Washington Post, Forbes, Wall Street Journal Slammed for ‘Puff Piece’ Reports on FTX and Alameda Execs – Bitcoin News

Following the heavily criticized New York Times article containing comments by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the public continues to flog the mainstream media for publishing “puff pieces” about SBF and the Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison. A number of articles have been called out for being too soft on the former FTX and Alameda leaders and even going so far as to compliment the individuals.

Critics say specific FTX-related articles published by Forbes, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal praise FTX and Alameda Execs

On November 15, 2022, Bitcoin.com News published an article about the criticism an article in the New York Times (NYT) received after it published an article saying that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) slept better and played video game. People were not too happy with the NYT article, and critics said at the time that news publishing went soft on SBF. The NYT article is not the only editorial that the mainstream media (MSM) has published that has failed to go soft on former FTX and Alameda leaders and even praise the individuals.

For example, the Washington Post criticized Dan Diamond for his report called “Before FTX Collapse, Founder Poured Millions into Pandemic Prevention.” Diamond’s report highlights SBF’s significant donations to initiatives that would prevent another pandemic like Covid-19.

But when the Washington Post tweeted Diamond’s story, the news outlet appeared to praise SBF. “Stop making him look noble. He was a crook who ran a Ponzi scheme,” on individual wrote to the Washington Post (WP). Another person responded to WP’s tweet, saying: “Where’s the part that says ‘This is a sponsored post.’

Economist and trader Alex Krüger also tapped the WP article when he tweeted:

Incredible. @washingtonpost also decided to write about FTX as if it were the case of a well-intentioned charitable entrepreneur, rather than what it is: the most egregious financial scam of the 21st century. What a shame.

Public opinion has spoken: No one cares that Alameda’s top executive was a “Harry Potter fan” or so-called “Math Whiz”

Some people called Washington Post reporters are clowns, and many people called Diamond reports a “puff piece”. The NYT article and the Washington Post editorial were not the only articles condemned for praising FTX and Alameda leaders. A Forbes article was also criticized for endorsing former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison.

At the time, the Twitter account was called “Unusual whales” tweeted: “This is game of Forbes. Caroline Ellison is called a ‘math whiz’ and a person who ‘takes big risks.'” Unusual whales added:

Instead of being called a person who violated FTX’s own terms of service, allegedly used customer funds and has not faced recourse.

Further when Forbes shared the article on Twitter described the FTX story as a “new darling of the alt-right.” A person wrote: “What happened to Forbes? They used to be better.”

“This spin is ridiculous. Caroline is being ridiculed by everyone left and right,” Wayne Vaughan tweeted in response to Forbes’ view of Caroline Ellison. The whistleblower known as “Fatman” also shared his two cents on the MSM stories covering SBF and Alameda’s Ellison.

He also shared a screenshot of a reporter from Forbes who wanted to report on Ellison in a “nuanced way.” “I think someone is funding a media campaign to sway the narrative around the FTX crew – who should be seen as nothing less than super villains,” Fatman so. “Here’s a Forbes reporter seeking positive comments from ‘supporters’ instead of reporting the actual facts.”

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has also been grilled for reporting favorably on Alameda’s Ellison. On the Reddit forum r/cryptocurrency, Redditor “kindred_asura” shared a WSJ article focusing on Ellison. “Front page puff piece on Caroline Ellison right now in the WSJ. Not ONE mention of scams or illegal activities,” said the Redditor. The Reddit post received approximately 811 upvotes before r/cryptocurrency moderators decided to remove the post.

“I sure wish I never just ‘find myself’ losing billions of clients’ funds while running a fraudulent business,” Redditor u/kindred_asura commented. Overall, many people seem to believe that the MSM has intentionally dropped the ball when reporting on FTX and Alameda leaders.

Also, social media and Reddit forum posts pretty much indicate that no one cares that SBF is donating millions to pandemic prevention. Furthermore, hundreds of comments on social media and forums suggest that people absolutely do not care about Ellison’s so-called “nerdy” behavior and the fact that she likes Harry Potter.

What do you think of the reporting mainstream media has done so far on the FTX scandal? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below.

Jamie Redman

Jamie Redman is the news editor at Bitcoin.com News and a financial technology journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open source and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.