What's up with Ben Swann lately? (UPDATE: website & social media accounts deleted)

[scm]

He was on such a roll. But seemed very quiet this election cycle. He went back to FOX, but His truth in media site hardly gets updated anymore. I feel he and a few other "investigative journalists" had their backs turned as the other team was scoring touchdowns this election cycle. He and someone like Jon Stewart could of changed this election. In 2012, they brought up a lot about the "other candidates", not much of anything this time. Personally, I belive Stewart was forced to resign. He would of had to (unwillingly) do a number on his favorite canidate if he stayed on the air.


--


[mod edit] Ben's online presence has mostly disappeared (following pizzagate story)

Ben Swann’s Truth in Media site down, Twitter, Instagram, FB accounts gone

Rodney Ho
February 1, 2017

CBS46 evening anchor Ben Swann today blocked his “Truth in Media” website and dropped his primary Twitter and Instagram feeds, as well as his Facebook “Truth in Media” page, which had 427,000 plus followers.

But he hasn’t entirely disappeared off social media. He managed to keep a different Facebook page alive, one that only has 1,800 followers. The last time he posted on this site was January 17, the morning before he aired his “Reality Check” about Pizzagate which went viral and led to a week-long suspension. He came back on air on CBS46 this past Monday.

Swann was hired by CBS46 in June, 2015 as an evening anchor. He had been running his Truth in Media project since 2012 and his station bosses allowed him to maintain the site, which for a time included most of his “Reality Check” pieces he aired on CBS46.

Here was his Twitter site yesterday:

...

read more:
http://radiotvtalk.blog.ajc.com/2017...accounts-gone/



he warned about this a few days beforehand:

Also from FB, just now:

Hey guys, everyone is asking if things are OK. They are. I will be heading back to CBS46 on Monday but there are going to be some changes. The biggest one will be that this social page will go dark f/n on Tzuday, Feb 1. We've been building this project for 6 years and those who have come to know me.. I hope you have also come to trust me.

Edit: Ben editted the text to change "Tuesday, Feb 1" to "Tzuday, Feb 1." Specifically stating Tzuday. And Feb 1st is Wednesday. Not Tuesday.

[Nolan]

Stewart retired thinking the GOP is dead. Little did he foresee the rise of Trump and the alt right. He wanted to get back on air badly by his desperate appearance on his old pal show, The Late Show with Steven Colbert. He did great service giving Ron Paul a voice during the BlackOut. But when it came to it, he showed his blind progressive hatred for the right and pretend the left can do no wrong. I'm glad he's mostly out of public display. The left misses him dearly and wants him back.

Ben Swann dipped his foot a little too far into the life-style libertarians/conspiracy-types and got scammed several times. He's back doing his small town TV job and it's great for him.

[Cutlerzzz]

Stewart is about as anti-liberty as it gets.

[luctor-et-emergo]

Stewart is about as anti-liberty as it gets.

True liberty that is. I'm quite sure he wants to be free as well.

Let me quote Ronald Reagan for you;

"The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so."

[scm]

Stewart is about as anti-liberty as it gets.

The worst part is he was probably one of the most in-depth "news anchors". His reports were full of good/real info. He would of destroyed Hillary and thump if he was allowed to unleash on the both.

[Cutlerzzz]

The worst part is he was probably one of the most in-depth "news anchors". His reports were full of good/real info. He would of destroyed Hillary and thump if he was allowed to unleash on the both.

No, he had some of the least in depth news out there which was largely edited tapes and news articles to make his political opponents look bad.

[angelatc]

He was on such a roll. But seemed very quiet this election cycle. He went back to FOX, but His truth in media site hardly gets updated anymore. I feel he and a few other "investigative journalists" had their backs turned as the other team was scoring touchdowns this election cycle.

I think that he found out there's already an Alex Jones.

[Krugminator2]

I think that he found out there's already an Alex Jones.

He had the potential to be John Stossel. Instead he chose to get into conspiracies.

[Athan]

He had the potential to be John Stossel. Instead he chose to get into conspiracies.

Yeah but with Stossel, you don't get nuggets of gold like this:




And memes are more effective.

[PierzStyx]

I still follow Swann. He updates his Facebook fairly regularly. And it looks like he is trying to get Truth In Media running again. The reality is though that as long as people aren't willing to pay for it he can't afford to commit so much time to it. He still has to work and pay the bills after all.

[NewRightLibertarian]

Swann didn't get enough support from libertarians through crowd sourcing, so he had to go back to local TV news. He still does his Reality Check segments and they are very good.

[jmdrake]

Swann didn't get enough support from libertarians through crowd sourcing, so he had to go back to local TV news. He still does his Reality Check segments and they are very good.

