Guardian Challenged over ‘Fake’ Assange & Manafort Story, as Luke Harding goes AWOL

While I have quoted Der Spiegel (see story immediately below) several times, I frequently use Guardian stories. I've always felt they had some journalistic integrity, and although it was obvious that was limited, it seemed superior to many other papers. This is disappointing, but not surprising.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange holds up a copy of the Guardian newspaper July 26, 2010. ©REUTERS/Andrew Winning

Leading journalists have called out the UK's Guardian for not retracting their story that claimed Wikileaks’ Julian Assange met with ex-Donald Trump operative Paul Manafort despite a lack of evidence to support the claims.

Lead by ex-Guardian writer, now co-editor at the Intercept, Glenn Greenwald, various journalists and activists attacked the publication for going silent on the ‘bombshell’ story, while at the same time hailing that they are Britain’s most trusted news outlet.

Glenn Greenwald✔
@ggreenwald
 Happy 3-week anniversary to this blockbuster @Guardian story!

* No media outlet has confirmed it.
* No photo/video evidence has emerged.
* Ex-embassy official called the story "fake."
* Guardian refuses to talk about or retract it.

Why do people not trust media outlets??

Paul Johnson✔
@paul__johnson
Revealed: Trump ally Paul Manafort held secret talks with Julian Assange inside Ecuadorian embassy London
Exclusive by @lukeharding1968 & @yachay_dc http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/27/manafort-held-secret-talks-with-assange-in-ecuadorian-embassy …


Ben Norton✔
@BenjaminNorton

3 weeks ago, The Guardian published a bogus story that WikiLeaks, Assange, and Ecuador's ex-consul all say is completely false.

This nonsensical report was co-authored by an Ecuadorian opposition activist, Fernando Villavicencio.

No one has apologized https://twitter.com/VillaFernando_/status/1067761750261596160 …


Ben Norton✔
@BenjaminNorton
Guardian reporters Luke Harding and Dan Collyns co-authored this bogus story with opposition activist Fernando Villavicencio, who has close ties to the US and who Ecuador said previously doctored a document that was irresponsibly published by The Guardianhttps://twitter.com/VillaFernando_/status/1069079592927928320 …

Fernando Villavicencio
@VillaFernando_
Una de mis mayores experiencias periodísticas fue trabajar durante meses la investigación sobre Assange con los colegas del diario británico The Guardian, Luke Harding, Dan Collins y con la joven periodista Cristina Solórzano de @somos_lafuente

Kristinn Hrafnsson
@khrafnsson
 Three weeks since @guardian killed its reputation with Manafort-met-Assange fabrication. It has neither retracted nor tried to defend the story. No word from the journalists nor the editor @KathViner. Don´t think I've experienced anything as pathetic in my 30 yrs as a journalist.

Others queried as to the whereabouts of one of the article’s authors, Luke Harding – the Guardian’s former Moscow correspondent. Some wondered whether Harding, a constant critic of the Russian state, had been placed on “gardening leave” following the publication of his ‘exclusive.’

Matt Kennard
@KennardMatt
 Where’s the @guardian’s Luke Harding?

He hasn’t published a story for three weeks. Has he been put on gardening leave after the fabricated frontpage Assange-Manafort story?#fakenews #boycotttheguardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/profile/lukeharding …

Greenwald, whose work with Edward Snowden lead to the Guardian receiving a their only Pulitzer Prize, was supported by Media Lens, an analysis website that frequently calls out the liberal publication for it's pro-business biases, and historian Mark Curtis, among others.

Curtis also highlighted a tweet from Paul Johnson’s the paper’s deputy editor, which cited an industry study that concluded that the Guardian was “the most trusted newspaper in Britain,” indicative of the state of the UK’s press.

Paul Johnson✔
@paul__johnson
 Guardian most trusted newspaper in Britain
-And most read quality news outlet
-And most popular news outlet among younger people https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/dec/17/guardian-most-trusted-newspaper-in-britain-says-industry-report?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other …

Guardian most trusted newspaper in Britain, says industry report
News outlet reaches more than 23m UK adults every month, helped by free website

On November 27, the Guardian splashed with an eye-catching article, claiming that its journalists had seen an Ecuadorian intelligence agency document detailing that Manafort and Assange had met three times in the London Ecuadorian embassy, including during the run-up to the 2016 US Presidential Election.

The piece suggested that “Russians” were also guests at the embassy, though it failed to identify any individuals in question. The article also didn’t include any non-anonymous sources nor did it reproduce, in any capacity, the document in question. No police force or intelligence service has corroborated the story despite the Ecuadorian embassy being one of the most surveilled spots in London.

It is not surprising that a rabid anti-Russian is a fake news reporter. Much of the anti-Russian hysteria emanates from governmental sources, but, obviously, some of it comes from so-called 'journalist's' imaginations. Such people appear to be completely lacking in integrity and have no respect for truth.

Top Journalist at Reputable German Magazine Faked his Stories for Years

And MSM wonders why they are held in such little respect, even contempt

FILE PHOTO. © Reuters / Christian Charisius

One of Germany’s most popular papers, Der Spiegel, has found itself at the center of a scandal involving one of its top reporters who was caught fabricating elements of his stories.

Claas Relotius, who worked at Der Spiegel as a freelancer for 6 years until receiving a staff position in 2017, seemed to be a paragon of modern journalism. The 33-year-old has received numerous prestigious journalism awards, both in Germany and abroad.

Just this December he was awarded a prize by the German reporter’s association for his story about the life of a child in Syria. In 2014, Relotius was warmly welcomed by CNN who named him ‘Journalist of the Year.’

However, his seemingly brilliant career has turned out to be a house of cards that is now falling apart, just as it had with Stephen Glass: a former staff writer at the New Republic who authored one of the most spectacular fabrication campaigns in the history of American journalism.

It was recently revealed that Relotius literally made up details in his stories and even “invented protagonists” – people he had never met in person.

One of his colleagues who was working with Relotius on a story about the situation on the US-Mexican border grew suspicious of some of the details in the journalist’s report. The man then tracked down two alleged sources Relotius quoted extensively in his text, only to find out that none of them ever actually met him.

The subsequent investigation by Der Spiegel into Relotius’ activities also uncovered that he fabricated details in another story including a claim that he had seen a sign in a US town that read: “Mexicans keep out.” When faced with the incriminating evidence, the journalist confessed to faking elements of his texts – not just in one story, but in a number of them.

So far, at least 14 stories out of almost 60 pieces the journalist wrote for Der Spiegel’s print and online editions turned out to contain fake details, the magazine said, adding that that figure might potentially be higher, and warning that other media outlets might also be affected.

I have quoted Der Spiegel several times on this and on my other blog, however, Relotius name never appeared on any of the stories.

Over the years, Relotius worked for about a dozen German news outlets, including the well-known Die Welt, Die Zeit and Financial Times Germany. Notably, the list of his stories that were proven to be at least partially fake included several pieces that had won journalism awards, including stories about Iraqi children kidnapped by Islamic State and prisoners in Guantanamo.

In a lengthy article which serves as both a clarification of the case and an apology, Der Spiegel said it was “shocked” by the discovery and offered an apology to its readers along with all those affected by Relotius’ articles. It also described the situation as "a low point in Der Spiegel's 70-year history."

Relotius, who resigned after the fraud came to light, told Der Spiegel that he regretted his actions and felt “deeply ashamed.” Meanwhile, the magazine’s management has set up a special investigative commission consisting of what it calls “experienced internal and external persons” to look through all of the journalist’s pieces and prepare recommendations to improve “safety mechanisms.”