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UPDATE, 8:08 PM: It’s Joe Muto, who worked on The O’Reilly Factor. He says on Gawker that he “was called into a meeting with Dianne Brandi, the Fox News Executive Vice President of Legal and Business Affairs and suspended indefinitely… with pay, oddly enough.” He adds that officials traced him through a digital trail. “They knew that someone, using my computer login, had accessed the sources for two videos that ended up on Gawker over the past few weeks.” And he adds that “I am a weasel, a traitor, a sell-out and every bad word you can throw at me… but as of today, I am free, and I am ready to tell my story, which I wasn’t able to fully do for the previous 36 hours. Stay tuned for much, much more tomorrow.” Here’s the company statement: “Joe Muto is fired effective April 12. Once the network determined that Mr. Muto was the main culprit in less than 24 hours, he was suspended late today while we pursued concurrent avenues. We are continuing to explore legal recourse against Mr. Muto and possibly others.”
PREVIOUS, 1:40 PM: Mediaite has an update from Fox News following up on the Fox Mole’s post saying that he or she is still working. The person hasn’t been confronted yet, but “We know who it is,” the network says.
PREVIOUS, 12:45 PM: TV news folk are giddy over the disclosure that a Fox News employee has allied with website Gawker to tell all about what happens behind the scenes at the network. “The Fox Mole,” as Gawker calls the unidentified person, kicked things off yesterday by posting a clip of Mitt Romney chatting with Sean Hannity before an interview: (The GOP presidential candidate — frequently zinged for being too rich to appreciate the concerns of ordinary voters — said that his wife Ann likes to ride Austrian Warmblood horses while he prefers Missouri Foxtrotters because they have a “smoother gait.”) The big question now is: How long it will take for the network to find the (choose one) traitor/whistle-blower? Another website, Mediaite, reported today that a Fox News spokesperson said that “We found the person and we’re exploring legal options at this time.” But afterwards, the Fox Mole said: “If Fox has smoked me out, it’s news to me. I’m still here. Back to work.”
In his or her inaugural piece yesterday, the Mole said that he or she decided to tell all after seeing a post on the Fox Nation website last August about a White House celebration for President Obama’s 50th birthday. It showed pictures of the President, Charles Barkley, Chris Rock, and Jay-Z over a headline that read: “Obama’s Hip-Hop BBQ Didn’t Create Jobs.” The post “neatly summed up everything that had been troubling me about my employer: Non sequitur, ad hominem attacks on the president; gleeful race baiting; a willful disregard for facts; and so on,” the Fox Mole writes. When the network defended the post, “That was it for me. It wasn’t that the one incident was so bad, in and of itself. But it was so galvanizing, and on top of so many other little incidents, that I guess it just finally pushed me over the edge.”
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Ah, another loser who thinks they will save the day. Hope you get fired and black listed!
STFU. Fox is racist, but are they man enough to look themselves in the mirror? No.
Phew, thanks for the clarity.
Disagree with libs equals racist. Thank God for your views. (sorry to mention God; I know that makes you uncomfortable)
So he’s a loser because he couldn’t stomach the biggest news network playing with the minds of idiots? I think it’s rather brave. Fox News never fails to call out other networks on their divisive tactics.
You mean another loser who decided he was sick of the B.S. that his corporately owned media boss was spewing to the populous, thereby fueling ignorance and hate simply to achieve ratings.
Oh yes, bring on the good stuff. I can’t wait.
Actually the horse video humanizes Romney. Fox should probably leave the Mole alone.
Ha!!!! How does that video humanize Mittins O’Romney? Unless your name is Sail Boat VonMoneybags, how can anyone relate to that? And Mittins has the nerve to slam the prez for golfing. You’re an idiot.
Of course this humanizes him. Smoother gait means fewer butt blisters. I think everyone feels his pain, because seriously, who wants butt blisters? I’m definitely voting for Mitt now.
Thank you, Jared.
Best laugh of the day. Appreciate it.
I think it does. It’s his life. I’m not voting for him, but not because he’s rich. He doesn’t have to apologize or play down his wealth. Everyone knows he’s loaded. Just like Bush was loaded. It’s stupid to expect him to pretend he’s not. I think it’s annoying watching him pander.
I don’t condone eavesdropping. I believe that there is a line between conversations with journalists that are on and off the record. My support or non-support of a particular candidate is not predicated on them being like me or our relative net worths or choice of hobbies.
And, dare I say it, the principled response to an employer doing wrong things is to resign.
So leaks, suspensions, firings, law suits on a theory of copyright infringement, and cashing in on notoriety, seen it, don’t care.
