Where is CBS46’s Ben Swann since his ‘PizzaGate’ story?
Ben Swann has been off the air the past week. CREDIT: CBS46
This is posted on Thursday, January 26, 2017 by Rodney Ho on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Ben Swann, the evening anchor on CBS46 who created a social media firestorm last week after reviving the “Pizzagate” story, has been off the air since late last week.
There has been no explanation for his absence on air. His co-anchor Sharon Reed has been solo anchoring at times. Sometimes, Tracye Hutchins joins in, as she did Wednesday night. Internally, staffers don’t even know what’s going on.
He does remain on the CBS46 website so he has not been fired.
Neither news director Frank Volpicella nor his boss and GM Mark Pimental have responded to requests for comment. A spokesman from Meredith Corp., which owns CBS46, has not returned email queries or phone call requests either.
It’s very possible the two sides are quietly negotiating an exit settlement agreement with Swann, who joined the station in mid-2015 and is clearly still under contract. And given that the story was cleared by his bosses, their futures are questionable as well.
Swann did one of his “Reality Checks” last Tuesday bringing back the frequently debunked story of a pizza place in D.C. linked to a Hillary Clinton senior aide that was supposedly running a child prostitution ring there. He noted that there is no clear evidence such a ring exists but threw out a lot of online speculation and innuendo, then wondered why the authorities had not done a thorough investigation.
Oddly, the story, which he claimed to have spent a month investigating, has zero Atlanta angles. Plus, he did not appear to have talked to anybody who might be connected to the story.
On Twitter, he has been relatively quiet. He has retweeted a couple of items since retweeting a supposed support Tweet from a spoof site that pretends to be a state representative.
One noted how popular he became after the Pizzagate controversy went viral:
Here are the #TVNews #socialmedia leaders in #Atlanta over the last 7 days:
1) @BenSwann_
2) @MarkArum
3) @RadiNabulsi pic.twitter.com/AiqOODEezy— Share Rocket (@sharerocket) January 20, 2017
The other is unrelated to Pizzagate:
Open to those journalists who are more than 50 miles outside of DC https://t.co/758Q79ew2r
— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) January 23, 2017
He has not posted anything on Instagram since the brouhaha hit. Ditto on Facebook.
As the Daily Beast noted, he’s a bit of a conspiracy buff and his website Truth in Media is tied to a Republican PAC. Plus, he did some work for the Russian-government supported Russia Today before coming to Atlanta.
Swann has his supporters who like this stuff.
View Comments 5
It makes no sense that after having a viral story that he would disappear and cancel his social media accounts. The government criminals involved with Pizzagate have terminated him and are making it appear that he is still alive. Just imagine how desperate the pedophiles involved in pizzagate would be to keep it quiet. Let's keep this in the news and upfront.
Swann clearly said, he's not sure it's child pedophilia. But it is something, there is code and things happening worthy of an official investigation. @justhank, if you still believe trump won because of Russia you are a lost cause. Even Obama came out and said no evidence before he left office. This is textbook CIA, read some books please.
Scott Horton interviewed a former CIA agent who's still involved, both of these guys are credible and have not lied us into.war like the cia has. Listen, please
Episode: http://dissentradio.com/radio/17_01_23_mcgovern.mp3
Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), discusses the “gap” in the Russian hack case; why it makes much more sense that a Democratic insider, fed up with the sidelining of Bernie Sanders, gave the DNC emails to WikiLeaks; why Obama protected the CIA and John Brennan from the Senate Intelligence committee’s investigation on torture; and how Donald Trump could fulfill his professed goal of quickly knocking out ISIS. The post 1/23/17 Ray McGovern on Obama’s admission that there’s no proof Russian hackers gave DNC emails to WikiLeaks appeared first on The Libertarian Institute. 1/23/17 Ray McGovern on Obama’s admission that there’s no proof Russian hackers gave DNC emails to WikiLeaks was first posted on January 23, 2017 at 8:42 pm.
