CNN: the election "can't be hacked", then the Russia hack

■ The pieces

• CNN: "No, the 2016 presidential election can't be hacked" — Tal Kopan (2016-10-19)https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/19/politics/election-day-russia-hacking-explained/index.html
• CNN: "Obama orders review of Russian election-related hacking" — Tal Kopan, Kevin Liptak, Jim Sciutto (2016-12-09)https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/09/politics/obama-orders-review-into-russian-hacking-of-2016-election/index.html
• CNN Opinion: "Where's the outrage over the Russia hack? (opinion)" — Paul Waldman (2016-12-10)https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/10/opinions/how-politicians-let-russia-hack-americas-election-waldman/index.html

■ What they show

Three weeks before the vote, while Trump was warning of a rigged election, CNN's Tal Kopan explained that the decentralized US voting system made changing the result by hacking practically impossible. After the election, CNN reported Obama's order for a review of Russian election-related hacking (Kopan was a co-author), and a CNN opinion piece by Paul Waldman asked why there was not more outrage over Russia's hack.

■ The other side

The October piece was about altering vote counts and machines; the December pieces were about the hacking and leaking of emails and influence operations, a different meaning of "hack", and no official found that votes were changed.

■ Why it's here

This exhibit is filed under Subversion, not graded as a lie. What subversion means →