But… how cool would it be if one’s name was really Sail Boat Von Moneybags?
I disagree with the person above me in the sense that there is nothing wrong with being into horseback riding. And nothing wrong with Mitt talking about it. Thats not the point the Mole was making. He or She makes the very true point that it’s a B.S. sham that Mitt Romney rags on the president for being an “Elite” and as the Mole said, he had the nerve to then go on and criticize for playing golf. He also always says the Obama “Spends too much time at Harvard” even tho Mittens is a harvard grad and does fundraiser there ALL THE TIME. More so then Obama. In short, Mittins is all hot air, and the video backs it up. But i’d love a foxtrotter.
So incensed by Fox News, yet gladly accepts a paycheck from them and rats them out behind their backs? If he/she is so pious, then why does he/she continue to help them broadcast their content by working for them? Sounds like he/she is hoping to get fired and then either file a lawsuit or create a job for themselves by becoming a shill for MSNBC or someone.
Pathetic. A rat is a rat is a rat.
I don’t understand this American obsession with demonizing whistleblowers. I’m sure the mob and pretty much any criminal is thankful for this.
The person sees an injustice and is trying to expose it. Without “rats” we never find out about Watergate or any of the hundreds of other things that were exposed by inside people. And Bin Laden probably would still be alive….
I think you’re misinformed on a few counts. First, there is no alleged illegal or wrongful activity at Fox. This is simply a case of someone with insider access using that access (most likely in violation of a confidentiality clause in their employment contract) to obtain and post “backstage footage.” And they’re probably getting paid for it by Gawker. So, in no way should the Fox Mole be viewed as a whistleblower, it’s simply an inaccurate description.
Secondly, Watergate wasn’t exposed because of whistleblowers. The burglars breaking into the DNC headquarters were caught by police and the FBI later connected cash found on the burglars to then President Nixon’s re-election campaign.
I’m no fan of Fox News. But I think it’s BS to accept employment and a paycheck from a business and then turn around and use your access to make them look bad for your own financial gain.
“Make them look bad for your own financial gain.” Sounds like the lunatic Fox mantra, with all the News Corp hacking and absurdist, burlesque, hyperactive, round the clock propaganda disguised as news. But the reason for demonizing whistleblowers in situations like this (anonymously of course) is rank cowardice and self loathing; making neurotic, lame excuses for perpetual, ugly lies — and resentment (anonymously of course) toward those who have a few guts left to shed light on it. And read an accurate Watergate history — yours sounds like the tired, high pitched chattering and utterly discredited Republican spin of “third rate burglary,” ignoring the attempted massive cover-up. In fact, James McCord, John Dean, Mark Felt and many others blew the whistle on that one, which left Roger Ailes (the madman adman who sold us the “New Nixon”) seething for revenge and payback.
I am in agreement with the above comment. ‘Anonymous’ needs to get off of their uneducated soapbox and brush up on US History. The Watergate break-in would have remained second page news if it were not for Mark Felt(i.e., Deep Throat), John Dean & Jim McCord who are perhaps the most famous & important ‘whistleblowers’ ever in the United States.
A whistleblower observes illegal activity and takes the information to the DA or prosecutor or the press. A mole burrows into an organization to find out information that is not illegal but could damage the operation of the organization by giving that information to a competitor. Whistleblowing is an attempt to get justice; being a mole is only about giving yourself an advantage you could not get in the open market or by honest means. Sounds like this guy was not a whistleblower and was a pretty lousy mole.
I disagree. Fox, I believe, is guilty of at least consumer fraud. They claim they are a news organization and a “fair and balanced” one at that. But that is patently false. They are NOT a news org. They provide news entertainment & propaganda – but not news.
I think the FCC should simply not allow Fox News to call itself that. Neither should MSNBC by the way.
They are not Walter Cronkite.
I believe there are laws about truth in advertising – why not enforce them?
Newspapers have editorial pages. Fox has news programming during the day and an evening block of programming mainly consisting of Op-Ed and political debate.
Most newspapers have an editorial slant. They used to endorse candidates and provided more transparency regarding their preferences. FOX News wears their politics on their sleeve.
I’d hate to see the FCC assume the power of telling people who is and is not a journalist. That’s a quick way to silence a journalist investigating corruption.
You need to be careful when you wish for bureaucrats to grab power. The FCC might be run someday by people you don’t like.
