The far-right disinformation group Project Veritas has a long-established history of attempts to discredit news organizations and left-leaning groups by planting false stories and deceptively edited videos.
Despite this history, conservatives in Congress and right-wing media continue to amplify its stories.
Now, A local Fox News affiliate in Houston, Texas—Ivory Hecker—went rogue during a segment that was supposed to be about the heat waves currently ravaging the state.
Watch below.
Fox 26 TV Reporter Ivory Hecker Informs Network LIVE ON AIR She's Blowing The Whistle On Themwww.youtube.com
Hecker announced that she'd been working with Project Veritas to expose Fox's "muzzling" of her reporting. She promised forthcoming recordings.
Hecker said:
"I want to let you the viewers know that Fox Corp. has been muzzling me to keep certain information from you, and from what I am gathering, I am not the only reporter being subjected to this. I am going to be releasing some recordings about what goes on behind the scenes at Fox, because it applies to you, the viewers."
That's when she revealed she'd been working with Project Veritas:
"I found a nonprofit journalism group called Project Veritas that's gonna help put that out tomorrow, so tune into them."
She then went back to reporting on the heat wave.
Project Veritas has since confirmed to the Daily Beast that it will release a sit-down interview with Hecker on Tuesday night, though it remains unclear what the allegations against the network will be.
Given Project Veritas' record, people were instantly skeptical of whatever Hecker's claims were going to be.
Not a bombshell if it\u2019s project veritas. Smooth glide into the AC story though.https://twitter.com/kylenabecker/status/1404595885103890432\u00a0\u2026— Soledad O'Brien (@Soledad O'Brien) 1623723224
Like all Republican undertakings Project Veritas is the opposite of it's name. A "coordinated disinformation campaign" according the NYT. Fox is signaling they are about to drop a bombshell (of misinformation). Take cover.— Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09 (@Duty To Warn \ud83d\udd09) 1623717064
Number of stories Project Veritas has actually broken that weren\u2019t cosplay con jobs:pic.twitter.com/f4Xu6Xj8hD— Fish in a Barrel documentary (@Fish in a Barrel documentary) 1623724360
Yeah, Project Veritas, the institution of stellar journalism\u2026.what a self own\u2026.it\u2019s a culthttps://twitter.com/matthewtyrmand/status/1404582290211147777\u00a0\u2026— \ud835\udc04\ud835\udc31\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2f\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc2b \ud835\udc0f\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc29\ud835\udc1e (@\ud835\udc04\ud835\udc31\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2f\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc2b \ud835\udc0f\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc29\ud835\udc1e) 1623717462
Ivory Hecker claimed she was reporting on a heat wave, but first said she and Project Veritas will release tapes tomorrow.\n\nThat's no heat wave, that's a dumpster fire.https://twitter.com/DailyCaller/status/1404593031735648264\u00a0\u2026— Alex Morash (@Alex Morash) 1623720480
Does Ivory Hecker know that Project Veritas is like 0-4— Brie-ly Bored Potato (@Brie-ly Bored Potato) 1623750959
Though the Fox News network is still the most prominent conservative media outlet in the country, Fox has seen backlash from more conservative viewers after former President Donald Trump began routinely blasting the network for not fudging poll numbers in his favor and not pushing his disinformation consistently enough.
Right-wing media personalities and online conspiracy theorists rejoiced at Hecker's news.
News Reporter Ivory Hecker just Outed FOX News on FOX LiveTV . Saying she will expose everything to Project Veritas!\n\n/I'm pretty sure the MIL. & White HATS are controlling MSM more & more>>STAGING\n\nFAUCI\nCDC\nCOVID-19 ORIGIN \nWHO>GATES>FB..EXT.ECT..\nALL IN MSM NEWS> MORE& MORE\npic.twitter.com/ycRjG5tT4l— (Q)The Storm Rider (@(Q)The Storm Rider) 1623713691
Ivory Hecker accuses Fox of muzzling her, and says that Project Veritas will tell her story tomorrow.\n\nIs anyone surprised that Fox News has been silencing their own reporters? The station that turned its back on its viewers when it mattered most, when the election was fixed?— First Words (@First Words) 1623725280
BRAVE! Probably jobless now but at least she has courage to be a real journalist!https://twitter.com/DailyCaller/status/1404593031735648264\u00a0\u2026— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8Okie Patriot\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8Okie Patriot\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1623728011
As a local reporter, it's unclear how much damage Hecker can do to Fox as a corporation.
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