The special was called “In Search of America,” but when ABC News and Peter Jennings addressed the issue of the reintroduction of wolves to Idaho, they seemed to have already decided beforehand what they would find.
Jan
01
2001
ABC's Military Analyst Calls for "Excessive Force"
CSIS's Cordesman advocates brutality against Palestinians
"Excessive force" should be used against Palestinian civilians, including "interrogation methods that border on psychological and/or physical torture." These are extreme proposals--but it is their author, Anthony Cordesman, to whom ABC News regularly turns to in wartime to provide military analysis. Cordesman made these recommendations in an October 2000 report released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), an influential Washington think tank where Cordesman holds a chair in international security. The report urged the Israeli government and the Palestinian National Authority to use security methods that violate human rights in order to implement any future U.S.-brokered peace [...]
Nov
01
1999
Has ABC News Given Up on Accuracy?
Stossel special filled with Limbaughesque distortions
In a one-hour ABC News special titled "Is America #1?," 20/20 correspondent John Stossel compared the economies of Hong Kong, the United States and India in an attempt to show that laissez-faire economic policy is "what makes a country work well for its people." The program was filled with so many factual inaccuracies, Limbaughesque distortions and unsubstantiated claims that it calls into question whether ABC News applied any sort of journalistic standards to the broadcast. The following is just a sampling of some of Stossel's erroneous claims: ■ One of Stossel's main sources on Hong Kong claims that Hong Kong [...]
Sep
01
1998
Marvin Kalb's Unreliable Sources
A thirty-year veteran of network news at NBC and CBS, Marvin Kalb's current position as Harvard's leading press critic has made him one of the go-to guys when the question turns--as it often has this summer--to journalistic ethics. Whether appearing on PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer or CNN's Reliable Sources (anchored by his brother Bernard), or opining in a Los Angeles Times op-ed in a somber tone, Kalb lays down the conventional wisdom when it comes to current news-media foibles. So last July, when CNN retracted its "Valley of Death" broadcast charging that U.S. special forces targeted U.S. defectors and [...]
Sep
01
1997
The Right of the Story
Paul Harvey peddles tall tales--with a conservative kick
By Dan Wilson
ABC probably doesn't want people to think it's in the business of passing off urban folklore stories as real news, or altering the facts of stories to fit a conservative spin. But that's what one of its most listened to broadcasters does--six days a week. Paul Harvey is regarded as a broadcasting icon. An institution. His radio show, distributed by the ABC Radio Networks, is carried on more than 1,200 radio stations and, according to his own press releases, is heard by 23 million listeners six days a week. Even if you make allowances for self-promotion, his audience exceeds that [...]
Jul
01
1997
Ellen's Coming Out Was No Rerun
By the time you read this, the sober cynicism of summer will probably have settled in, but now, it's spring. I'm as excited about "Ellen" coming out as I am about the budding leaves. By summer, I'll remember that the obstacles to lesbian equality remain intact long after Ellen DeGeneres and her TV character said "I'm gay." Then again, anticipating autumn, I may even be ready to see the downside of the leaves. Obviously there were problems with the way the media covered Ellen DeGeneres and her TV character coming out. If you read Time or Newsweek (4/14/97) or tuned [...]
Jul
01
1994
Koppel Covers for Limbaugh's Rumor-Mongering
Koppel Covers for Limbaugh's Rumor-Mongering Ted Koppel's special (ABC Viewpoint, 4/19/94) on press coverage of Whitewater was a perfect opportunity to take Rush Limbaugh to task for spreading unfounded conspiracy theories. But instead, ABC journalists Koppel and Jeff Greenfield let Limbaugh off the hook. On his March 10 radio broadcast, Limbaugh had announced the following in urgent tones: OK, folks, I think I got enough information here to tell you about the contents of this fax that I got. Brace yourselves. This fax contains information that I have just been told will appear in a newsletter to Morgan Stanley sales [...]
Apr
01
1994
Victor Neufeld's Anti-Environmental Spin Continues
Extra! Update June 1994
Victor Neufeld, 20/20's executive producer, whose wife is a PR agent who has represented the nuclear, chemical and plastics industries, has continued to steer the show away from environmental stories. In an Extra! expose (1-2/94), 20/20 staffers and ex-staffers told of Neufeld squelching stories critical of the nuclear industry and putting a spin on environmental stories that minimized or denied environmental concerns. ABC reacted to the Extra! article by "circling the wagons" around Neufeld, a 20/20 source said. As for Neufeld's posture on environmental stories, "It's the same thing--and worse." Indeed, Neufeld, along with John Stossel, the correspondent who has [...]