Okay, whistleblowers in the traditional sense are reporting on illegal activity. In a less traditional sense, whistleblowers expose immoral and/or unethical behavior that is, however, legal. What Muto did was breach his confidentiality clauses in his employment agreement. In addition, he worked for a company for about 8 years and claims to be disgusted by it. I understand that finding a job is difficult, but “sticking it to the man” by being a rat is not heroic. It is stupid. It is not some effort to cleanse his conscience. He wanted attention. He got it. He used his position (one of trust) and violated that trust for the sake of getting the attention. Not because he had some hugely immoral or illegal activity to report. I’m sure that now that he is fired he will write a lengthy exposition about how greatly he suffered. Fine. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you and expect people to think you are trustworthy or honest. He is just a rat.
Consumer fraud with news? I could deliver a very lengthy analysis to point out the absurd amount of flaws in that sort of reasoning. Instead, I will keep it short. “News” is not a product or tangible good. So, there is no “false advertising” or fraud involved with a product. Rather, there is this concept known as free speech and freedom of the press in this country. Through those two well-established, constitutional principles, both news and opinion can be reported (nowadays, frequently together). There is nothing illegal about doing so, provided there is no defamation. “Fair and balanced” is an opinion. The content of news is not a product.
As has been pointed out, without Deepthroat, Watergate never comes out and takes down the presidency.
And a whistleblower doesn’t necessarily have to expose illegal activity, but immoral activity, as well. Fox News claims they are fair and balanced, but have been accused of simply being a RNC mouthpiece, or at the very least, a very right leaning organization that bends the truth to fit it’s agenda. As a supposedly legitimate news organization, if they have purposely altered facts and lied to their viewers, then this information needs to come out.
Snitches get stitches
You call this guy a whistleblower? Last time I checked talking about what kind of horse breed you prefer isn’t a criminal offense.
Nothing better and more satisfying than taking an asshole’s money while destroying them from within. I just hope the Mole doesn’t go the way of the Conde Nast Elevator guy.
Hang on, bandar,are you talking about Olberman now?
You’re looking at the situation from a wholly corporate, enterprising viewpoint and disregarding the question of public interest. Sure, it’s wrong to take someone’s money and then expose their practices, thus jeopardizing their business by making them prey to competitors. This kind of corporate warfare happens all the time and it’s wholly unethical to attain gain from someone’s intentional loss. But this is a different matter entirely. Any time a corporation (or the government for that matter) is in breach of the basic tenets of public interest, who else but a whistleblower to uncover the wrongdoing? I’m not saying anything nefarious is happening here, but if Muto indeed has insider information that Fox is unjustly, maliciously, intentionally assassinating the liberal agenda for its own enterprising purposes, the public has a right to know. After all, journalism is still partly a public service, and any media company still has the responsibility to morally abide by that basic public trust.
The mole will be a celebrity very soon he will have his choice of jobs he’ll be a hero everywhere he’s smart to do this it will be great publicity for him as soon as he’s identified. FOX in their infinite stupidity has once again shot themselves in the foot.
I emphathize with Ann Romney, for I too have taken to riding horses, mainly because I cannot afford gas for my car thanks to Mr. Romney’s Big Oil friends and campaign contributors on Wall Street.
Record high unemployment, record high gas prices, record high deficits, record low home prices, etc…and THIS is what we get to read about? Even Fox has sniveling little liberals employed with them. Obama aka President Food Stamp is a disaster…yet Mitt Romney riding horses means he’s “disconnected.” Brilliant. No wonder the country is in the toilet now. And the post that mentioned Romney’s “oil buddies” and high gas prices…do you know who was the biggest benefactor of BP donations in 2008? I’ll let you figure that out.
Maybe Obama was the biggest benefactor of BP donations but do you know who was villified by Fox and Republicans for “Extorting” and “Strong arming” BP for 20 Billion $ before letting them continue operating in the Gulf after they slimed it? I’ll let you figure it out. Romney would “part out” what’s left of the U.S.
from the Bush & Co. plundering.
I agree. I didn’t find that video to be harmful at all, rather the opposite.
I can’t believe this hasn’t happened sooner. After all, Fox News is based in Manhattan. The local employment pool isn’t exactly their core audience.
the trailer trash blondes keep everyone in check
Wow. Sarah Palin really WILL do anything for attention, eh?
Everyone seems to missing the real issue here which is that Austrian Warmbloods have a much smoother gait than Missouri Foxtrotters on account of their lower center of gravity. And if we can’t trust this man to know the gait of horses, how do we expect him to run the country? Come on mole! Step it up!
Well said, suh! Bully! Bully I say!!!!