I can't speak for all libertarians, but what I've seen in the Ron Paul movement is that we've blown our wads on failed presidential campaigns that gave us hope but not much else and then never really looked into personal financial solvency so that we could actually fund other projects. After the initial money bombs people overestimated Ron Paul's fundraising strength because the vast majority of Ron Paul supporters had not reached the FEC limits of $2,300. For the average Ron Paul supporter the real limit was more like $230 or even $23 dollars. I've seen people so broke on here that they've posted threads asking "Can somebody order me a pizza?" And truth be told, while I've never done that, I've been there. Until we figure out a way to truly help each other financially, a movement that is dependent on the generosity of working class people is going to struggle. Ron Paul moneybomb amounts were evidence of desperation for something real as opposed to evidence of a reliable funding source for liberty causes. In a way from this I can understand Donald Trump's appeal to some in the liberty movement. His campaign was in no way ever dependent upon donations. He had the billions to self fund and he is a master at media whoring. There is simply no way to media blackout someone like Donald Trump.

[NewRightLibertarian]

I can't speak for all libertarians, but what I've seen in the Ron Paul movement is that we've blown our wads on failed presidential campaigns that gave us hope but not much else and then never really looked into personal financial solvency so that we could actually fund other projects. After the initial money bombs people overestimated Ron Paul's fundraising strength because the vast majority of Ron Paul supporters had not reached the FEC limits of $2,300. For the average Ron Paul supporter the real limit was more like $230 or even $23 dollars. I've seen people so broke on here that they've posted threads asking "Can somebody order me a pizza?" And truth be told, while I've never done that, I've been there. Until we figure out a way to truly help each other financially, a movement that is dependent on the generosity of working class people is going to struggle. Ron Paul moneybomb amounts were evidence of desperation for something real as opposed to evidence of a reliable funding source for liberty causes. In a way from this I can understand Donald Trump's appeal to some in the liberty movement. His campaign was in no way ever dependent upon donations. He had the billions to self fund and he is a master at media whoring. There is simply no way to media blackout someone like Donald Trump.

Just the fact that Trump is pushing back at all against this evil system means he deserves credit. Few could have pulled off what he did this year, and now he has many of the evil interests scrambling.

When you're a "little guy", they can just squash you like they did Ben Swann overnight. And yes, the Ron Paul revolution was squandered. The money that could have went into building the foundation for lasting success went into the pockets of political hacks. Breaks my heart just thinking about it.

[brushfire]

Cut him some slack, jack. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1h...dqkwm123Ce4ZmA

He's still active, but he's got 5 mouths to feed. Ben is still kicking royal arse out there and producing quality media. You'll see him a few times a week on youtube.

[Athan]

someone like Jon Stewart could of changed this election. In 2012, they brought up a lot about the "other candidates", not much of anything this time. Personally, I belive Stewart was forced to resign.

Sorry dude but Jon stopped being credible once Obama and democrats were elected. He like Bill Maher are part of the problem. They do good work when neo-cons are in office as republicans, but as soon as democrats get in office they can do no wrong in their eyes. They are full of $#@! and indeed part of the problem as mentioned earlier.

It would be like pro-Trump media not holding Trump to a standard once he is in office if he keeps up the foreign wars and bad trade deals, and etc. They do that, and they are just like jon stewart. Wake up.

[nortica]

I contacted Swann and asked him to cover the kratom story. I hope he gets to it. We need good honest journalists like him in the fight. There's so much DEA/FDA/pharmaceutical lobbyist propaganda about it.

[fcreature]

My assumption is that there wasn't enough money to make it a full time thing. Several failed crowd-sourcing attempts sure points to that.

[tio rio]

Ben Swann is still very active on social media

https://www.facebook.com/BenSwannRealityCheck/

https://twitter.com/benswann_

https://www.instagram.com/BenSwann_/

and he's Atlanta's CBS anchor these days - http://www.cbs46.com/category/306621...with-ben-swann

[ZakCarter]

over 400,000 followers on facebook and 46 million views on one news video ain't too shabby!

he's got this going on too - https://benswanncom.paystand.com/tru...--created-isis

[Superfluous Man]

He was on such a roll. But seemed very quiet this election cycle. He went back to FOX, but His truth in media site hardly gets updated anymore. I feel he and a few other "investigative journalists" had their backs turned as the other team was scoring touchdowns this election cycle. He and someone like Jon Stewart could of changed this election. In 2012, they brought up a lot about the "other candidates", not much of anything this time. Personally, I belive Stewart was forced to resign. He would of had to (unwillingly) do a number on his favorite canidate if he stayed on the air.

By Stewart's favorite candidate, I assume you mean Bernie Sanders?

[Okie RP fan]

Swann got a job at a local Fox affiliate somewhere in Ohio I believe. Ever since then Truth in Media has been all but dead.
He did start another segment like the one he used to do at his old news station that got him popular (can't remember what it was called now), but I honestly don't hear or see of him.

I'm wanting to say I read or watched something with him and he more or less said you have to have money to do things. I'm assuming Truth in Media wasn't cutting it for him to make a living.

And there was NEVER hope in Jon Stewart. Another leftist/progressive blowhard.

[Thor]

Swann got a job at a local Fox CBS affiliate somewhere in Ohio Atlanta I believe.

