Craig Silverman Tells Redacted Austrian Contact BuzzFeed Is Working On Larger CEN Investigation

This two-page BuzzFeed disclosure document shows Craig Silverman writing on 15 January 2015 to the same redacted Austrian media contact previously approached about Austrian Times, CEN and EuroPics. The contact should not be named in the Source Library and can be referred to only as a redacted Austrian media contact or “the guy in Austria”. Silverman thanks him for his “time and insight” and says he is now working with “a couple of BuzzFeed UK journalists” on a larger feature/investigation into the “dubious practises of CEN/EuroPics”. He tells the contact that BuzzFeed has gathered “many examples of fake stories they’ve sold or of real stories where they have inserted fake details”, and adds that the material is picked up and paid for by many large UK news outlets. Silverman then asks whether, given the contact’s earlier hesitation about speaking on the record, he can suggest former clients or others in the media who would comment on their experience with CEN. He also links the project to Emergent, his real-time rumour tracker/debunker, and asks for feedback on it. The document is significant because it marks the escalation from the earlier August 2014 Austrian Times/Bieber bear-story exchange into the broader BuzzFeed UK investigation of CEN. BuzzFeed_010093B shows Silverman testing and seeking on-record criticism from the redacted Austrian media contact while focused on Austrian Times, CEN, EuroPics and one disputed viral story; BuzzFeed_010107 shows him returning months later, with the project now presented as a larger BuzzFeed UK feature/investigation, and asking the same contact to help identify further sources or former clients. It is also useful because Silverman is still using his Tow Center, Columbia University, Regret the Error and Poynter affiliations in his email signature while seeking material for a BuzzFeed-linked investigation.

Source

Part of Central European News & Mike Leidig v BuzzFeed (US Second Circuit Libel Case) – BF Case Documents

Europe Media Published 1 May 2026 at 21:09 Source: 1 November 2016