Journalism is in the Toilet

[GMDino]

(03-16-2021, 06:49 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall listening to the audio and hearing Trump asking the GA SoS to find the number of votes he needed to win Georgia.

You're right.  That's a different, longer call.

https://www.vox.com/2021/3/16/22333805/washington-post-correction-trump-georgia

Quote:On January 3, the Washington Post’s Amy Gardner broke the news that, in an hourlong recorded phone call, President Donald Trump repeatedly pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to somehow change the results in the state to deliver him a victory. The Post published the full audio and transcript of that call, and it received enormous media attention.


Six days later, in the wake of the storming of the Capitol, Gardner broke a follow-up story revealing that Trump had a similar phone call with another Georgia official, Raffensperger’s lead investigator Frances Watson. This time around, there was no audio or transcript of that call available, so Gardner’s story was attributed to an an anonymous state official. The official claimed that, on the call, Trump said Watson should “find the fraud” and could become a “national hero” by doing so.


But according to a newly surfaced recording of the call with Watson, Trump did not in fact use those exact words. He did say she could find “dishonesty” in Fulton County, and that “when the right answer comes out, you’ll be praised.” But the language of the quotes the Post attributed to Trump were not accurate. As a result, the Post had to run a prominent correction. Trump and conservatives are now scorning the paper, and even some mainstream reporters are looking askance and wondering how it happened.


The correction was merited — it’s important for reporters (and their sources) to be careful in attributing exact language in quotes. And it is unfortunate that these incorrect quotes spread so widely. (Vox also wrote about the Post story in an article that has now been corrected.)


However, Trump has used the correction to claim in a statement that “the original story was a Hoax, right from the very beginning,” which is untrue. The original story that got so much attention was Trump’s call with Raffensperger, for which we had the full and accurate transcript all along. It has not been corrected. Furthermore, it remains the case that Trump did in fact call Watson to insist he won the state and that she should turn up evidence revealing fraud. “The country is counting on it,” he said.


Overall, the Post’s correction changes what we know about the exact words Trump said to Watson, but it doesn’t fundamentally change our understanding of what Trump was saying to Georgia state officials at the time.

Of course Trump is now claiming that the ENTIRE story was a "hoax" because now we know exactly what was said vs the original source.

The new information is because they found a copy of the audio on a computer.

So now we have actual wording which isn't that different than the original reports.

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Recording-reveals-details-of-Trump-call-to-16018856.php

Quote:The Washington Post reported on the substance of Trump's Dec. 23 call in January, describing him saying that Watson should "find the fraud" and that she would be a "national hero," based on an account from Jordan Fuchs, the deputy secretary of state, whom Watson briefed on his comments.


In fact, he did not use those precise words.


Rather, Trump urged the investigator to scrutinize Fulton County, where she would find "dishonesty," he said.


He also said, "whatever you can do, Frances, it would be - it's a great thing. It's an important thing for the country. So important. You've no idea. So important. And I very much appreciate it."
When The Post first reported on the call, state officials said they did not believe that a recording existed. Officials located the recording on a trash folder on Watson's device while responding to a public records request, according to a person familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the internal process.


Watson has not responded to requests for comment. The Post originally withheld her name because of the risk of threats and harassment directed at election officials.

A spokesman for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In other words "journalism" reported on the story and as more information has come to light the specifics have been noted and changed.  As good journalism should do.  It's like a police officer doing an investigation and finding out new, better evidence and changing how they approach the event they are looking in to. 

Here is the transcript of the call.

https://www.businessinsider.com/transcript-trump-pressures-another-georgia-elections-official-to-find-fraud-2021-3

The call from Trump was still uncalled for and he still sounds pitiful.