 
AuntiE wrote:
Actually, the member SamDawkins continues to contend Dr. Carson lied. His basis is the Westmoreland meeting.


Aren't the media, the RINO establishment and the Democrats digging as hard now as they did to find things about Herman Cain?

This morning I heard Carson comment about how far back they are going to find things on him, and it is farther than 13 when he says he attempted to stab that other boy. They are really digging and finding so little to work with, but using any little thing they can find. I don't remember any of those people digging that deep on Obama even when he had been nominated.

Oh yes, I heard one of the group mention that a belt buckle would twist resulting in the boy being stabbed. They are clutching at straws and most of them have been broken off.

Reply
Nov 8, 2015 14:39:00   #
archie bunker Loc: Texas
 
oldroy wrote:
Aren't the media, the RINO establishment and the Democrats digging as hard now as they did to find things about Herman Cain?

This morning I heard Carson comment about how far back they are going to find things on him, and it is farther than 13 when he says he attempted to stab that other boy. They are really digging and finding so little to work with, but using any little thing they can find. I don't remember any of those people digging that deep on Obama even when he had been nominated.

Oh yes, I heard one of the group mention that a belt buckle would twist resulting in the boy being stabbed. They are clutching at straws and most of them have been broken off.
Aren't the media, the RINO establishment and the D... (show quote)


I am actually having a good time watching the desperation on the left!! They thought Obama was their end all, be all, and went too far too fast. Now it is falling apart, and they know it.

Reply
Nov 8, 2015 14:45:05   #
oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)
 
archie bunker wrote:
I am actually having a good time watching the desperation on the left!! They thought Obama was their end all, be all, and went too far too fast. Now it is falling apart, and they know it.


It is enjoyable but since it is the left, their media and the RINO establishment we will continue to have trouble with them.

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