After Falling for Fake “Friends of Hamas,” Ben Shapiro Calls Real Journalist a “Hack”

Right wing journalism
Wingnuts • Views: 32,701

New York Daily News journalist Dan Friedman recounts the tale of how he joked about a ridiculously-named fake group called “Friends of Hamas” with a Republican aide, then watched as breitbart.com hack Ben Shapiro uncritically and unprofessionally reported it as a fact: ‘Friends of Hamas’: My Role in the Birth of a Rumor.

On Feb. 6, I called a Republican aide on Capitol Hill with a question: Did Hagel’s Senate critics know of controversial groups that he had addressed?

Hagel was in hot water for alleged hostility to Israel. So, I asked my source, had Hagel given a speech to, say, the “Junior League of Hezbollah, in France”? And: What about “Friends of Hamas”?

The names were so over-the-top, so linked to terrorism in the Middle East, that it was clear I was talking hypothetically and hyperbolically. No one could take seriously the idea that organizations with those names existed — let alone that a former senator would speak to them.

Friedman wasn’t counting on the incredibly obsessed Breitbrats, for whom journalism is a retreating speck in the rear view mirror.

How do you imagine Ben Shapiro will react to the news that his bombshell exclusive story was a ludicrous fraud?

By raging at Friedman and calling him a “hack” and a member of the “Obama media,” of course! In the right wing universe, no mistakes are ever acknowledged, even when everyone can see the egg all over your face.

NY DAILY NEWS HACK POSITS HE’S SOURCE OF ‘FRIENDS OF HAMAS,’ LIES BY OMISSION!!!

For bonus hilarity, check out the comments for Shapiro’s rant.

Oh really, well my source says that Ben Shapiro is cynical charlatan who doesn’t care how ridiculous he looks in the eyes of his peers, as long as the checks keep clearing.

Ben, maybe this works for now (I’m sure you’ve got a family to feed)… but eventually, I recommend you try actual journalism. You know, the kind where you ask the question “Is this actually true?” then you try to answer that question honestly and in good faith. Radical, I know. And not much money in it. But you’d be doing a good thing. Does that appeal to you? Probably not, right?

[…]

Wasn’t too long ago that Breitbart was parading little Ben out as the new braintrust, after letting him loose on the lamestream media to take on big phonies like Piers Morgan. Lol, that house of cards collapsed pretty swiftly.

[…]

I’m pleased to see how many commenters are beating up on Shapiro. I’m having fun too.

But we all need to remember that “facts and truth” isn’t the goal of Breitbart articles. If a lie serves their ideology then lie they will.

Few on the right will hold Shapiro in less regard for his dishonesty, they might hold him in less regard though because he wasn’t clever enough to hide it.

[…]

The ability to mock someone in real time while they double down on their stupidity has to be one of the greatest benefits of the internet. Right, Manti Shapiro?

[…]

It’s always been obvious that Shapiro isn’t a journalist, now it’s clear he’s an inept blogger.

[…]

As long as Shapiro is the Editor on this site, it will never gain credibility.

A classic in the annals of mean-spirited Breitbrat idiocy. But remember, this is not the first time one of their blatantly false stories has been circulated as fact by right wing groups: NRA Cites Breitbart.com to Falsely Claim School Attended by Obama’s Daughters Has ‘11 Armed Guards’.

What effect will this have on breitbart.com’s credibility among right wingers? None. It’s not about credibility to the right, it’s about smearing their opponents with everything they can find, true or not, accurate or not.

It’s very possible that some Republican staffer deliberately pushed this fake story out to Ben Shapiro and breitbart.com, because they knew the brats have no standards and would immediately run with it. Then they could use it as a source for their attacks on Hagel.

A neat little Moebius strip of right wing fake outrage.

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