Senate Leader Phil Berger Dispels Fake News Report From CBS17
Understanding the journalistic malpractice shown by CBS17:
At 2:10 PM today, CBS 17’s Deana Harley published a story that Senate Leader Phil Berger and President Donald Trump reached an agreement for Trump to endorse Berger if Berger led efforts to redistrict North Carolina’s U.S. House map. The first problem with this story is that it relied entirely on unnamed, anonymous sources.
The Society for Professional Journalists Code of Ethics says, “Consider sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Reserve anonymity for sources who may face danger, retribution, or other harm, and have information that cannot be obtained elsewhere. Explain why anonymity was granted.” CBS17’s article does not comply with this ethical standard.
In the brief story, CBS17 ensured that it included the political context of the State Senate Republican primary. That’s usually a clear sign of where the story is coming from even if the source is granted anonymity.
Finally, instead of retracting or correcting their story, CBS17 only added Senator Berger’s quote after I pointed it out on X.
After facing heavy criticism, CBS updated its headline but still refuses to retract or reveal the source that’s been disputed on the record.
Sam Page’s Flailing Campaign
WNCN’s insistence that Sam Page is “the first major challenger” Berger has faced shows the news platform’s disconnect with reality, really casting doubt on their political astuteness.
Senator Berger raised $1.7 million in the first half of this year, while Page only raised $17,000. Additionally, Berger has announced several endorsements, including Congresswoman Virginia Foxx and Senator Ted Budd.
In contrast, Page’s campaign has been dogged with controversy.
His sheriff department is facing a sexual harassment lawsuit over the convicted sexual predator whom Page promoted and allowed to continue working as a Sheriff Deputy.
Page has come under fire for switching political parties and refusing to release his campaign finance reports that mysteriously went missing. The case has been referred to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Finally, as the Blue Ridge Times exclusively reported, Page has faced intense criticism from national school choice advocate Corey DeAngelis for Page’s deep opposition to school choice. In the interview with the Blue Ridge Times, DeAngelis said, “Sam Page should switch parties. He is not a Republican if he wants to get rid of universal school choice in North Carolina. He’s siding with Randi Weingarten and the radical left teacher unions against President Trump and North Carolina parents.”
Page’s political consultant, Patrick Sebastian, worked with a group led by the anti-Trump, No Labels Party leader, attacking Republicans for reforming the State Board of Elections. The reforms enacted by the General Assembly paved the way for the recent efforts to ensure North Carolina’s voter registration process complies with federal law. With the Democrats, Sebastian’s group opposed these common-sense election integrity reforms.
On the national level, the watchdog organization, Influence Watch, reports that No Labels is run by Democrat operative Nancy Jacobson, who served as the finance director for Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign. The organization worked against President Trump in the 2024 election.
Tim’s Take: Here's what’s really going on. CBS17 is desperate for attention, so they are refusing to adhere to basic standards and simply printing unsubstantiated rumors. Who knows, maybe Nexstar will be the fake news outlet sued by President Trump. Perhaps they’ll be forced to settle and pay for a section of his Presidential Library like ABC or CBS.
