The CBS News mantra: "Just hold out till Nov. 3, hold out till Nov. 3, hold out till Nov. 3,..."

ABC doesn't get it either. NY Post this morning has them saying No Big Deal. The Drudge memo is almost worse than Rathergate. Halperin directs his troops to go after Bush, completely unaware that his feelings about the Bush campaign's attacks on Kerry are actually opinions, not facts.

This is TASS territory. Write yr affiliate a letter (not an email) & ruin their day.

Jeff,

The Halperin memo does not direct troops to go after Bush. That is misleading. The memo says that there is no reason to artificially equate one misstatement with another (or if you prefer, one lie with another). I think you would agree that the severity of CBS being taken in by the Burkett memos is not the same as the President using forgeries to support his decision to go to war.

What the memo does say is "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."

What about that statement is troubling? Basing evaluation on facts rather than words per party or something?

larry -

What about that statement is troubling?

The media deciding what deceptions are important, based on subjective partisan bias. A nice example of what the hell I'm talking about is in the post below this one. I guess Halperin doesn't find Kerry's deception in that area important.

And Bush's forgeries? Passed off by the French, last I heard. As for the 16 words in the State of the Union? Based on British intelligence info, that assertation's veracity has been validated by two independent panels in the UK.

Larry,

First of all, if you have the guts to make a statement, have the guts to attach your own identity. Don't be a moral coward on top of your intellectual shortcomings.

I think that I had been in denial about the extent to which CBS had been dominated by leftist operatives. Dan Rather seems to be no less radical than Mary Mapes.

Bob Schieffer, not exactly a conservative, looks pretty centrist compared to the 60 Minutes gang.

It is a dangerous precedent, but perhaps the 60 Minutes budget should be counted towards the Kerry election campaign expenditures.

The Halperin memo is indeed disturbing.

Both sides should indeed be held "equally accountable"...that is what responsible journalism is all about.

Instead, Halperin recommends exactly against the appropriate behavior.

Who is he to decide whose distortions are most impacting on the campaign?

He talks about how the "responsibilities have become quite grave"...this is clearly the talk of a partisan. A truly nonpartisan news agency would believe that their responsibility is the same as always: to tell the truth as best as possible, and that that responsibility is always a grave and serious one.

Basically, Halperin uses word spin to excuse ABC's bias. It is disgusting and disturbing. An attitude like that is reminiscent of the old Soviet Union and their propaganda.

Just as CBS tried to excuse this "fake but accurate" argument, ABC is trying to excuse this "don't hold both sides equally accountable" bunk.

What CBS did and their efforts to excuse it are a threat to democracy. What ABC in the Halperin memo recommends is a threat to democracy.

Both are clearly partisan tactics on the part of the media. In essence, they have become to the US what Pravda was to the Soviet Union: a propaganda tool.

And their rationalizations are straight out of the book of totalitarianism.

The functionality of a democracy depends upon a fair and free press. The absence of such threatens democracy. We must totally replace the MSM; they are a huge threat to our democracy.

We must totally replace the MSM; they are a huge threat to our democracy.

That's a ludicrous sentiment. Revised, reformed, added to, but not replaced.

"George Bush is my President, and I will say and do what George Bush wants me to."

-Dan Rather, post 9/11

Remember that even the Liberal Media is watching sites like this. Please don't give them good advice like "quit digging".

As a sometimes trial lawyer there is another far more valuable piece of advice given to me decades ago by a master trial lawyer.

"If you opponent is commiting suicide in front of a jury, STAY OUT OF HIS WAY"

It seems to me this is much like the debate over global warming. A vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is real and happening, while a handful disagree. For some reason journalists feel the need to give equal representation to both groups, despite a virtual consensus on one side of the issue.
Clearly the deceptions put forth by both campaigns cannot be seen as that severely imbalanced (I think both teams lie a lot), but it seems reasonable to me, in fact imperative, for journalists to point out any imbalance, for whatever side. Whether this is what Halperin intends, however, I don't know.

Aren't the ABC and CBS scandals something the FCC could prosecute? At the very least, it should put both networks in violation of equal time regs.

