The Guardian has stealthily edited the wording in their bombshell report Tuesday, softening assertions that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort had multiple meetings with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at his refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
News Sniffer, a website that tracks changes in news articles and highlights changes, noted the alterations within three hours of the story being published.
The changes display decreased certainty that Manafort had sought out Assange. In the third paragraph for instance, their final meeting in 2016 was edited to be described as an “apparent meeting.”
[Read more: Paul Manafort, accused of breaking plea deal, could spend the rest of his life in prison]
The Guardian has weakened some of the language in their Manafort/Assange story: https://t.co/QbgnvpHNiX pic.twitter.com/bgm8fvQGxF
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) November 27, 2018
WikiLeaks and Assange’s denials that such meetings ever took place were also added to the updated story, which as of press time lacked a visible editor’s note or other indicator to inform readers that the story had been updated. The original report noted that Manafort denied taking part in any such meetings and having any role in WikiLeaks’ publication of email stolen from Democrats during the 2016 campaign.
In a tweet after the story was published, WikiLeaks said it was “willing to bet the Guardian a million dollars and its editor’s head that Manafort never met Assange.”
WikiLeaks also noted that the headline of the article had been changed to include “sources say.”
Ninety minutes after publication the Guardian modifies its “Manafort held secret talks with Assange” headline to add “, sources say”. pic.twitter.com/zcg8cQcYGq
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) November 27, 2018
The story has received a great deal of attention, being placed up at the top of the front page of the Drudge Report, an influential online aggregator.
