CNN Accused of Fictionalizing Account of Texas School Book Hearing

Agape Press ^ | July 14, 2003 | Jim Brown

[Schnucki]

(AgapePress) - It's being called "Jayson Blair-style reporting." CNN is being accused of fabricating a report about scientific critics of Darwinism who recently testified before the Texas State Board of Education.

At last week's hearing, two representatives from the Seattle-based Discovery Institute urged the board to correct factual errors in biology textbooks and require that books discuss flaws in evolutionary theory. Discovery Institute's Dr. John West says CNN reported the hearing as a battle between "nasty religious fundamentalists" who wanted to inject the Bible into science textbooks and "enlightened scientists" who wanted to keep that from happening.

But West says not one person who testified before the board advocated creationism, Intelligent Design theory, or including religion in biology textbooks.

"This doesn't even rise to the level of journalism. Really, it's sheer fantasy," West says. "They had a story that they wanted to tell, which was religion versus science, and when the facts didn't fit that, they just made it up. This is just atrocious."

West, who is associate director of the Center for Science and Culture at Discovery Institute, says the cable news network described critics of neo-Darwinism who testified at the hearing as people who believe that "the Bible takes precedence over science."

But West says the two Institute fellows who testified simply urged the board of education to use textbooks that cover both the strengths and weaknesses of evolutionary theory.

"Apparently CNN thinks that when it comes to something that's debated, their viewers should only hear one point of view," he says. "This is blatant bias -- but bias is too meek a word for it. It was invention, it was fantasy -- and they were making up the news."

According to West, after CNN aired their taped report from Texas, it conducted a live one-on-one interview with a liberal law professor who attacked scientists who are raising questions about the biology textbooks.

West is encouraging people to call CNN and producers of the show Live from the Headlines to voice their dissatisfaction with correspondent Ed Lavendera's story.

[Right Wing Professor]

Presumably, if it were a public meeting, there were minutes taken, and the statements made were submitted also in writing to be part of the public record?

[RadioAstronomer]

Already, anyone with a connection to the internet and the ability to read, can get a pretty good education for very little.

The rub is can you discern the junk from the good stuff? For example if I was teaching on the web and told you:

" the grass was green because the Nuclear Van der Waals forces in the chlorophyll was causing an intermolecular vibration causing the grass to emit electromagnetic energy at the wavelength that stimulated the green receptors in our eyes"

Would many people be able to discern if it was junk?

[Aracelis]

Would many people be able to discern if it was junk?

You seem to have summed up the whole of the Creationist dillemma - education has degraded to the point where few can detect the junk. Instead, we have individuals turning themselves into pretzels by attempting to reconcile a literal interpretation of Genesis with existing chemical and geological evidence.

[mtbopfuyn]

More shoddy journalism. After airing their initial segment getting everyone in a tizzy, will they bother taking the blame? Bet they won't say a word about it much less give it the same air time as they did with their lies. The damage is done and no one will remember any retraction.

[Aric2000]

The discovery institute is a frightening concept, and to think that they are based right here in my neck of the woods.

They wish to have ID placed in the science curriculum, yeah, they are upset, because their agenda has been compromised.

First you get the doubts in there, giving blatantly silly statements about evolution, then once you get those changes done, you slide in with ID and boom, you're there.

These guys have learned from the liberal playbook well.

It's all about slowly and one step at time to reach the goal, because as you take the baby steps, by the time you get to where you want to go, everybody around you is trying to figure out what happened.

The slippery slope exists, and once the sled gets moving, the momentum is hard to stop. Time to take this ID sled apart, before it really picks up speed and our public schools become even more of a joke in education as they already are.

It is WAY past time to take apart the education system we have in this country and privatize it, school vouchers and choice are the ONLY way to fix this train wreck.

[Aric2000]

They don't need to make a retraction, the agenda of the discovery institute has been compromised.

It is their intention to get ID placed in science classrooms, it is their goal, just because they did NOT discuss ID in this particular meeting, they will be back to do it again, and they WILL discuss ID, because that is the goal.

Baby steps. it's all about getting it done slowly.

Hopefully this will be yelled from the rooftops, EVERY time the Discovery institute goes into a school board, their agenda will be stated publicly so that they can not get the foothold they so badly require in order to go to the next step.

[Aric2000]

Would many people be able to discern if it was junk?


Uhh, uhhh, well, not me...;)

[RadioAstronomer]

Uhh, uhhh, well, not me...;)

LOL! I know you could! (don't give me that) hehehehe

And indeed it was junk. :-)

[BMCDA]

van der Waals Placemarker ;)

[js1138]

All this is proof of the need for seperaton of church and state. Sell off the schools...

Looks kike someone already got seperated from school.

[js1138]

Yikes! Hoist on my own petard. ;^)

[RadioAstronomer]

Yikes! Hoist on my own petard. ;^)

ROFL!!!!!!!!!

[RadioAstronomer]

van der Waals Placemarker ;)

Ya liked? hehehe

I wanted to sound just enough plausible to not look totally silly. LOL!

[longshadow]

And indeed it was junk. :-)

USDA Prime, 24 carat-in-a-glass-case-at-Tiffany's junk, but junk nonetheless.

It is an excellent illustration of the problem that results from people not having a good fundamental understanding of science. Essentially, without it, the public is at the mercy of every snake-oil salesman to come down the pike.

Behold, their old and modern incarnations:

Magnetic bracelets

Chiropathy

Homeopathy

Astrology

Miraculous curative powers of ground up genitalia of exotic animals

and so forth

To the science challenged, all of the above seem just as reasonable as technologies which DO have substantive scientific bases.

[VadeRetro]

Note that the Knight-Ridder lead story on that thread descibes the hearing in a similar fashion to the CNN article that Discovery is crying about. Is this proof that the media are in a big conspiracy to suppress the truth of ID/creationism/Genesis?

[Aquinasfan]

"They had a story that they wanted to tell, which was religion versus science, and when the facts didn't fit that, they just made it up. This is just atrocious."

No, this is just the Communist News Network.

[Aquinasfan]

Woops, I meant seperation of school and state.

Which is where in the Constitution?

[RadioAstronomer]

USDA Prime, 24 carat-in-a-glass-case-at-Tiffany's junk, but junk nonetheless.

heheheh

and so forth

Ya missed ID! LOL

[Rodney King]

Which is where in the Constitution?

Nowhere. Because the Constitution allows the state to be invovled with school does not mean that it has to.

[Timesink]

Exactly what time and date did this CNN report take place? Transcripts are available.