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I'll have to listen to the podcast, but I think you're way off in thinking this kind of story makes careers. Journalists take their credibility very seriously a

I'll have to listen to the podcast, but I think you're way off in thinking this kind of story makes careers. Journalists take their credibility very seriously and this story doesn't have it, at least not yet if it ever will. Going with a story that hasn't been vetted marks a serious journalist as a dupe for the rest of their lives.

blhack 6y ago
What do you mean this story hasn't been vetted? One of the major players in the story has gone on record, giving an approximately 45 minute long interview verifying the claims. The FBI and DNI have also both confirmed the validity of the laptop. How much more "verified" than that would you need?
- ehsankia 6y ago
  The same FBI claims Giuliani is being used by foreign nations to influence our elections. What's your source? https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/giuliani-biden-ukraine-russian-disinformation/2020/10/15/43158900-0ef5-11eb-b1e8-16b59b92b36d_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/giuliani-bi...
  - blhack 6y ago
    The source is the Director of National Intelligence: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/fbi-hunter-biden-laptop-russia/2020/10/20/3478408a-133d-11eb-bc10-40b25382f1be_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/fbi-hunter-...
    - af16090 6y ago
      I don't see anything in that article that indicates that "[t]he FBI and DNI have also both confirmed the validity of the laptop". From the article: > Appearing Monday on Fox Business Channel, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said “there is no intelligence that supports” the idea that the purported Hunter Biden laptop and the emails on it “are part of a Russian disinformation campaign.” Absence of intelligence that the laptop is "part of a Russian disinformation campaign" doesn't mean that the contents of the laptop are genuine. That statement still leaves open a bunch of possibilities including that the contents of the laptop were faked by non-Russians, were faked by the Russians but the US doesn't have intelligence confirming it, etc. As for the FBI, they say "we have nothing to add" to the DNI's statement and that "the FBI can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any ongoing investigation". Nothing in the FBI's letter says anything about the laptop's contents being genuine.
      - seppin 6y ago
        What he meant to say was: "the FBI has confirmed there is a laptop". They have no commented at all about what's on it, only to say that these emails and salacious photos were being shopped around Ukraine last year and were most likely stolen at a different time. https://time.com/5902557/hunter-biden-rudy-giuliani-ukraine/ https://time.com/5902557/hunter-biden-rudy-giuliani-ukraine/
    - ModernMech 6y ago
      Director of National Intelligence a.k.a. Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe. Do you see the problem here? "John Ratcliffe, then a lawmaker from Texas, promised senators skeptical of his vocal support for President Trump that he would be “entirely apolitical as the director of national intelligence.” A few months into his tenure, Mr. Ratcliffe has emerged as anything but. He has approved selective declassifications of intelligence that aim to score political points, left Democratic lawmakers out of briefings, accused congressional opponents of leaks, offered Republican operatives top spots in his headquarters and made public assertions that contradicted professional intelligence assessments." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/us/politics/john-ratcliffe-intelligence.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/us/politics/john-ratcliff... Just last week he had the FBI director stand behind him while he ad-libbed about how Iran was attacking our elections to help Trump (an off the cuff assertion that he didn't clear with the FBI director when he was shown the prepared remarks). He is not credible.
  - Natsu 6y ago
    > The same FBI claims Checks article: > four former officials familiar with the matter. I don't think we can call four anonymous sources the 'same FBI'.
__blockcipher__ 6y ago
You're propagating disinfo - in the real sense of the word, not the modern Orwellian meaning - with this line of criticism. Because this is a story that has absolutely been vetted, but the issue is all of the left-leaning mainstream media (read: literally everyone except parts of Fox News) have absolutely refused to cover this story. Do you really believe if the same story were about a member of the Trump family, that NPR would refuse to cover it? One more point on credibility - we literally have videos, images, text messages, e-mails of which the other recipients have been confirmed - this is all basically undeniable at this point. So the only question is, is the actual story of how the material was obtained (the laptop repair shop) true, or was the material hacked and then they basically used parallel construction to hide the true origins? That's a fine question to ask, but if you think that the material itself is false that's just completely incredible.
- ehsankia 6y ago
  Take a minute to step back. What do you think is more probable. That every single news organization out there, every single journalist, including NPR as you mention, are trying to hide this very real story and are wrong, while the one publication is in the right. Or that maybe, just maybe, it's the other way around and NYP published something that has not been well vetted?
  - blhack 6y ago
    Every single journalist? What about Glenn Greenwald? How about Matt Taibi?
    - ehsankia 6y ago
      Err, sorry I meant publication. What other large real publication has been willing to back up NYP?
      - __blockcipher__ 6y ago
        No mainstream publication has been willing to do so. And IMO, that should be seen as an indictment of the state of the modern corporate press, as opposed to an indication that the story lacks veracity. As we've seen repeatedly over the last four years, the mainstream media is happy to amplify absurd stories - the Trump "suckers and losers" story which was quickly debunked, the entire Russia Collusion narrative, etc - if it serves their own interests. So to view what is reported in the mainstream media as the barometer of what is true is to commit an enormous error.

