AOL Owned Daily Finance Retracts Passage That Libeled Free Republic Over Child Pornography

Thursday, September 23, 2010 | Kristinn

[kristinn]

The AOL-owned site Daily Finance this morning retracted a passage in an article that falsely stated Free Republic hosted child pornography.

The article was about reporter John Cook leaving Yahoo News to return to Gawker. Included in Cook's reasons for leaving, according to Daily Finance reporter Jeff Bercovici, was that Yahoo would not allow him to write about Free Republic "hosting child pornography." The Salon.com article that was linked to support that claim actually stated that Free Republic did not host child pornography.

The offending Daily Finance passage now reads:

"... On similar grounds, he was prohibited from writing about the conservative website Free Republic being used to promote child pornography*..."

A correction added to the end of the article states:

CORRECTION: Originally, this story said Free Republic was hosting child pornography. According to the Salon article that I linked to, Free Republic was not hosting it but being used to direct readers to an outside site that hosted it."

Link to article exposing AOL's libel of FR posted last night.

Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post, who picked up the Daily Finance story last night, posted a clarification this morning. A request for a correction has been made to Nicholas Carlson at the Business Insider who also repeated the false statement by the AOL's Daily Finance.

[nhwingut]

Not much of a correction, never mind retraction. IMO.

The way they write it, FreeRepublic is a conduit/aggregator of porn. What a joke!

[Nickname]

You’re correct. Here are the comments thus far:

mantratx on Sep 22, 7:57 PM said:
This guy is pretty slimy. He admitted in his Daily KOS journal he added kiddie porn links to profile pages on the website “Free Republic” to play a game and test how long they would last. He then wrote an article accusing the site of hosting those links.. Real slimy fella.

mantratx on Sep 22, 8:07 PM said:
@mantratx:
At that, not only did he admit creating the account, in an article on Salon.com he documented with screen shots how he created accounts like “sexxlolitatweengirls” and added the links, again, all as a ‘test’. Slime ball to the max.

DebraMaxOne on Sep 22, 10:12 PM said:
@mantratx:
It was Salon.com not the Daily Kos, but other than that, I remember this.

Candace on Sep 22, 11:01 PM said:
@DebraMaxOne:
That article was written by Alex Parene. He noted that some one touting their porn site had been using the site for many years, that’s when he decided to register to see if the administrator would notice if some one tried to register with what looked like a blatant kiddie porn site. apparently the administrator did not notice.

The article was noting the irony of a site that intends to monitor morality, not monitoring the commenters on it’s own site.

http://www.businessinsider.com/john-cook-left-yahoo-because-they-wouldnt-let-him-write-about-masturbation-big-white-house-salaries-and-the-free-republics-child-porn-problem-2010-9

[MinuteGal]

By osmosis I'm suffering extreme emotional distress over this attack on FR.....maybe a little painful neck whiplash, also.

How about a class action suit filed by all of us against these arrogant AOL libtard moguls?

Class will always win out!

Leni

[null and void]

“This guy [John Cook] is pretty slimy. He admitted in his Daily KOS journal he added kiddie porn links to profile pages on the website ‘Free Republic’ to play a game and test how long they would last. He then wrote an article accusing the site of hosting those links.. Real slimy fella.”

Oh??????

Jim Thompson should know this...

[Kartographer]

” they can tar and feather on the front page, and retract on page B-22, below the fold, inside edge, left hand side six months later.”

On the same page as the zoning notices? ;-)

[proud American in Canada]

What if any one of you decide or is running for public office and you opponent printed a story that you are a member of an on line group with reported ties to child porn, what would be a serious and potentially candidate killing situation!

Absolutely! I hope Jim sues them for everything they've got.

[OB1kNOb]

If Jim’s legal team pursues this, FR may not have to host any fund drives for a good long while...............

[Marty62]

Kristinn,
Over the years, especially in the early years, Jim was great at getiing rid of the trolls and scammers.
This is not a retraction. Maybe it’s time to hire a bunch of Sharks to feed on these libelers?
M

[Kartographer]

Elizabeth honey, I'm sitt'n on a gold mine!"

[Lazamataz]

That was NOT a retraction.

That was simply a different lie.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Anybody can post a link to anything.

FR therefore promotes EVERYTHING!

[null and void]

Heck no! People actually read the zoning notices!

[proud American in Canada]

How about a class action suit filed by all of us against these arrogant AOL libtard moguls?

Excellent idea.

[SandRat]

If I was I’d want my own cut of the action in my hands. LOL

[JPG]

Don the battle gear and take ‘em down. Show no mercy. Make ‘em cry and beg.

[Tijeras_Slim]

“This guy [John Cook] is pretty slimy. He admitted in his Daily KOS journal he added kiddie porn links to profile pages on the website ‘Free Republic’ to play a game and test how long they would last. He then wrote an article accusing the site of hosting those links.. Real slimy fella.”

So this guy is visiting child porn sites, and linking to them? Sounds like a confession that the FBI might like to see. Sue his miserable butt and get him 20 in the slammer to boot.

[FReepaholic]

Actually it was Emily Litella not Rosanne Rosannadanna that said that.

[a fool in paradise]

Don’t Yahoo and Google direct web travellers to links containing porn?

Where is the hit piece on these websites?

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

Truth doesn’t matter to the left.

[Be Free]

One BILLION dollars!