As for the root allegation in the ABC memo, i.e., that somehow Bush's *alleged* lies are more important than the unceasing stream of whoppers that come out of the Dems, well that's bizarre beyond all rational belief. I'd proclaim Kerry the Prince of Lies, but I think that title's taken... :-) However, the whole Democommie crew are Barons/Dukes/Viceroys of Lies. On those occasions when Bush misspeaks, it's usually a matter of disputed particulars. Kerry's camp, OTOH, forges documents, turns a blind eye to Kristallnacht-like violence against Republican campaign locations, actively seeks to squash freedom of speech, etc. It is truly incredible that any self-aware being could fail to see that.

Finally, Bill, the statement about the MSM may have been a bit overwrought, but there's more than a germ of truth to it. Our press is largely incapable of being balanced, fair and unbiased. It's not good for ratings. The more sensational the story, the more money is made. Today's Washington comPost headline *could've* read something like "Afghans Hold Historic Election", but instead it's "Afghan Election Disputed". Instead of focusing on the positive, they believe they can sell more papers by being pessimists. (Of course, it also fits their extreme neo-com outlook). I'm just not sure how one could (perhaps) rewrite FCC regs to regulate and ensure that news programs really aren't putting spin on things.

- Eric.

Mantis -

I was following you up until ...

For some reason journalists feel the need to give equal representation to both groups, despite a virtual consensus on one side of the issue.

Equal representation? You must have heatstroke from the global warming. A key failure of environmental science and media exposure is that it's too predisposed towards the left, which becomes conventional wisdom.

Now, I'm not saying that this is wrong, I'm just saying that your assessment that global warming doubters get equal time is one formed on a plenet different from my homeworld.

That's Earth, by the way.

I'm afraid the global warming debate is by no means settled as some posters would have us believe. First, there is considerable debate over whether any actual long-term global warming beyong normal fluctuations is taking place at all. Secondly, there is even less agreement to the cause of global warming, even ASSUMING it iS taking place. I'm a geophysicist by trade guys, and I'm sorry, but the jury is far from in on this one.

I think the MSM should be presenting the facts, and letting their audience decide which facts and misrepresentations should carry the most weight, I do not want the MSM filtering the facts they want me to hear.

First, there is considerable debate over whether any actual long-term global warming beyong normal fluctuations is taking place at all

To clarify these remarks regarding global warming: Over the last 10,000 years there has definitely been a trend for global warming of the Earth. What is very uncertain is what effects we humans are having on this trend, as the data actually more strongly support the hypothesis that the climatic temperature is dominantly linked to solar activity.

Even understanding relatively simple things---like the effects on the atmosphere of pumping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere---have proven to be much more complex and difficult to tie down than anybody had predicted.

This just illustrated the need to have a fair and unbiased reporting on the part of the media. This is especially true in the political environment, where one's opinions are amost impossible to separate from political fact.

On global warming: Definitely, in the news I read, with very few exceptions, doubters are quickly dismissed. Personally, I've found that if you try to treat it as science - that there is some question on the evidence, and especially that climate computer models have no demostrated accuracy - a reaction of "That's just wrong" is extremely common, with the hint that the person making the statement thinks you are stupid, crazy, or anti-environment.

This has become a highly politicized subject, and like nuclear power, it is almost impossible to have a rational debate on the subject in this country. This is reflected in the news.

If CBS were a print news organization, I wouldn't use it to wrap fish - it would make the fish stink.

Testing, testing. 123

Bill,

Sometimes my carefully considered comments are logged, but quite often they aren't. To the extent that I believed sometimes that you've banned me. I can't imagine what I said to make you that angry, but all the same sometimes I add a comment that just never shows in the INDC thread.

Makes me sad 'cause I love that crazy capital where I lived for more than a decade.

You haven't banned me, thank you, Bill, and I am now going to do you a great favor by butting out of your website.

I have a shadow. The only way to get rid of him is to do something other than the net.

You're good, boy. You keep cooking with propane. And, I hope DC gets through the coming election un-nuclear. I have a son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter living on Capitol Hill where they persist despite my pleas for them to get the hell out of there.

May I at least invite YOU to lobster and relative safety in a Boston burb before this upcoming election.

Am I growing hysterical?

I don't know. I really don't.

Bill,

What do you make of these documents?

http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/images/day5/tax1.htm

Did Kerry invest thousands of dollors in the Cayman Islands back in the 80's to avoid paying taxes? Why is this info on the Boston Globe's servers and yet I have never heard anything about this? Isn't this illegal? Just wondering.

