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Radio Talk Host Admits To Deliberately Spreading False Information
Let me state two things right off the top:
1) I've never heard of Adam Stirling, a talk show host at CFAX radio, an iHeart station owned by Bell in Victoria.
2) I'm no fan of Rebel Media and its owner, Ezra Levant.
But in a post on Twitter earlier this month, Stirling admits to deliberately spreading a serious falsehood about Levant and his organization and letting it lay in public for almost a decade. In a remarkable Tweet, likely forced by a court order, Stirling has finally confessed he made the entire thing up and deliberately did not admit it until now.
The reason I even bother mentioning this is how much it surprises me. If we're going to justifiably call out Fox News for knowingly spreading falsehoods, then we should also call out someone from the other side who does the same thing. I don't think it will cost Mr. Stirling his job, but it certainly will cost him his credibility.
Radio people on the left or the right should not be doing this. It hurts the entire industry. It's shameful no matter what your politics. Levant does enough to earn criticism. Lying about it only gives him more ammunition. Either way, it was a stupid thing to do.
This stuff has to stop on both sides.
Here's the apology Tweet and the admission:
- paterson1
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Re: Radio Talk Host Admits To Deliberately Spreading False Information
It is a mystery why people when they are wrong, deliberately misinform or lie, almost never admit it. Why Mr. Stirling would do what he did doesn't make sense, but at least seven years later he publicly apologizes, comes clean and moves on.
Ezra Levant to his credit didn't let this eat him up with anger and bitterness. His ask for a donation to the Wood Buffalo Food Bank was a great idea and gesture.
Now let's hope, and we should expect to hear, a similar admission of guilt, honesty and a sincere apology from Mr. Murdoch and his television network. The lawsuits will continue, but it is also time to move on.
- newsguy1
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Re: Radio Talk Host Admits To Deliberately Spreading False Information
Levant has been convicted multiple times for doing the same thing -- libeling and slandering.
He has also been accused of libel and slander even more times and not been found guilty.
His Rebel News is a filthy and disgusting phony news organization, but that's freedom of speech I guess.
I have also never heard of Adam Stirling but he's an idiot for what he did and yes it makes for sympathy for-far right racists.
At least it's good to see that Rebel News remains relegated to the Internet and not broadcasting as it did when it was disguised as "Sun News Network."
As for Adam Stirling, I'm amazed he was not fired for what he did.
When I worked in Victoria years ago CFAX was considered a model of integrity.
.
- Hansa
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Re: Radio Talk Host Admits To Deliberately Spreading False Information
paterson1 wrote:
It is a mystery why people when they are wrong, deliberately misinform or lie, almost never admit it. Why Mr. Stirling would do what he did doesn't make sense, but at least seven years later he publicly apologizes, comes clean and moves on.
Ezra Levant to his credit didn't let this eat him up with anger and bitterness. His ask for a donation to the Wood Buffalo Food Bank was a great idea and gesture.
Now let's hope, and we should expect to hear, a similar admission of guilt, honesty and a sincere apology from Mr. Murdoch and his television network. The lawsuits will continue, but it is also time to move on.
It's a bit more complicated than that. There were a number of concerns raised about Levant's fundraising around this incident - which I will not get into here for obvious reasons - and Levant sued two people for raising concerns. Looks like this Stirling is agreeing to say whatever Levant wants him to say in order to make the lawsuit go away. But yes, Levant has been found liable a number of times for defamation -details on his Wikipedia page - so spare your tears for Ezra's reputation.
I would wait for the outcome of Levant v Day before coming to any conclusions since it is Day's claims this broadcaster was repeating and Day isn't backing down. You can read Day's version of events on the case here:
Last edited by Hansa (May 18, 2023 6:32 pm)