Ha. I’m not more than vaguely familiar with these two breeds, but that’s funny if it’s true. Yeah, I guess the point they’re trying to make is lookie, Mitt and his wife ride horses and knows about breeds. Something only rich people do. Sorry, but I saved up money, took lessons, and competed in a show once. It’s not a rich person’s pasttime. Sometimes *gasp* middle class people have horses too. Thoroughbreds even. BTW, tell Mitt he should think about a Paso Fino. Maybe he’s too big for most of them, but if you want a smooth gate it’s kinda hard to beat that. You could probably carry a sleeping baby while riding one of those horses, and it wouldn’t wake up.
Re the mole: Fox News needs to have be shown for what it is, but c’mon, this? Way to blow the lead off the great “Mitt doesn’t know his horse breeds, but as someone who rides, he must be rich and clearly even more out of touch than we thought” conspiracy. I’m not judging this person for being a mole as much as I am for being an idiot. You put your job on the line for something this stupid, I hope they do fire your butt.
I’m a dyed in the wool liberal and I think it’s kinda cool Romney is a horse riding enthusiast. I wish he’d talk about that rather than how the trees in Michigan are the right height. I think all politicians have lost the point on what campaigning actually is.
This person is an IDIOT. Does he or she really think that, once they are (justly, I might add) fired from Fox, another media job will welcome them with open arms? Because every studio wants to hire a faithless employee! Maybe they can go and work for Gawker, where the writers are famously ill-paid, worked to death and badly treated. And yes, I agree the horse story humanizes Romney (backfire!). And yes, for the record, I hate Fox as much any Fox-hater. But, come on, people – there is a difference between whistleblowing (Enron, Watergate, et al) and deviously feeding confidential (even mundane) information from your office to the outside world. How would you like it if one of your colleagues wrote about your work? Okay, maybe you would, but: How would you like it if they wrote about YOU? It’s a tricky area, and it’s not cool, unless there are ethical considerations (an illegality or injustice that needs to be reported; something that would affect or interfere with national security or is in the country’s interest, etc). Low-grade tattle-tales hurt EVERYONE, put greater scrutiny on prospective employers, get innocent people fired or marginalized and just generally should be discouraged.
I hope he has a marching band waiting.
Muto is a hero. He should write a book about his experiences at the rightwing propaganda network. Millions will buy it. BTW…where is the investigation into News Corp phone/email hacking here in the U.S.?
Will the next slim shady, please stand up, please stand up…
Keep it comin’. We watch and listen to every thing; we read every word. Your efforts are not in vain. One day, one of you will present the final nail.
If there are horses involved, there’s hope justice may yet be served. To quote Ben Jonson
“They say Princes learn no art truly, but the art of horsemanship. The reason is, the brave beast is no flatterer. He will throw a prince as soon as his groom.”
Hilarious. It took him 8 years to realize Fox wasn’t, uh, where he needed to be. Dude, you’re either the dumbest mofo on the planet, or the most opportunistic. Probably both.
Joe Muto will earn a fast million dollars from this so he’s in good shape. He won’t tell his story he’ll sell his story. Go Joe!
I’m sure his story is riveting.
“Uh, Fox is bad. So bad that I worked there for years. They have a right wing slant. I made a lot of money, then got fired for posting a video about horses.”
Great story.
boom
Wow…just wow! Whistle blower?!? really? He got nothing… nothing! The left/libs are so full of vitriol and hate, its no wonder they are the unhappiest people on the planet. Celebrate him? … for what? stealing mundane video and saying “I gotcha!, you’re rich, I gotcha!” Success is not demonized if you are not on the left. Geffen, Oprah, ect ect… do you really think these people would give up their money in “slum” it with the 99% because they relate to you and sympathize with you. Fools, the lot of ya, for buying into the lefts “let them eat cake” mantra. You actually think they care about you, it’s quite sad.
Hey, we’re FoxNews, you can’t do something sleazy and underhanded to us, only **WE** are allowed to be sleazy and underhanded.
Muto = Hero. I want to buy him dinner, a drink, whatever he wants.
MUTO, MUTO, MUTO, MUTO…
I think the most amusing thing is that all of these same commenters will deny there exists a Liberal bias in Hollywood.
Why is Romney being vindicated for his success? As far as I can tell, he epitomizes what America is about. He sought higher education, worked his way to success, has a great family and is pursuing his passions. I don’t understand why we should burn him at the stake for enjoying the wealth he has attained.
And as for Fox, of course they’re biased, of course they distort the truth – as does MSNBC, Gawker, NBC etc – it’s their prerogative to cater to their audience. It’s just business.
“Why is Romney being vindicated for his success? As far as I can tell, he epitomizes what America is about.”
You should actually take the time to read about Romney.
Water seeks its own level.