blhack 6y ago

What do you mean this story hasn't been vetted? One of the major players in the story has gone on record, giving an approximately 45 minute long interview verifying the claims. The FBI and DNI have also both confirmed the validity of the laptop. How much more "verified" than that would you need?

ehsankia 6y ago
The same FBI claims Giuliani is being used by foreign nations to influence our elections. What's your source? https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/giuliani-biden-ukraine-russian-disinformation/2020/10/15/43158900-0ef5-11eb-b1e8-16b59b92b36d_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/giuliani-bi...
- blhack 6y ago
  The source is the Director of National Intelligence: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/fbi-hunter-biden-laptop-russia/2020/10/20/3478408a-133d-11eb-bc10-40b25382f1be_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/fbi-hunter-...
  - af16090 6y ago
    I don't see anything in that article that indicates that "[t]he FBI and DNI have also both confirmed the validity of the laptop". From the article: > Appearing Monday on Fox Business Channel, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said “there is no intelligence that supports” the idea that the purported Hunter Biden laptop and the emails on it “are part of a Russian disinformation campaign.” Absence of intelligence that the laptop is "part of a Russian disinformation campaign" doesn't mean that the contents of the laptop are genuine. That statement still leaves open a bunch of possibilities including that the contents of the laptop were faked by non-Russians, were faked by the Russians but the US doesn't have intelligence confirming it, etc. As for the FBI, they say "we have nothing to add" to the DNI's statement and that "the FBI can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any ongoing investigation". Nothing in the FBI's letter says anything about the laptop's contents being genuine.
    - seppin 6y ago
      What he meant to say was: "the FBI has confirmed there is a laptop". They have no commented at all about what's on it, only to say that these emails and salacious photos were being shopped around Ukraine last year and were most likely stolen at a different time. https://time.com/5902557/hunter-biden-rudy-giuliani-ukraine/ https://time.com/5902557/hunter-biden-rudy-giuliani-ukraine/
  - ModernMech 6y ago
    Director of National Intelligence a.k.a. Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe. Do you see the problem here? "John Ratcliffe, then a lawmaker from Texas, promised senators skeptical of his vocal support for President Trump that he would be “entirely apolitical as the director of national intelligence.” A few months into his tenure, Mr. Ratcliffe has emerged as anything but. He has approved selective declassifications of intelligence that aim to score political points, left Democratic lawmakers out of briefings, accused congressional opponents of leaks, offered Republican operatives top spots in his headquarters and made public assertions that contradicted professional intelligence assessments." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/us/politics/john-ratcliffe-intelligence.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/us/politics/john-ratcliff... Just last week he had the FBI director stand behind him while he ad-libbed about how Iran was attacking our elections to help Trump (an off the cuff assertion that he didn't clear with the FBI director when he was shown the prepared remarks). He is not credible.
- Natsu 6y ago
  > The same FBI claims Checks article: > four former officials familiar with the matter. I don't think we can call four anonymous sources the 'same FBI'.

__blockcipher__ 6y ago

You're propagating disinfo - in the real sense of the word, not the modern Orwellian meaning - with this line of criticism. Because this is a story that has absolutely been vetted, but the issue is all of the left-leaning mainstream media (read: literally everyone except parts of Fox News) have absolutely refused to cover this story. Do you really believe if the same story were about a member of the Trump family, that NPR would refuse to cover it? One more point on credibility - we literally have videos, images, text messages, e-mails of which the other recipients have been confirmed - this is all basically undeniable at this point. So the only question is, is the actual story of how the material was obtained (the laptop repair shop) true, or was the material hacked and then they basically used parallel construction to hide the true origins? That's a fine question to ask, but if you think that the material itself is false that's just completely incredible.

ehsankia 6y ago
Take a minute to step back. What do you think is more probable. That every single news organization out there, every single journalist, including NPR as you mention, are trying to hide this very real story and are wrong, while the one publication is in the right. Or that maybe, just maybe, it's the other way around and NYP published something that has not been well vetted?
- blhack 6y ago
  Every single journalist? What about Glenn Greenwald? How about Matt Taibi?
  - ehsankia 6y ago
    Err, sorry I meant publication. What other large real publication has been willing to back up NYP?
    - __blockcipher__ 6y ago
      No mainstream publication has been willing to do so. And IMO, that should be seen as an indictment of the state of the modern corporate press, as opposed to an indication that the story lacks veracity. As we've seen repeatedly over the last four years, the mainstream media is happy to amplify absurd stories - the Trump "suckers and losers" story which was quickly debunked, the entire Russia Collusion narrative, etc - if it serves their own interests. So to view what is reported in the mainstream media as the barometer of what is true is to commit an enormous error.