CNN faced $100M lawsuit over botched Russia story

[FakeNews]

The specter of a $100 million libel suit scared CNN into retracting a poorly reported story that slimed an ally of President Trump’s — and forcing out the staffers responsible for it, The Post has learned.

The cable network’s coverage of Trump transition team member Anthony Scaramucci came amid federal scrutiny of corporate parent Time Warner’s pending purchase by AT&T — and the widespread belief among media execs that CNN President Jeff Zucker can’t survive a merger. CNN immediately caved after Scaramucci, a financier and frequent network guest, cried foul and threatened to take legal action, sources said Tuesday.

In an Editor’s Note posted late Friday, CNN said the story had been deleted for not meeting “editorial standards,” with the network later revealing a “breakdown” in pre-publication vetting that typically involves “fact-checkers, journalism standards experts and lawyers.”

CNN’s retraction of the Scaramucci story was the latest in a string of recent embarrassments, including the firing earlier this month of “Believer” series host Reza Aslan after he called Trump a “piece of s–t” on Twitter.

The network also fired comedian Kathy Griffin — longtime co-host of its New Year’s Eve coverage — over a photo that showed her posing with a prop resembling Trump’s bloody, severed head, and had to own up to a story that incorrectly predicted what fired FBI Director James Comey would testify about before Congress.

http://nypost.com/2017/06/27/cnn-staffers-didnt-resign-over-retracted-story-they-got-fired/

 

[Rightguide]

Anthony probably would have won that one too.