Posted on 10/09/2004 1:04:02 AM PDT by Cableguy
ABC News was under fire last night after an internal memo surfaced suggesting President Bush should be held more accountable for his statements than John Kerry.
The memo to staffers from the network's powerful political director, Marc Halperin, noted that while both campaigns are distorting the truth, Kerry's bending of the facts shouldn't be hit as hard.
"Kerry distorts, takes out of context, and mistakes all the time, but these are not central to his efforts to win," Halperin wrote.
But "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 added.
Halperin further advised the ABC staff to keep that in mind when reporting.
"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," the memo continued.
"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."
A spokesman for ABC news insisted "we are not interested in taking sides, we are only interested in getting at the truth."
Halperin plays a mostly behind-the-scenes role at ABC, and is known as the father of "The Note," a daily political memo that is read by thousands of D.C. insiders, political players and journalists.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Was the memo typeset in Times New Roman?
I'd hope we could get some of our republican politicians to help.
Too true. Proving once again the old conservative adage: "Welfare makes you weak." The OM did their pets no favors.
Same principle applies to the military welfare the US have beeen giving Europe and Canada these last 50 years or so.
I did it with Rather and CBS and I did get replies... sponsors and advertisers are the best weapon to use against the networks..
ABC stands for:
Another Bias Candidates news source...
A Bunch of Crap....
Another Biased Comentator...
Always Broadcasting Crap
Stew Ping!
Charlie Rose, you sir, are a coward.
There's at least one ABC employee with a conscience and a good sense of right and wrong.
Cry us a river ABC. Morons.
That's a good point. You can bet ABC is looking all over for the mole right now.
Brit should have disclosed that he is friends with both Halperin and Gibson. If he hadn't, he could well have been accused of hiding his bias.
This way, we know what his bias is, and we can more accurately judge his comments.
Wrong! Let me correct the statement for you:
There's at least one future ex-ABC employee with a conscience and a good sense of right and wrong.
I was an Independent and I switched to Republican when I watched the Bork hearings...Kennedy's Judicial war room was actually prying into Bork's video store rentals and the MSM was deathly quiet...all the while that Metzenbaum and Leahy, both traitors to this country, were never called on the carpet...the corruption of the Democratic Party is a closely guarded secret of the MSM....as is that of their beloved UN...the anchors and journalists in the MSM are ideological jerks who want to control the outcome of this election for the good of this country....NOT...thay want to stay in power themselves and hobnob with the wealthy liberal elite of Hollywood and the Northeast...they get to go the best parties that way and feel quite important...as they massage each other to death over how caring they are.
bump
I apologize if this has already been mentioned – I admit to not reading all of the 200+ responses – but you can bet your sweet arse that ABC is far, far, far more interested in the source of the leak than they are in the blatant lack of professionalism displayed by Halperin.
Exactly. If they cannot be a true professional in their craft - they need to find a new one cause we now have pajama channel.
Charlie Rose also ignored the whole CBS Memogate. He thinks we don't know that he also works for CBS.
I don't think it's about cojones...I think it's about an unspoken agreement that the MSM will cover up for each other. The depressing thing is that while the net is uncovering the bias, most people don't get on the net and read. The average joe doesn't realize that he is being blatantly manipulated into voting for the candidate favored by the MSM. The MSM is still mainstream enough to control what really gets out...this will never make it onto the editorial page of the New York Times.
I happened to be spending lots of time at home during the Thomas Hearings, so I had the opportuniity to watch the proceedings.
I didn't watch the hearings for Bork, so I didn't realize what was really going on.
Maybe someone can confirm my search results.
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