Thursday, January 17, 2013

Reporter Ben Swann Smeared For Questioning Media's Sandy Hook Narrative

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Reporter Ben Swann Smeared For Questioning Medias Sandy Hook Narrative

Ben Swann is an anchor for Fox 19 in Cincinnati. According to his bio, Swann has been the recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award and two Emmys for his work. He is not a sensationalistic reporter. He is not out to "get clicks" at the expense of his integrity. Swann is, quite possibly, the last bastion of journalistic integrity in America today.

I first started following him last year when I saw one of the segments in his "Reality Check" series during the political primary season. I found Swann to be engaging and honest. He never issued verdicts, but rather always presented the facts as they stood and asked questions to engage the viewer in critical thought.

Salon published a piece on Monday about him, attempting to disguise itself as balanced, but it falters throughout. The author, Alex Seitz-Wald, repeatedly portrays Swann's commentary with a not-so-subtle amount of sarcasm. It is quite obvious that Ben Swann is striking a nerve with the national media.


His latest piece, via his web-based, "Full Disclosure" series, does not allude to any of the shootings being a "false flag" or a "hoax." However, it does what we the people should demand of journalists — it asks questions. Swann asks how so many eyewitnesses can claim to see multiple shooters at these events, and somehow all we get is a lone gunman narrative, every single time.

Swann ends his piece by asking the authorities to release the video of the gunmen in the Aurora and Sandy Hook shootings. These closed circuit videos will conclusively prove the official stories and silence all "multiple gunmen" theorists. So why not release the footage? There is nothing abjectly terrifying about a video showing Adam Lanza driving up to the front of the school, getting out with his rifle, and breaking the glass on a door. So just show us.

Instead, we get nothing from anyone except the folks at Salon and whoever else decides to test the waters by trying to discredit Ben Swann as a lunatic truther.

Swann offered the following statement via his Facebook page:
It is truly, deeply saddening to me how the smear machine works. There are a number of articles that are attempting to blame me to those who are "terrorizing the families of Sandy Hook victims." The blame comes from a piece I did calling for surveillance video to be released from Colorado theater, and from Sandy Hook. BTW, a group of journalists and Colorado have called for the same thing.. are they being smeared? The lawyer for 7 families suing Cinemark is asking for that video to no avail... is he being smeared? The timing of these multiple articles that link me to those claiming no children actually died and that the families are all actors are intellectually dishonest. And yet the people sending emails to my employer seem to be part of a bigger attempt to discredit and smear, not on the basis of MY story but on the basis of a Headline.

Ben Swann, the journalist, has never done anything to lead me to believe that he is anything but honest. His stories are always balanced and factual. He avoids injecting opinions, but rather presents facts and offers critical thinking questions for the viewers to ponder. What is wrong with that?

http://www.policymic.com/articles/23449/reporter-ben-swann-smeared-for-questioning-media-s-sandy-hook-narrative