Media watchdog says BuzzFeed should not have published Trump dossier

The dossier makes unsubstantiated, salacious claims that Russia has been "cultivating, supporting and assisting" Trump and keeping track of compromising information on the president-elect. Although it had been circulated for months, other news outlets decided not to publish the full allegations.    

On Wednesday, Trump gave his first official news conference since the November election. In a heated exchange with CNN's Jim Acosta, he dismissed questions about the report and insisted BuzzFeed was "a failing pile of garbage" that would "suffer the consequences."

Trump shuts down CNN reporter

8 years ago

Duration 0:35

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump refuses to take question from CNN correspondent Jim Acosta
Kelly McBride is a media ethicist and Vice President of the Poynter Institute.

She spoke with As It Happens guest host Helen Mann about why she believes the documents should not have been published.

"I don't think it was an act of journalism. Instead it was just an act of showing the public what you have. The act of journalism that needs to happen here is to vet and verify, or debunk," McBride explains.

"It has the effect of making it less likely that citizens will listen when the truth finally surfaces."

For more on this story, listen to our full interview with Kelly McBride.