FIFY

http://www.cbs46.com/story/29304911/ben-swann

Ben Swann joined CBS46 as an anchor for its early evening and late newscasts in June 2015.

Swann was most recently an Anchor/Reporter at WXIX in Cincinnati. Prior to that he was an Anchor/Reporter at KTSM in El Paso, TX. He got his start at KFOX in El Paso as an Anchor/ Reporter. While there he received three Edward R. Murrow Awards and two regional Emmy Awards.
Swann has a Bachelor of Liberal Arts Degree from Brigham Young University and a Master of Arts in Humanities Degree from California State University.
Copyright 2015 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.

Recent videos:
https://www.youtube.com/user/BenSwan...tyCheck/videos

Like this one from last week:


And I agree, failed fundraising makes one go back to the thing that pays the bills.

[Okie RP fan]

FIFY

http://www.cbs46.com/story/29304911/ben-swann



Recent videos:
https://www.youtube.com/user/BenSwan...tyCheck/videos

Like this one from last week:


And I agree, failed fundraising makes one go back to the thing that pays the bills.

Geeze, I was way off.

Anyway, not sure what to think of all this stuff he's posting.

[Thor]

From FB:

Hey guys, Ben Swann here... I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the ISIS video crowdfund. Unfortunately, we are not going to be moving forward with that project at this time. EVERYONE who contributed WILL BE REFUNDED THEIR FULL DONATION.

[Thor]

Also from FB, just now:

Hey guys, everyone is asking if things are OK. They are. I will be heading back to CBS46 on Monday but there are going to be some changes. The biggest one will be that this social page will go dark f/n on Tzuday, Feb 1. We've been building this project for 6 years and those who have come to know me.. I hope you have also come to trust me.

Edit: Ben editted the text to change "Tuesday, Feb 1" to "Tzuday, Feb 1." Specifically stating Tzuday. And Feb 1st is Wednesday. Not Tuesday.

[eleganz]

Also from FB, just now:



Edit: Ben editted the text to change "Tuesday, Feb 1" to "Tzuday, Feb 1." Specifically stating Tzuday. And Feb 1st is Wednesday. Not Tuesday.

I wonder what TZUDAY means.....to purposefully misspell it kinda takes away the chance of typo.


He says his FB page will go dark (for now).

Here is my interpretation and theory;

It probably means that CBS wants control of the content he produces for them and also they renegotiated his contract so that he exclusively work for them but they are giving him more control and more money.

And he asks for trust because he feels like he now has a bigger platform or he thinks the extra money he will make will help produce better content in the future when/if he leaves.

The Pizzagate video is still on his FB page (which I thought was deleted but I guess I was wrong).

[RonPaulGeorge&Ringo]

CBS wants control of the content he produces for them.

He doesn't produce content for CBS. He produces content for the Meredith Corporation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_Corporation

[staerker]

I would like to clarify this, for people who are not paying attention to this matter.

CBS didn't want to tighten control on his content when he talked about all of the controversial issues we know he talked about over the many years, week after week.

CBS wanted to tighten up control on his content after he talked about Pizzagate.

But that's a fake conspiracy right?

I wonder what TZUDAY means.....to purposefully misspell it kinda takes away the chance of typo.


He says his FB page will go dark (for now).

Here is my interpretation and theory;

It probably means that CBS wants control of the content he produces for them and also they renegotiated his contract so that he exclusively work for them but they are giving him more control and more money.

And he asks for trust because he feels like he now has a bigger platform or he thinks the extra money he will make will help produce better content in the future when/if he leaves.

The Pizzagate video is still on his FB page (which I thought was deleted but I guess I was wrong).

[Thor]

I would like to clarify this, for people who are not paying attention to this matter.

CBS didn't want to tighten control on his content when he talked about all of the controversial issues we know he talked about over the many years, week after week.

CBS wanted to tighten up control on his content after he talked about Pizzagate.

But that's a fake conspiracy right?

Ben hit a nerve. Either real, or imaginary. By mentioning Podesta (i.e. Hillary - guilt by association) he pissed a lot of people in Atlanta off who watch CBS46... and a lot of other people who just do not want to believe something like this could possibility happen from those elected to our government. They think he is a "conspiracy" fringe reporter.... as far as I could tell from reading comments on a local Atlanta website discussing the subject...

I think Ben will be justified and those people will wake up to a harsh reality check, but time will tell.

[staerker]

Ben hit a nerve. Either real, or imaginary. By mentioning Podesta (i.e. Hillary - guilt by association) he pissed a lot of people in Atlanta off who watch CBS46... and a lot of other people who just do not want to believe something like this could possibility happen from those elected to our government. They think he is a "conspiracy" fringe reporter.... as far as I could tell from reading comments on a local Atlanta website discussing the subject...

I think Ben will be justified and those people will wake up to a harsh reality check, but time will tell.

You're right. Though I would posit that this is specifically Pizzagate related, not Hillary/Podesta related. You can see that over the past year he has many videos on his (deleted) youtube (archive) dissing Hillary, Obama, Brazile, DOJ, etc.