(PatriotWise.com) — The mainstream media covered up the reason why an ABC reporter had his home raided by the FBI last year. James Gordon Meek had his laptop seized by the FBI in October. Soon afterward, Rolling Stone magazine tweeted, “Emmy-winning ABC News producer James Gordon Meek had his home raided by the FBI. His colleagues say they haven’t seen him since.” An accompanying report claimed that Meek had gotten on the “wrong side of the national security apparatus.” However, it has now been revealed that the true reason for the warrant on Meek was the possession of images of child abuse.
The author of the Rolling Stone report had apparently included the child abuse aspect of the case in her initial draft, but this was removed at the editing stage. The editor, Noah Shachtman, is said to be friendly with Meek and preferred to push a “national security” story than to expose the truth. In a report by NPR, Rolling Stone sought to present the story as an attack on journalism by the federal government and completely misrepresented readers by doing so. The NPR report states that Shachtman removed “all suggestions that the investigation was not related to Meek’s reporting.”
It is not the first time that Rolling Stone has been criticized for promoting stories that appear to be pushing an agenda. In 2014, the magazine published a story alleging a serious assault at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at the University of Virginia. A young woman had claimed to have been assaulted by seven men which led to a ferocious backlash against the fraternity. Protests took place on the university campus and members of the fraternity suffered harassment and reputational damage. The case was the subject of wide media speculation, including social media commentary from political figures. It later emerged however that the woman had fabricated the attack and a defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone ended in a settlement worth $1.65 million.
Copyright 2023, PatriotWise.com