"As the Daily Beast noted, he’s a bit of a conspiracy buff and his website Truth in Media is tied to a Republican PAC." Interesting you'd note that, while failing to note that Chelsea Clinton sits on the board that oversees the Daily Beast.
Where's the risk in having an investigation? We know that Corey Feldman says there's a pedophile ring in Hollywood in which one particularly famous Hollywood mogul is involved so it isn't unreasonable to think that a pedophile ring is somewhere in our nation's capital. For all those people who think it would be so stupid or offensive to investigate, just remember, there's a kid out there somewhere wishing decent people were out there trying to help!
Pizzagate needs to be investigated. The use of the pedophile symbols in these pizza restaurant logos (and especially since Besta Pizza changed their logo after the fact) ALONE is enough to warrant that these people be monitored by the FBI. Throw in all the other strange "coincidences" like coded messages and you have something that shouldn't be ignored.
A Georgia State Senator who a few years ago was investigating child sex trafficking died in a "murder suicide". The husband of Georgia assistant attorney general was killed last summer. She was investigating child sex trafficking. Are they related? Who knows,
Pizzagate is real. Just one look at James Alefantis Instagram is enough to warrant investigation. This story goes much, MUCH deeper than the general public has been made aware. Archived timelines from /pol/ & wikileakes are online. But beware, it's one scary rabbit hole. Anyone who actively promotes this story as false should take a hard look in the mirror. Pizzagate is real.
@jetblasted And Ben Swann helped advance it not one millimeter. He did no investigating. He uncovered nothing new.
Good, since Jines has been calling out the FAKE presstitute controlled media for more than 20 years and he IS RIGHT!
This article claims pizzagate is frequently debunked, however since there hasn't been an official investigation, you should definitely provide these sources of debunking... the world. Red this information. Or actually how do you debunk a bunch of facts but no specific crime? Did they debunk that Laura silsby who was busted for child trafficking now working for amber alert? Did they debunk hundreds of thousands of women and children being trafficked as slaves in the US? And if so why are all the anti trafficking organizations saying that it occurs. This information you claim to have about it being debunked would sure come in handy.. so what you're saying as a "journalist" that alllll of these well sourced claims right here are false? How weird, I have never seen anyone successfully debunk a single one of them, so please do tell your source of debunking. And notice this link probably already refutes your response. So let's get a real answer not some kind of spin.. please do tell!!.
@FatesWebb Didn't you know? All you have to do is keep repeating 'Debunked', and presto! There's your proof of 'fake news'. BTW, you know who just loves saying 'Debunked'? David Brock – Hillary's hatchet man and, oh yeah, James Alefantis' ex-lover. All just a big coincidence, of course. Nothing to see here. Debunked! Debunked!
YouTube search: "webcam video from" look into the overwhelming amount of sexual poses of children in the thumbnails, and more importantly the MONETIZATION of these vids. Want more proof? Read the sick ducking comments
Either the majority of subscribers to this site are shills or complete cucks. First and last time I visit this garbage site. Pizzagate is real. Pissgate is 4chan lulz
Swann worked for a pro-Soviet news outlet, so I'm sure his handlers will take care of him down the line. Just like they are taking care of the orange short-fingered gibbon who stole the election thanks to Soviet intervention. And the Republican electorate is happy to go along and hand over America to Putin.
The Rs are no longer the party of Reagan; they are the party of a moral degenerate who engages in watersports with commie prostitutes and can't open his mouth w/o lying.
So what did I say that was wrong? The Russians helped steal the election (every credible intelligence organization says so), and Trump has been a lying degenerate for decades.
Must be scary in your mom's basement when you run out of tin foil.
@Just Hank @Jake Meyer You're just repeating the same nonsense insults. He's orange. Yeah really clever as well as pertinent. He's in Putin's pocket. No proof has ever been shown, but I'm sure you don't care. You're a PARROT.
