10-17-2009 McCLATCHY WATCH: REALLY AARON? The Web site McClatchy Watch has been following the ongoing saga of the KC Star's Aaron Barnhart saga and FOX. And while Barnhart is now praising himself profusely for suddenly finding a disputed email from FOX News (stories below), McClatchy Watch is questioning Barnhart's journalistic reporting that started the entire controversy: "Barnhart boasted Friday, "... there�s no disputing that the tweet was a spot-on paraphrase," says McClatchy Watch. "Really, Aaron? I'd put the tweet in the smart-aleck category, not the honest reporting category. "If Barnhart had stuck to tweeting the the facts -- instead of tweeting misleading snark -- he wouldn't have found himself quoted as a source by Keith Olberman on one of his anti-Glenn Beck tirades."
Aaron Barnhart
10-15-2009 BARNHART CLAIMS HE DELETED CONTROVERSIAL EMAIL, BUT HAS NOW FOUND IT Kansas City Star TV critic Aaron Barnhart loves to receive national media exposure. However, the kind of national exposure he has received over an email he claims to have received from FOX News is not the kind of attention he normally relishes. It all started when Barnhart claimed he received an email from FOX News PR folks saying that host Glenn Beck was going to talk about a controversial topic on his show. Barnhart promptly "tweeted" that information which was picked up the Huffington Post and by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, who quoted Barnhart in a nasty diatribe attacking Beck. However, FOX staffers said they never sent the email to Barnhart. In fact, they publicly demanded that he produce the email to show he was not lying. At first Barnhart tried to laugh it off (below). That tactic did not work well. Now Barnhart has a simple explanation on his blog: He received the email, but deleted it. "Apologies to my media friends who have inquired this week and gotten the brush-off from me, because what we were talking about was this inconvenient little truth: I deleted the email!" explained Barnhart on his site. And now, three days later, Barnhart reports that he suddenly has found the email on his TVBarn site. We can't wait to hear future iterations of this story... Game, set, match to FOX News staffers...
Fox is challenging Barnhart whether this tweet is true.
10-14-2009 AARON BARNHART'S CREDIBILITY CHALLENGED BY FOX NEWS OVER ALLEGED 'TWEET' The Kansas City Star's TV critic Aaron Barnhart, who refers to himself as a "professional blogger" compared to virtually all other bloggers, may have been caught stretching the truth by 'tweeting' that Fox News had 'tweeted' him a tip that Glenn Beck was going "to be raising fears on his show tonight." The Huffington Post then quoted Barnhart and then MSNBC's Keith Olbermann ran with Barnhart's tweet and used it to blast Beck (right). Unfortunately for Barnhart's credibility, Fox News has flatly denied it ever sent that message him. In fact the Fox people are telling him to either put up or shut up. �... unless he (Barnhart) produces the alleged email from the Fox News PR department, it is safe to assume he was caught making things up,� Fox told the Web site Mediaite, which has done a complete article on the controversy. Mediaite has said Barnhart has refused to respond to repeated emails and phone calls, "So we don�t know the truth here, only that he hasn�t fully explained why he�d tweet something that he claims came from the PR department at Fox but refuses to back that claim up with proof, now that Fox is denying it." According to Mediaite, "Barnhart, who is, ironically, on the board of the Television Critics Association, has since called his tweet a �smartass comment,� implying that he may have exaggerated or sensationalized the words of his Fox News contact, fooling Olbermann in the process."
10-14-2009 FEEDBACK HONEST NEWSPAPER "I can't help but wonder what our community would be like if it had an honest newspaper focused on reporting local news in an even-handed manner." --John Altevogt
10-16-2009 SNARKINESS "I'll grant that this isn't Aaron Barnhart's finest moment, but now that he's found the email, I fail to see why this is "Game, Set, Match" for Fox News. It's only "Game, Set, Match" if Barnhart is lying about the whole thing. Now that he's produced a picture of the email, I think it would not be hard for other recipients to confirm whether or not they received the email in question. "Your first and last sentences contain snarkiness and pettiness. I usually see better work than this on your blog."
10-18-2009 BORING WEEK "The TV Barn thing... boring.Must have been a slow week.Its hard to imagine Faux News being misquoted about anything.Such jackasses."
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