A few years ago the Clinton News Network (CNN) proclaimed Claas Relotius, a reporter and editor for Der Spiegel the Journalist of the year. Claas admits to fabricating parts of at least 14 stories (so far). “Parts,” being subjective. At least one story he penned titled, ‘Where they pray for Trump on Sundays’ was mostly lies and only partial truth.
Both Anderson and Krohn went on to reveal that the article doesn’t contain any truth except for the town’s population, the average temperature, and names of the businesses or public figures.
Nearly everything else, including a coal plant employee named Neil Becker, who doesn’t actually exist, or quotes from a restaurant employee, who was falsely called the owner of a restaurant and whose son was given a fictional illness, was made up.
At least he didn’t win a Pulitzer for his fake news. That’s happened.
Claas has instead resigned, quit, been ushered out, or let go, depending on how you read it. Derecruited. Disemployed. Unretained. For his part, his former employer quotes him as saying, “I am sick and I need to get help.”
CNN has a therapy suggestion. Your own hour in prime time on their network. But hold out. MSNBC might offer you more.