@Just Hank You are living in the false reality that the corrupt establishment created for you - dummy!
Pizzagate has been debunked = "He hasn't got a basement" genius investigative work.
@MB Guttersnipe Then why did Alefantis refer to storing 10 tons of tomatoes for the restaurant 'in the basement' in a news article? Source: James Alefantis, From Scratch, Metro Weekly
John Podesta and Anthony Weiner emails are not conspiracy theory and they certainly have not been debunked!!! Comet ping pong pizza is about as creepy a place that I have ever seen! I don't care who they sue or threaten to sue! As for Ben Swann, he is probably sitting behind bullet proof glass, wearing a flack jacket and combat helmet. It seems the best way to prevent a suicide.
@Violet Langlois He probably sleeps in an aluminium foil pup tent surrounded by copies of Catcher in the Rye.
@Jake Meyer And with that comment, you go to the front of the classless Bozo line.
@Knowshon5Dolla @Jake Meyer The Michael Jackson crack was not needed, but he is right about you maybe being a pedophile for your protective position over the obvious wrong doing.
Pizzagate has never been debunked. It's real and it will only get bigger until people wake up.
What the heck does "frequently debunked" mean? PizzaGate hasn't been debunked at all. That's the whole point. On its face, it sounds a little absurd. But once you start investigating, you'll quickly realize something stinks.
So tell us about YOUR investigation. What have YOU uncovered? What "stinks?" Put up or shut up.
That was easy. Just google "fake news and .co sites." You can't use fake news from a fake news site to prove your fake news case. Moron.
Here you go buddy... feel free to debunk all you want..
A small fraction of what has been uncovered..
@Lemelia Johnson Bonner When it has to do with abuse of children everyone who is not a pedophile should be on board to investigate to be certain. There is truly something wrong that needs investigating. Those calling it nonsense have some incentive not to investigate. Also, child trafficking is nothing new and is a billion dollar industry, but has been sold to the public as a foreign problem, but here it is in the USA.
I don't know about Ben Swann but I have to say that Sharon Reed is hotter than a $2 pistol. Yeahhhhhhhh baby.
Awesome journalism, Rodney! You ask "where is Ben Swann," yet you apparently made no attempt to contact him directly. At least you didn't write that in your story. And shouldn't we assume you are including all the facts of your newsgathering process? Oh, I know journalists everywhere leave things out and don't even bother to investigate certain topics, but I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt, Rodney. You would never keep something from your readers, would you?
Instead we get your third article about Ben's pizzagate story. All three provided no new or interesting information that wasn't already available. But you've gotta get those page views. And what better way for one journalist to get attention than jump on another journalist for reporting about a subject they don't like.
Rodney, remind your readers about all the people at Buzzfeed and CNN who were silenced immediately after trying to spread around the pissgate lies about Trump. Oh, that's right, no one was yanked off the air at CNN or removed from posting at Buzzfeed because most of the people at those places and most other major media outlets obviously hate Trump. So their bosses are fine with slander and libel so long as it serves a political purpose.
Oh, and Rodney, we're still waiting for you're story on Tyisha Fernandes' DUI arrest, then her being yanked off air, and now she's back on. Any comment from your fellow Cox company buddies at Channel 2? Or did corporate tell you to keep your mouth shut? Or are you only allowed to blog about non Cox anchors who get arrested for drunk driving?
[…] for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s AJC.com on January 27, 2017, Rodney Ho archly […]
[…] for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s AJC.com on January 27, 2017, Rodney Ho archly […]
[…] for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s AJC.com on January 27, 2017, Rodney Ho archly […]
[…] to this new story from the Atlantic Journal Constitution, soon after Atlanta’s CBS46 mainstream media news anchor Ben Swann did what was called a […]
[…] Ben Swann was removed from the show shortly after this report, and his social media accounts went strangely silent. Watch his […]