VIDEO: Students call BuzzFeed article 'sketchy,' 'unethical'
The students called BuzzFeed's approach to the story "sketchy" and "unethical," but said they were not surprised that the outlet would publish "fake news" to advance its political agenda.
Georgetown University students who spoke with Campus Reform recently blasted BuzzFeed for publishing an unverified, anonymously-sourced report containing scurrilous accusations against Donald Trump.
Even college students think BuzzFeed News embarrassed itself by printing scurrilous, unsubstantiated allegations against Donald Trump.
The outlet is under fire for publishing an unverified, anonymously-sourced report that alleges that Trump is being blackmailed by the Russian government, with perhaps the most humiliating accusations in the unverified dossier accusing Trump of engaging in lewd sex acts with prostitutes while staying in Moscow, leading to the trending hashtag “#GoldenShowerGate.”
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Journalists slammed BuzzFeed for publishing the piece, arguing that it was journalistic malpractice to publish reports that cannot be verified and that BuzzFeed itself admits they have serious doubts about the veracity of the piece.
To find out whether millennials shared that skeptical sentiment, Campus Reform spoke with students at Georgetown University, who overwhelmingly deemed BuzzFeed’s actions unsavory, with many students calling them “unethical” and “sketchy.”
“They’re not being real journalists at this point,” one student declared, “but what can you expect from BuzzFeed?”
“We have journalistic ethics for a reason,” another argued. “One of those reasons is to make sure things are true before they’re given to the public.”
Still another student likened the BuzzFeed piece to “fake news,” saying it was frustrating to see the hypocrisy of leftists calling out fake news while engaging in it themselves.
“With the left having been so vocal about fake news being detrimental to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, I think it’s a little bit frustrating to see that same kind of flippancy being used to forward narratives about Donald Trump,” he explained.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @amber_athey