My impression with our local Omaha Nebraska CBS affiliate (KMTV) is that the matter is over in their eyes. Rather apologized, there was "some controvery" about the documents, and the matter is put to bed. Apparently finding a drunk in the park that will attest to the documents being legit = "controversy" = it's just a difference of opinions. Ain't relativism grand?

Anyway, I think the affiliates may expect that we're all worn out, tired of the issue, and they can get back to running CBS News without consequence.

I requested an acknowledgment that my emails were placed on file for the station's FCC periodic review (as required by the FCC). I still have not received one which indicates they may not be in compliance. I'll be sending a registered letter to make sure it is placed in their file. Outside this (and crummy ratings which KMTV has had for over two decades - they now rank behind the Fox affiliate and have the UBN affiliate sneaking up on them), they can stonewall us as long as they like.

Aren't the ABC and CBS scandals something the FCC could prosecute? At the very least, it should put both networks in violation of equal time regs.

If you look at how CBS got punished for "Nipplegate" (the Janet Jackson incident), the FCC fined the parent company for each of its company-owned broadcasting affiliates that aired the indecent content. This is where the teeth are for the FCC - airing inappropriate content - since the airwaves are provided under the regulations accepted pursuant to "public benefit."

This same regulation should make all the independent affiliates now liable for any further CBS News transgressions as they've had sufficient notice that the programming is invalid, may make defamatory comments regarding the President, and may have intentionally communicated false documents (and all the other violations). Has Rather or CBS News pulled another stunt since the original?

See Bill, this is what I'm talking about. There are constant doubters (mostly based on bad science/in the pocket of energy companies science, sometimes based on nothing at all.) I know global warming skeptics get less press nowadays, but there is still pressure to always give the other point of view, regardless of how innaccurate, I have heard the frustration from both scientists and journalists.
In response to the only one of the posters who backed up his response, the Robinson-Baliunas study was shown to be a fraud, they attempted to pass it off as legitimate, peer-reviewed research when no, it was not. Read all about it and that phony Hoyt here and here

I realize and admit that causes for global warming are still disputed and are being hashed out by real scientists (like the dispute over solar effects), in the meantime people, check out who you're sources are, they just might be bullshit.

"Larry's" comment is perfect: like a liberal friend of mine, he agrees with Halperin's subtext - that the Bush campaign is unfair to Kerry - & therefore sees no problem with ABC trying to 'rectify' that situation.

And EXCUSE ME, when the Political Director of ABC News memos his staff like this, it's a very clear message to people whose careers he can help or hinder, on how to spin the news. A disgrace.

The MSM is in full panic. A Bush victory shows how impotent they are. The good news is, here in California, the MSM came out with both barrels against Arnold, who wiped up the floor with them. As Califoria & Australia go, so goes America...

PS I have info that "Larry's" real initials are "Andrew Sullivan"

re: kerry/cayman islands/boston globe docs

If I remember correctly, BG ran an article or re-ran an old article a few months back about Kerry's finances or some other nonsense. Kerry invested in the Caymans, but as he was running for office (lt gov?/senate?), he decided that the tax shelters might look fishy, so he took a $25k loss. There was some question about the timing of Kerry's disclosure, ie waiting until the last minute.

If you changed ABC to Foxnews, and switched Kerry's and Bush's names around, the MSM and liberls would be screaming bloody murder.

SNORK...I'm weely, weely saweey, bill, I understand the use of analagous examples, but, to quote Dennis Miller,

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bldennismiller.htm

"There's a lot of differing data [about global warming], but as far as I can gather, over the last hundred years the temperature on this planet has gone up 1.8 degrees. Am I the only one who finds that amazingly stable? I could go back to my hotel room tonight and futz with the thermostat for three to four hours. I could not detect that difference."

Come to think of it,applying that "reverse" logic trail to the LLLM and bias.....

i realize there ARE people out there with "lint" collections, and can hold forth for HOURS on their peculiar passion (where's the door?? Where's my gun?? Which is closer??) and I wouldn't even suggest that they "abandon" their "hobby"--might take a different tack, though, like worrying what'll happen if'n an islamofacsist group gets hold of a THERMOnuclear device.....

naw...never mind, go ahead "punk slap" me. I deserve it, free shot...

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