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crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
The Plum Line is reporting that Fox News has issued an online correction of the Kevin Jennings article, making sure to include information to include the defense of the young man (Brewster) whom Jennings supposedly gave advice to in 1988. The statement is important because many have accused Jennings of “condoning statutory rape:”
When Jennings was a young teacher a teenager confided in him about having sex with a stranger and Jennings didn’t report it to authorities. Jennings has said he regrets his actions.
The “statutory rape” charge is based on the assertion that the kid was 15 years old at the time, a claim originally floated, wrongly, by Jennings himself, and continuously amplified by Fox News and the right even after it had been corrected.
On Friday Media Matters produced what it said was the kid’s drivers license, showing that the kid was 16, legal age of consent in Massachuttes, and also produced a Facebook exchange that seemed to show that a Fox News reporter had been informed directly by the kid himself that they’d misrepresented his age.
Fox News has now issued an online correction.
Plum Line now asks a very appropriate question: since Sean Hannity heavily pushed the claim of statutory rape, will he make a correction.
In that same vein, I asked the exact question about the site Politico. In a recent article, Glenn Thrush said that U.S. Rep. Steven King (R-Iowa) was demanding Jennings' dismissal.
Thrush, unfortunately, pushed the inaccurate claim that Brewster was 15-years-old.
I emailed Thrush informing him of his error and he has updated his article making the change.
Editor's note – Those who want to aid Jennings can join the Support Kevin Jennings facebook group. It refutes all of the lies lodged against him.
8 Comments
Wow! I am going to faint. But how about……apologies and retractions from the bloviating fucktards on Teh Veh? Too much to ask I suppose.
Oops. I just read Faux’s ‘Retraction’It reads as no such thing. They completely deemphasise the age issue, and then simply devote the rest of the article to quoting wingnut smears.
They are truly shit snakes.
Fox News should be sued by Jenningsfor defamation both criminal libel (written online) and slander (as reported on camera) because these people knew that they were reporting false information.
No way Hannity will apologize.Like his beloved pope, he is infallible.
That was no correction…All they did was say that the kid was 16 instead of 15. At no time did they mention that 16 is the age of consent nor that the boy himself stated plainly that there was no sex.
I notice that they did a follow up article where they discussed the boy’s interview with Media Matters. You’ve got to love how they tacked on the label “left wing blog” to the description.
They even go on to blame Jennings for the mistake even though one of their own reporters knew it was in error.
Fox News disgusts me!
uphill fightSee New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), which sets a very high standard for a public figure, which Mr. Jennings now is, to sue a news medium. You’d have to prove that each medium knew it was false, maliciously so, and the way that latrine rumors spread on the Internet to credulous sites, who can?
(See also Anthony Lewis’ Make No Law, a moving book on how Sullivan started out as a civil rights case — the police commissioner in Montgomery, Alabama, sued various civil rights leaders and the Times over an ad — and ended up as a landmark First Amendment ruling. Coram Nobis sez check it out.)
Brewster may have a case, however, since he is not a public figure. See Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974). All this is very standard teaching in torts.
Faux News is NOT a news outlet at allFox is exclusively an entertainment outlet, nothing more. They do not have to tell the truth and proved that in court.
AfterElton has an excellent article on media coverage of Jenningshttp://tinyurl.com/y9e7f6s
As I posted in my comment to that article, the kid was over the age of consent, and despite everyone immediately leaping to the conclusion that the kid told Jennings about a sexual encounter, THERE WAS NO SEXUAL ENCOUNTER.
So essentially the hubbub is about a conversation between a teacher and student that boils down to this:
“Brewster”: Hey Mr. Jennings, I was riding the bus the other day and met this really cute guy. We talked, and I really liked him, and now I’m really scared and confused about my feelings.
Kevin Jennings: What was his name?
“Brewster”: Huh? You mean you don’t think I’m a sick freak.
KJ: No, kid, you’re not a freak. It’s ok to have these feelings and you’re ok too. Good luck and take care of yourself.
There is so much nothing here it’s laughable.