ABC Declares War on Bush Campaign

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

It doesn't get any plainer than this

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX FRI OCT 08, 2004 18:42:03 ET XXXXX



ABCNEWS POLITICAL DIRECTOR MEMO SPARKS CONTROVERSY: BOTH SIDES NOT 'EQUALLY ACCOUNTABLE'

**Exclusive**

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."

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 destroying 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 media players gathered to cover the second presidential debate.

Halperin states the responsibilities of the ABCNEWS staff have "become quite grave."

In August, Halperin declared online: "This is now John Kerry's contest to lose."

x x x x x

Halperin Memo Dated Friday October 8, 2004

It goes without saying that the stakes are getting very high for the country and the campaigns - and our responsibilities become quite grave

I do not want to set off (sp?) and endless colloquy that none of us have time for today - nor do I want to stifle one. Please respond if you feel you can advance the discussion.

The New York Times (Nagourney/Stevenson) and Howard Fineman on the web both 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 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.

I'm sure many of you have this week felt the stepped up Bush efforts to complain about our coverage. This is all part of their efforts to get away with as much as possible with the stepped up, renewed efforts to win the election by destroying Senator Kerry at least partly through distortions.

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.

Summation. It's Ok when Kerry lies because he doesn't score politcal points with his lies. Bush OTOH lies and must be held accountable as his lies hurt our boy Kerry.

[Dis]

does anyone watch ABC news?

This is not a big deal since ABC never had any reputation to lose. They won't be hurt as much as CBS was. They actually did have a good journalistic reputation.

NBC owns all. Tom Brokaw

[Urban Ranger]

The controversial internal memo obtained by DRUDGE

Looks like this is as solid as those secret Iraqi documents obtained by Daily Telegraph.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

UR,

You have such a history of pwning yourself you'ld think by now you'ld have learned.

[DinoDoc]

You incurable optimist.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Its a characteristic of my conservative political nature.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
UR,

You have such a history of pwning yourself you'ld think by now you'ld have learned.

So true...So true.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

I don't see the problem. If ABC believes Bush lies more in order to win, then he ought to be held more accountable for the lies he tells.

Assuming what ABC says is true that is.

[ixnay]

From elsewhere:

I think it is demonstrably true that Bush has continually distorted Kerry's positions and records at every opportunity, while Kerry has not done the same for Bush's positions and records. In fact, the complaints that we usually get from the right are that Kerry is distorting his own posotions and records, not Bush's.

If someone disagrees, can you please show me something from Kerry that's an equally out-of-context distortion as Bush's continual quoting of the "global test" phrase all week? Because it was, in fact, a complete distortion, as anyone who actually saw the debates or read the complete transcript can tell; every claim that the Bush campaign has made about the "global test" line is proven false by the sentences spoken by Kerry immediately before and after.

The media needs to be riding herd on both candidates. But the Bush campaign is misbehaving considerably more at the moment, and the media needs to be paying attention to this fact.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I believe that there are some investigations into the fact that Bush is litterally taking random works from Kerry's speeches and jamming them together and saying they are "Kerry's words", which is literally true, but Kerry didn't put them together that way.

[Drachasor]

And after Ixnay's quote, can anyone honestly disgree with how true that is?

Can anyone point to us and demonstrate some distortion of equal magnitude? Heck, can anyone point out Kerry distorting Bush's position with any significant magnitude?

-Drachasor

[Shi Huangdi]

MIANSTERAM MEDIA LIES AND IS LIBERALL!!!

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Drachasor
can anyone point out Kerry distorting Bush's position with any significant magnitude?

Saying that we're spending 200 billion on Iraq when we've only spent 120 billion?

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Shi Huangdi
MIANSTERAM MEDIA LIES AND IS LIBERALL!!!

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Dissident
does anyone watch ABC news?

This is not a big deal since ABC never had any reputation to lose.

"More Americans get their news from ABCNews than any other source." It's the #1 news source in the country.