Craig Silverman Prepares To Reveal BuzzFeed Staff Role As Lost Debunk Link Exposes Online-Only Evidence Problem

This 24 April 2015 email chain shows Craig Silverman telling Robert Colvile, Alan White and Tom Phillips that the CEN article would now go live after it had become public that he was on BuzzFeed staff, rather than simply an outside contributor linked to Poynter, Tow or Emergent. Silverman says BuzzFeed should add a line explaining that he had “recently joined BuzzFeed full-time”, while noting that his work on the CEN article predated that move, and says the New York team would change his byline from “Contributor” to “Canada editor” or similar. The document is significant because it records a shift in Silverman’s public status at the precise publication stage, making his role part of BuzzFeed’s own editorial structure rather than only external verification support. The chain is also important because Robert Colvile flags that a link to the Viral Examiner debunking of the half-naked sunbather story is no longer working, after which Alan White says he cannot find it on his phone and provides a substitute link, with a warning that the wording would need to change. That exchange is useful because it shows BuzzFeed still depending on online debunking links at the final-copy stage and being willing to swap in a similar replacement source when the original could not be found. It should be read alongside the “easy bit”, Silverman-budget, Silverman-byline and online-debunking documents, because it helps document the investigation’s reliance on Silverman’s authority and on internet-based debunking material rather than a preserved original-reporting evidence file.

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