Lame, biased MSM!
Posted on 10/09/2004 5:06:50 AM PDT by FlyLow
ABC News to deliberately correct Bush more often than Kerry? In an internal memo which was given to the Drudge Report, ABC News Political Director Mark Halperin declared that "the current Bush attacks on Kerry involve distortions and taking things out of context in a way that goes beyond what Kerry has done." Halperin told his colleagues: "We have a responsibility to hold both sides accountable to the public interest, but that doesn't mean we reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable when the facts don't warrant that." He also bemoaned the "stepped up Bush efforts to complain about our coverage," claiming it "is all part of their efforts to get away with as much as possible." ABC's post-debate fact check matched Halperin's advice with two corrections for Bush to one for Kerry.
An excerpt from the text of the October 8 memo posted by the DrudgeReport.com:
....The New York Times (Nagourney/Stevenson) and Howard Fineman on the web both make the same point today: the current Bush attacks on Kerry involve distortions and taking things out of context in a way that goes beyond what Kerry has done.
Kerry distorts, takes out of context, and mistakes all the time, but these are not central to his efforts to win.
We have a responsibility to hold both sides accountable to the public interest, but that doesn't mean we reflexively and artificially hold both sides "equally" accountable when the facts don't warrant that.
I'm sure many of you have this week felt the stepped up Bush efforts to complain about our coverage. This is all part of their efforts to get away with as much as possible with the stepped up, renewed efforts to win the election by destroying Senator Kerry at least partly through distortions.
It's up to Kerry to defend himself, of course. But as one of the few news organizations with the skill and strength to help voters evaluate what the candidates are saying to serve the public interest. Now is the time for all of us to step up and do that right.
END of Excerpt
For the full Drudge posting: http://www.drudgereport.com/mh.htm
An October 8 posting by Clay Waters, on the MRC's TimesWatch.org site, looked at the New York Times article praised by Halperin: "Only one side makes political exaggerations on the campaign trail, judging by Friday's Times report from Adam Nagourney and Richard Stevenson, 'In His New Attacks, Bush Pushes Limits on the Facts.' The cut-out line attempts to smear the Bush campaign with an old liberal bogeyman: 'Taking a page out of the Lee Atwater campaign book.'" The Times duo claimed: "But the scathing indictment that Mr. Bush offered of Mr. Kerry over the past two days -- on the eve of the second presidential debate and with polls showing the race tightening -- took these attacks to a blistering new level. In the process, several analysts say, Mr. Bush pushed the limits of subjective interpretation and offered exaggerated or what some Democrats said were distorted accounts of Mr. Kerry's positions on health care, tax cuts, the Iraq war and foreign policy."
For the rest of Nagourney and Stevenson on Bush's "distortions": http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/08/politics/campaign/08campaign.html
For Clay's full analysis of the Times news story: http://www.timeswatch.org/articles/2004/1008.asp
ABC's post-debate fact check matched Halperin's advice with two corrections for Bush to just one for Kerry.
Peter Jennings began the fact checking at about 10:50pm EDT, 9:50pm CDT: "First of all, there was this question of the President being accused by Senator Kerry of owning a timber company, or having a part interest in a timber company and taking $84 in a tax rebate. Mr. Bush looked up and said, 'I own a timber company?' We all sort of looked at one another and said who was right? Well, it turns out Senator Kerry was right and here's how he figured it out, that under the Republican definition and based on the President's federal income tax returns of 2001, he reported $84 of business income from his part ownership of a timber-growing enterprise. He shifted it in 2002 and 2003 when he reported his timber income as royalties on a different tax schedule."
Turning to Jake Tapper, Jennings pointed out how "the President said twice that 75 percent of al-Qaeda had been brought to justice or captured. Right or wrong?" Tapper: "Well, that's not right, Peter. There's actually no way to know how many members of al-Qaeda there are in total. What the President probably meant to say was that, according to intelligence, 75 percent of al-Qaeda leadership, known al-Qaeda leadership as of September 11th, 2001, has been killed or brought to justice. But intelligence experts also caution that many of those individuals have been replaced." Jennings: "Okay, second one. Senator Kerry kept saying, and he's repeated it more than once, that General Shinseki lost his job and was retired after he made critical remarks about the campaign in Iraq and the number of troops that were required. Right or wrong?" Tapper: "That is incorrect and Senator Kerry must know this by now -- it's been pointed out on fact checks all over the country. But General Shinseki, who was the Army Chief of Staff, announced his retirement in 2002. He did not make his controversial remarks until 2003, so the idea that he left the military because of the remarks is just not a fact."
Hah! Kerry has "a plan" and Gore had a "lockbox"--neither one was very effective, after all was said and done.
Yes:
We have long known that the "Mainstream Newsmedia" has become nothing more than a propaganda machine--and the most powerful and relentless propaganda machine in history. Now, its spokespersons openly acknowledge this.
Halperin has to be an idiot to release a memo like this right after the Rather memos.
This just points to the duplicity of the entire MSM not just to CBS.
Can we expect a biased memo to be released from NBC soon?
That's not quite what the memo said. That, if true, would be a statement of fac, demonstrable at least in theory. However what the memo actually said was that the distortions are a central part of Bush's campaign, but the even more extensive distortions of the Kerry campaign are not a central part of his campaign. That's a judgement call, and not direct demostrable. It's also, IMHO not true.
Time for the SwiftVets/POWs "October Surprise.".
I find it difficult to believe that the type of propaganda and bias being indulged in by the MSM (?) is protected by the First Amendment, which was enacted to preserve and encourage the free dissemination of information -- but certainly not the deliberate spreading of patently false and damaging stories. Perhaps this issue can be revisited by a "strict constructionist" Supreme Court.
Lame, biased MSM!
dncABCbs must be held to account for this outrage. If Halperin isn't fired by Monday amidst a strong denounciation, then we go after them, their affiliates and advertisers. Newsweek's Evan Thomas said the MSM was in the Tank for Kerry and it would be worth 15 points. The AP's Tom Hayes said the Bush supporters booed Clinton and Bush did nothing, this was a lie, they expressed sympathy. Rathergate, now this. The MSM sucks and is going down.
No matter what President Bush does it is wrong. He's led us through the war on terrorism and through the ups and downs of the economy and all the rest. They keep bringing up how many people died in Iraq and all the rest of the stuff they attack him with. Don't they realize that people die in war! One is to many but with out these wonderful people we would not have the America we have. I'm talking about the people who have died in all the wars that have protected America From Concord Bridge till now. These cultural marxists thatare led by hanoi john, Hitlery, and terry macawful will give America away to the THUGS in the United Nations.
MSM is like a dog whose owner just found out his papers are forgeries...
Are you confident that they have one?
Truth and morality going by the wayside in our country by half of it's people.
That would be the lib/dim half!
"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party."
Kerry's PLAN is obviously in Gores lockbox.. pay attention...
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