The false Donald J. Trump article and the ethics of misleading journalism
本文分析2016年8月雅虎首页一篇关于特朗普退出总统竞选的虚假文章，探讨误导性新闻对公众和选举的影响，并质疑相关媒体的伦理责任。
On August 8, 2016, a story appeared on the top page of Yahoo that read “Trump: You people really believed me?” It was written by Walker Lundy of the Charlotte Observer in Charlotte, NC, USA on August 6, 2016. The article was shocking, even to a non‐U.S. citizen, because it revealed the sudden, and unexpected, withdrawal of Donald J. Trump from the U.S. Presidential race, which would surely have been welcome news for the Hillary Clinton camp. Less than 24 hours later, that article could no longer be traced on Yahoo, and the original links led to a 404 error. The original story is still published on another Charlotte Observer webpage. National and independent polls related to the presidential election fluctuate, but pollsters are always influenced by news events related to either candidate. Yet, one has to wonder why Mr. Lundy would have published a false and misleading story, which was widely circulated, including by the powerful media engine Yahoo, that has serious national and international consequences. Some of the policies espoused by both presidential candidates are radically different, and thus any media story that can tilt the opinion of readers in the direction of one or other candidate needs to be carefully analyzed. Sowing doubt by using false or misleading journalism does not do the public any favors and casts a doubtful light on the practice of political journalism. The Charlotte Observer and Mr. Lundy failed to respond to a request for comment.