Entry 33996 (Berkeley CSUA MOTD)

Berkeley CSUA MOTD:Entry 33996

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2025/05/04 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular

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2004/10/8-9 [ERROR, uid:33996, category id '18005#14.165' has no name! , ] UID:33996 Activity:low

10/8    No political bias at ABC News: http://www.drudgereport.com/mh.htm
        \_ No full-sentence in-context quotes from Drudge Report.
           \_ Liar.  The entire memo is there.

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www.drudgereport.com/mh.htmABCNEWS Political Director Mark Halperin a dmonishes ABC staff: During coverage of Democrat Kerry and Republican Bu sh not to "reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accoun table." The controversial internal memo obtained by DRUDGE, captures Halperin stating how "Kerry distorts, takes out of context, and mistakes all the time, but these are not central to his efforts to win." But Halperin claims that Bush is hoping to "win the election by destroyin g Senator Kerry at least partly through distortions." "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 writes. Halperin's claim that ABCNEWS will not "reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable" set off sparks in St. Louis where med ia players gathered to cover the second presidential debate. Halperin states the responsibilities of the ABCNEWS staff have "become qu ite grave." In August, Halperin declared online: "This is now John Kerry's contest to lose." Please respond if you feel you can advance the discussion. The New York Times (Nagourney/Stevenson) and Howard Fineman on the web bo th 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 w hat Kerry has done. Kerry distorts, takes out of context, and mistakes all the time, but thes e are not central to his efforts to win. We have a responsibility to hold both sides accountable to the public int erest, but that doesn't mean we reflexively and artificially hold both s ides "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 c omplain about our coverage. This is all part of their efforts to get awa y with as much as possible with the stepped up, renewed efforts to win t he election by destroying Senator Kerry at least partly through distorti ons. 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.