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Fox News apologizes for using debunked coronavirus story
Source: Associated Press
Fox News apologizes for using debunked coronavirus story
By DAVID BAUDER and TRAVIS LOLLER
September 21, 2020
NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News Channel apologized on Monday “for any confusion” in reporting a now-debunked story about the mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, supposedly concealing the number of coronavirus cases linked to bars and restaurants in that city because they were so low.
The story came from a Thursday report by Nashville’s Fox affiliate WZTV on “leaked emails” that the station retracted late Friday upon learning that they didn’t mean what its reporter thought they did.
The story spread among national conservative commentators as a supposed example of the harm of coronavirus restrictions. It was the lead segment on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Thursday night and “Fox & Friends” devoted time to it the following morning.
A fact-check done Friday by The Nashville Tennessean debunked the WZTV reporting, which was retweeted by Donald Trump Jr. and led to Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican, to publicly call for an investigation into Mayor John Cooper, a Democrat.
The station’s story quoted an exchange between a Nashville health official and a representative of the mayor’s office, where the health expert sought and received assurance that coronavirus data linked to specific bars and restaurants would not be released to the public.
-snip-
By DAVID BAUDER and TRAVIS LOLLER
September 21, 2020
NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News Channel apologized on Monday “for any confusion” in reporting a now-debunked story about the mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, supposedly concealing the number of coronavirus cases linked to bars and restaurants in that city because they were so low.
The story came from a Thursday report by Nashville’s Fox affiliate WZTV on “leaked emails” that the station retracted late Friday upon learning that they didn’t mean what its reporter thought they did.
The story spread among national conservative commentators as a supposed example of the harm of coronavirus restrictions. It was the lead segment on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Thursday night and “Fox & Friends” devoted time to it the following morning.
A fact-check done Friday by The Nashville Tennessean debunked the WZTV reporting, which was retweeted by Donald Trump Jr. and led to Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican, to publicly call for an investigation into Mayor John Cooper, a Democrat.
The station’s story quoted an exchange between a Nashville health official and a representative of the mayor’s office, where the health expert sought and received assurance that coronavirus data linked to specific bars and restaurants would not be released to the public.
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/d8370b1bab309d954a8b6b7fb5547d39