We’ve noted that WorldNetDaily conceded last week that the faked-Obama-birth-certificate conspiracy meme has no basis in fact. From the Aug. 23 WND article:
A separate WND investigation into Obama’s birth certificate utilizing forgery experts also found the document to be authentic. The investigation also revealed methods used by some of the bloggers to determine the document was fake involved forgeries, in that a few bloggers added text and images to the certificate scan that weren’t originally there.
That a right-wing, Obama–hating news organization would admit a truth that doesn’t make Obama look bad is admirable. That it chose to bury said truth in the 12th paragraph of an article is not.
This is yet more evidence of the failure of WND as a news organization. Given how big a deal the fake-birth-certificate story is in right-wing circles, shouldn’t WND have made this investigation more prominent instead of dismissing it in a single paragraph buried in another article? It’s yet another example where ideology trumps the facts.
Indeed, WND itself is guilty of promote the fake-birth-certificate story, having reported just three weeks earlier that “Israel Insider is reporting that analysts working separately have determined the birth certificate posted on the Daily Kos website and later on Sen. Barack Obama’s ‘Fight the Smears’ campaign website is fraudulent.”
Israel Insider — as we’ve detailed, a far-right, anti-Obama website just like WND — is still pushing the story, criticizing a FactCheck.org that WND also cited as evidence that the story is bogus.
So, here’s an integrity test for WND. Will it publish an article solely dedicated to detailing the results of its own investigation and specifically countering the claims of Israel Insider and its ilk? Will it deviate from its anti-Obama agenda long enough to be fully honest with its readers? Or will it bury this story and simply stop reporting on it, pretending it no longer exists even as its fellow right-wingers continue to promote it?
We shall see.