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Will CNN report on the John Edwards/mistress/baby rumors?

Settled as Yes

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/08/edwards.affair/index.html?iref=newssearch

Background:

Last week the National Enquirer claimed John Edwards had a mistress and a "secret love child.” When the story originally broke no major news organisations deigned to follow it, although it was widely aired on political blogs such as the Drudge Report.

Reporters had confronted Edwards, at 2.40am on Tuesday July 22 in the corridors of the Beverly Hilton, as he was leaving the bedroom of Rielle Hunter. Amid scenes more suited to a Benny Hill sketch than the corridors of a luxury hotel, two journalists and a photographer chased Edwards around the building for several minutes. He eventually hid himself in a men's lavatory for a quarter of an hour, before being escorted from the premises by security staff.

Most newspapers and major broadcasters refused to touch the story. The editor of the Los Angeles Times went so far as to order staff "not to cover the rumours or salacious speculations" about Edwards. The apparent blackout was broken by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes at Fox, who ran a report that confirmed several major details of the incident, and asked: "Why were the reporters chasing Edwards, and why is this story nowhere in the mainstream media?"
Source: http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/people,1205,john-edwards-the-mistress-and-the-love-child,37297

So far, FOX is the only MSM who has picked up this story. Everyone else seems to be studiously ignoring it, but its picking up a lot of steam in the blogosphere. I wonder if they can really continue to ignore it? Is this a case of "where there's smoke there's fire" or just the National Enquirer paying off a guard to make some headlines? Either way, will the MSM (here defined as CNN for ease in settlement) deign to discuss it?
 
Forecast history, %
   Zoom in

Settled

Yes
17%
No
83%
Activity: H$78,189
Settled as Yes on Fri 8th Aug 1:29pm PDT
All questions are settled by Hubdub according to settlement info provided by the question creator.

Settlement details: Settles as yes if CNN.com has a story/video about the John Edwards rumors prior to August 10th.

If CNN has made no mention of the rumors by August 10th at 5PM CDT the market will settle as NO.

Suspend date: Fri 8th Aug 6am PDT

Settlement date: Fri 8th Aug 1:29pm PDT

Prediction cut-off: Predictions on this question after Fri 8th Aug 6am PDT have been voided because they were made after the question could be settled

Initial likelihoods: Yes: 40%

Action history:

Created Mon 28th Jul 7:19am PDT by jenniandboys[Admin]
Suspended Fri 8th Aug 6am PDT : Suspend date reached
Settlement requested Fri 8th Aug 12:17pm PDT by jake: Settle as yes. CNN reported today at 3:05 that John Edwards lied about an affair.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/
Settlement requested Fri 8th Aug 12:31pm PDT by newsie: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/08/breaking-edwards-admits-lying-about-affair/

This story just posted on CNN.com and on CNNetwork
Settlement requested Fri 8th Aug 12:41pm PDT by rbrog77: This suspeneded yesterday and CNN reported today.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/08/edwards.affair/index.html

Timing is everything

;->
Settlement requested Fri 8th Aug 1:07pm PDT by scott: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/08/edwards.affair/index.html
All questions are settled by Hubdub according to settlement info provided by the question creator.

Settlement details: Settles as yes if CNN.com has a story/video about the John Edwards rumors prior to August 10th. ... read all

 

Predictions (173)

173 predictions

4 weeks ago
notablenotices predicted No (H$117 at 83%)
4 weeks ago
infernalmachine[Admin] predicted No (H$1,700 at 70%)
4 weeks ago
chrisfmasse predicted Yes (H$99 at 32%)
4 weeks ago
rbrog77 predicted No (H$1,000 at 68%)
4 weeks ago
chrisfmasse predicted Yes (H$20 at 33%)
more

Comments (38)

Apparently we're not the only ones who wrestle with defining legitimate news sources! Seems the Wikipedia boards have been burning with this topic as well: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/07/28/wikipedia-disallows-any-mention-alleged-john-edwards-scandal
posted 5 weeks ago
  2 Erik
I think alot of it has to do with the political slant of the news source and that of the subject. I'm sure we all remember the front page story the N.Y.Times ran concerning McCaine's "affair."
posted 5 weeks ago
  3 Erik
True or not...I doubt we'll hear about this in the Times or on CNN.
posted 5 weeks ago
  4 Erik
jenni> by naming CNN as the source, are you meaning any show on the network can mention this story? Or, am I correct when thinking that you mean that it must be on their website?
posted 5 weeks ago
  5 rbrog77
Regardless of the slant of a news organiztion, I would hope if it's reported as true news theyre would be facts to back it up. Wouldn't you?
posted 5 weeks ago
  6 Erik
rborg77> Yes, I would certainly look for facts...such as an interview with a witness. Perhaps the security gaurd that was on duty at the time.
posted 5 weeks ago
  8 frank2877
Did someone mention :security guard" ???

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,391426,00.html
posted 5 weeks ago
  9 frank2877
Too bad it's CNN and not a "major news source".
posted 5 weeks ago
  11 Erik
frank> that's so true...and the only reason my $$ is on "No."
posted 5 weeks ago
The interesting about the security guard report is that he didn't even know it was John Edwards. After the fact, someone showed him a picture and said "is this him?" Many other people are pointing out that no one has yet to post any pictures of the kerfuffle, despite there reportedly being two Enquirer photographers there.

