Three Journalists Resign From CNN Following Russia Story Retraction

Three CNN journalists have resigned after
the network retracted a story linking a top
President Trump adviser to a Russian
investment bank.




CNN, which Trump has
frequently referred to as "fake news", has
come under a lot of criticism since
retracting the story and making apologies.




Thomas Frank (the author of the story), Eric
Lichtblau (an editor in the CNN investigative
unit that ran the story), and Lex Haris (who
oversaw the unit) have all left CNN, the
network made this known on Monday.




"In the aftermath of the retraction of a
story published on CNN.com, CNN has
accepted the resignations of the employees
involved in the story's publication," a CNN
spokesman said on Monday.




It is believed this move would help CNN's
legal position in case of a lawsuit.




The
retracted story connected Anthony
Scaramucci, a top Trump ally, to a Russian
investment fund run by a bank controlled
by the Kremlin.




CNN carried out an internal
investigation and reportedly discovered
that normal editorial processes weren't
followed in the story's editing and
publication.




It was also found that only one anonymous
source was used in the story, and things
such as fact checkers which CNN use in
verifying their stories, were reportedly not
used before publication.



The network said
that the result of the internal investigation
does not necessarily mean that the facts of
the story were wrong but the issue was
that the piece was not strong enough to
run as is.



Following the findings of the internal
investigations and the retraction of the
story, CNN added strict rules for its Russia
coverage.



The network also apologized to
Anthony Scaramucci.


"On June 22, 2017, CNN.com published a
story connecting Anthony Scaramucci with
investigations into the Russian Direct
Investment Fund," CNN said in a statement.




"That story did not meet CNN's editorial
standards and has been retracted. Links to
the story have been disabled. CNN
apologizes to Mr. Scaramucci."




A source close to CNN told BuzzFeed that
the story's publication was a "massive,
massive f--- up and people will be
disciplined."