CONTROVERSY HITS ABC NEWS POLITICAL DIRECTOR MARK HALPERIN

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[KStorm]

CONTROVERSY HITS ABC NEWS POLITICAL DIRECTOR MARK HALPERIN... EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPING... An internal memo written by ABCNEWS Political Director Mark Halperin admonishes ABC staff during coverage of Democrat Kerry and Republican Bush -- not to 'reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable'...

[nimbysrule]

Aw, geez, you now confront me with a moral dilemma - do the right thing, which is of course boycott the fraud, or give in to my weak, earthly needs to have as much cheap thrill viewing of GWB as I can. . .

[razorback-bert]

I'm sure many of you have this week felt the stepped up Bush efforts to complain about our coverage.

This means someone (WH RNC) is bitching loud and long.

Good News!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[mewzilla]

Call ABC's affiliates. They're the network's soft underbelly.

[haywoodwebb]

Great photo!

[meema]

I have never read 'the note', but I am going to try to find it now. I have never clicked onto nbccbsabc 'cause I always knew what they say is not important to 'help me'...whoops . I did click on cbs in september to see what they had to say about gunga dan blather. It was not enlightening.

[NAVY-VET2]

Thanks for ABC email address. Sent in my 2 or 3 cents and now will delete ABC forever from my TV which now is 2 down and 2 to go (NBC and CNN).

[Darnright]

>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.<

You left out the quote in bold, which is crucial. The MSM is admitting that they hold Kerry to a far different standard than they hold President Bush.

When is the general public going to wake up to the fact that our news is as distorted in its own way as anything the old Soviet machine ever fed its people?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Excellent. ABC news was piling on during the Dan Ra^ther controversy. Now it's their turn to get a piece of the action. Sayanara, liberal media.

[God luvs America]

this should be getting more air time and we should force the issue by barraging the ABC switchboard with complaint calls!

[An American In Dairyland]

MSM Translation: Don't you dare be fair to Bush this close to the election..

Wrong translation. Correct one is: ABC believes it must cheat for Kerry because Kerry is an inept loser who can't compete fairly against Bush.

[TexasCajun]

Boy-oh-Boy!

We got DNCBS & Dan Rather promoting fraudulent documents from the DNC and now ABDNC & its news director directing his minions to be tougher on Bush than on Kerry!

The OLD MEDIA is just keeps getting busted for is blatant bias!

[jmbnyc]

ABC News should be ashamed of Halperin's memo where he suggests (with no proof) that Kerry's distortions are less egregious than Bush's. How naive of the American public to believe that Dan Rather and CBS News were the only ones with a political bias (and agenda). I always though that the job of a journalist is to report the news not to be judge and jury. Apparently, Halperin believes he knows more than anyone else about whose distortions 'matter' the most. His memo is offensive and shameful. ABC should learn a lesson from CBS and denounce the comments as soon as possible before rational folks like myself just write off ABC as yet another biased and arrogant news outlet (although in reality I wrote them off long ago).

[The Loan Arranger]

My e-mail/note to local ABC stations:
"I'm glad that your political unit head, Mr. Mark Halperin, has come out as biased towards Senator Kerry and against President Bush in his recent E-Mail to the staff at ABC News. This lets the American people know that "liberal bias" at the mainstream media is not a myth, but a fact.
From this day forward, I, and my family, will boycott any and all sponsors/advertisers of your network. Rest assured that I will be writing those companies to let them know of my decision. Good day."

Here they are, if you want to write them:
http://abc.go.com/abc/utility/localstations.html

[jmbnyc]

I just sent a message to my local NYC ABC station, but the message bounced. The error was "mailbox full". I would like to believe that there are a lot of folks out there like myself that are taking this opportunity to write in. This stuff is beyond the pale and just reaffirms why cable is crushing the major outlets on a nightly basis.

[vox_freedom]

Thanks soccer4life. Just to bounce the #'s one more time for those who are motivated to contact ABC (Always Been Coerced) and let them hear the outrage!
To express concerns to ABC, contact the following:

* ABC Audience Response line at 818-460-7477. Press 4 to leave a message.
* ABC News Washington DC Bureau at 202-222-7777, fax 202-222-7684
* ABC News Political Director Mark Halperin at 212-456-4545, fax 212-456-2795, email mark.halperin@abc.com
* ABC News President David Westin at 212-456-6200, fax 212-456-4292
* ABC President Alex Wallau at 818-460-5500, fax 212-456-2795, email alex.wallau@abc.com

[jackbill]

You left off:

Rick Kaplan -- ABC News
Title: Senior Vice President - News
Department: Headquarters
Phone: (212) 456-1000
Fax: (212) 456-5962
Address: 147 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10023

I prefer FAX's. emails are too easy to delete or ignore.

[M Kehoe]

Halperin better be fired or I am NEVER watching ABC again.

I think she, and ABC figure we aren't watching anyway. And she (ABC) would be correct. The vast majority of we, aren't watching their garbage (and the collective MSM's revenue is still heading south. 8^)

5.56mm

[Reactionary]

Strange, considering liberals are always going on and on about "prejudice" and the great evil it represents, no?

Of course, to these ideological fanatics any prejudice is justified.

[SERKIT]

"For me, the most stunning moment of the whole evening was when George Bush was asked to name three mistakes that he has made ... and the President couldn't even name one mistake." John F. Kerry

1) Charlie Gibson probably read the Mark Halperin memo and picked the question for a reason.

2) Ever been in a job interview where they ask you for your biggest weakness, or your three worst mistakes? What would an expert advise you do to?

3) This was clearly a "gotcha" question for our President because the flip side was not, "Mr. Kerry name three of YOUR mistakes", it would be "Mr. Kerry please comment on the President's self-admitted mistakes, and please feel free to pile on".