I think there's a definite possibility that this is all smoke and no fire, but I am curious to know what the level of noise has to be before they will at least admit to having heard the rumors.

BTW if you click on 'more background' I included the fact that FOX has been reporting on this topic. (I HATE that you have to click on that to see all of the background)

Another link I found interesting (but that wouldn't fit in the background): http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/07/la-times-gag-on.html
posted 5 weeks ago
  13 rbrog77
Seems like tabloid-wise this has some legs, but I'm still not sure there'll be proof enough for it to go MSM/CNN. So I put 20 on Yes.
posted 5 weeks ago
  14 dieseldog
@jenni....i see you beat me to it :O)
posted 5 weeks ago
@dd - No yours is really quite different. Please post!
posted 5 weeks ago
  16 chatarra
@Jenni
Thank you for "setting the bar" of neutrality in the way you phrase your questions. Too often, my personal viewpoint shows through when I am creating a political question.

I really enjoy seeing the liberal media bias exposed. If the National Enquirer was only able to create fallacies and distortions, they would have been sued right out of business by now. For that reason, I am wagering No on this question.
posted 5 weeks ago
  17 markov
CNN has always been biased in favor of the liberal agenda but it seems that lately they've been growing more and more partisan in their reporting. I've been finding it increasingly difficult to watch them anymore. Liberal media bias, once chalked off as conspiracy theory, is almost completely out in the open now. Fox News stands alone against this media-wide juggernaut though their conservative bias pales in comparison to the opposition. Whatever happened to the concept of 'just the facts'?
posted 5 weeks ago
  18 tisha[Admin]
I've been relying on Perez HIlton for all my info on this story!!
posted 5 weeks ago
  19 chatarra
Perez Hilton - OMG
lol
posted 5 weeks ago
  20 markov
Hilariously good call! Perez Hilton is far higher on my credibility list than much of the so-called "mainstream media".
posted 5 weeks ago
  21 cognos[Power User]
@markov
<<< Fox News stands alone against this media-wide juggernaut though their conservative bias pales in comparison to the opposition. >>

Oh really, NO, O'Reilly.
posted 5 weeks ago
@chatarra (5 comments ago) Thanks.. My philosophy is that the questions themselves should be neutral and then let the hubmasses decide for themselves. I'm happy to state my opinion in comments (or with h$), but I don't think its appropriate to bias a question from the get-go. Obviously not everyone agrees with me :)
posted 5 weeks ago
  23 markov
@jenniandboys - Your comment, "questions themselves should be neutral", is unequivocally the best practice. In fact, it is worthy of being on the question guidelines page. It seems to have settled down lately, but at one time there were a lot of "see-through" questions floating around HubDub in which the thinly veiled animosity in the publishers' questions appeared to be more of a low-brow political ad than a legitimate question. I think most of us would rather wager on questions than interrogative statements. I prefer to get my Op-Ed fix from the comments section, which is almost always entertaining.
posted 5 weeks ago
  24 chatarra
Recently, Jay Leno said:

"The National Enquirer caught former presidential candidate John Edwards sneaking out of his girlfriend's hotel room at 2:40 in the morning. Edwards got caught because the reporters were there waiting for him. See, If Edwards didn't want to get caught he should have met the woman at the hotel where John McCain was staying. There are no reporters there".
posted 5 weeks ago
What do you know, there's a picture now. Hm.. wonder if its faked?

http://www.nationalenquirer.com/exclusive_john_edwards_love_child_photos/celebrity/65258
posted 4 weeks ago
@eric 2. What was that you said about McCains "affair"? This is the first I've heard about this.
posted 4 weeks ago
  28 Erik
That's correct, fingers...it was on the front page.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/us/politics/21mccain.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
posted 4 weeks ago
  29 Erik
That's correct, fingers...it was on the front page.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/us/politics/21mccain.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
posted 4 weeks ago
  30 chatarra
The suspension date of this question, while unintended, is diabolical.
Edwards is starting to feel pressure about making some kind of statement on the "alleged" affair before the convention. Friday is the best day to slip a story into the news because it will historically get the least traction of any other day. If Edwards makes an announcement then CNN will have to finally report on it.
If no announcement from Edwards by Friday, then I predict this question will settle as No, and I can retain my sour beliefs about CNN being a major player in the Liberal Biased Media.
posted 4 weeks ago
  31 cognos[Power User]
ABC just reported it.
I'm sure CNN won't be far behind.

It's true about the affair.
posted 4 weeks ago
  32 cognos[Power User]
CNN reports


http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/
posted 4 weeks ago
I think it is excellent that this question, along with <http://www.hubdub.com/m12279/Will_a_supposed_affair_between_John_Edwards_and_Rielle_Hunter_be_confirmed> were created. To me, this goes to the essence of what Hubdub is all about!

Kudos to both jenniandboys and dieseldog!
posted 4 weeks ago
  36 scott
That was an easy 9k to make :>:>
posted 4 weeks ago
NK. Wish I would have put more on this question.
posted 4 weeks ago
  38 chatarra
ThomIsMyDad:
It's OK - You can have some of mine. . .

Predictions settled in the last 1 day. Resulting net earnings: hd$-18,966
posted 4 weeks ago

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