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A Study in Hypocrisy at ABC News
Peter Jennings: "An anti-war group called 'MoveOn.org' that's organized primarily over the Internet, today started airing a television commercial opposing war against Saddam Hussein. The ad remakes one of the most notorious political attack ads ever, and it is supposedly airing in 12 cities, though its creators are probably also hoping for a lot of free publicity. Here's ABC's Brian Rooney."
Let's step back to October 27, 2000. Aaron Brown, then an ABC reporter, did a story about an independent group using a very similar daisy-girl countdown to nuclear war to express outrage with former Vice-president Gore's sell-out of national security for campaign donations from China. Brown and his ABC News producers were upset. Brown: "It mimics a 1964 ad on whether Republican Barry Goldwater could be trusted with nuclear weapons. In '64 the ad's sponsors never intended to pay much money to place it on television. It ran only once. The news media gave it all the play, and here we go again. Hmmm - heard by the public without much analysis, without commentary about its inaccuracy. Evil, indeed! BUT - only evil if applied to a Democratic candidate for the presidency shortly before Election Day. Apply the same treatment to the current Republican president and it's just fine and dandy. Even without analysis! I invite you to share your thoughts with the left wing hypocrites at ABC World News Tonight. Below is the contact information. ABC News/World News Tonight Phone (212) 456-4040 Read more here: MRC CyberAlert, 01/17/2003: ABC Showcases Anti-Bush "Daisy" Ad, But in 2000... Back in 2000: "A different example of nastiness is coming from a mysterious group that has produced a new TV ad that suggests Gore could draw the U.S. into nuclear war. The ad mimics Lyndon Johnson's infamous daisy commercial and accuses the Democrats of endangering the U.S. by giving nuclear secrets to China. At the end of the ad, a nuclear explosion is shown, followed by the words, 'Vote Republican.' It's not known who put up the money for the ad." - Antonio Mora, 10/27/2000, ABC's Good Morning America And now in 2003: "Starting today, Americans are going to see something new on television in major cities all across the country, brought to you by an anti-war movement, a group claiming its membership doubled in the last month. It is a TV ad campaign in 13 major cities inspired by a famous anti-war ad from the '60s. We'll take a look at the new one, but first, the one you remember." - Diane Sawyer, 01/16/2003, ABC's Good Morning America Later, while interviewing a backer of the ad, she asked, "Think this is sensationalistic? That original ad back in the'60s only ran once. It was pulled off the airwaves…" Daisy II is "nastiness" coming from "a mysterious group". Daisy III is "inspired" at best and "sensationalistic" at worst. The leader of the group that produced it is given a platform to promote his cause. Once again, hypocrisy at ABC News burbles to the surface. Here is Good Morning America's contact information. ABC News/Good Morning America Phone (212) 456-5900 Read more here: MRC CyberAlert, 01/17/2003: GMA: Anti-Gore Ad “Nasty”, Anti-Bush Ad: “Inspiring” When you feel your personal media bias tolerance gauge rising into the red zone, don't throw stuff at the TV screen! Send your suggestion to outrage@fairpress.org! Each week, one hideous example of media bias will be selected for closer examination. Hmmmmmm . . .
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01/20/2003
Interestingly, neither Jennings nor Rooney had much to say about the 'countdown to nuclear war' content of the advertisement. This suggests to me that they found it sane, sensible and above board. Rooney found it interesting that groups are raising money and organizing over the internet. [Wow! What a concept! Who'd a thunk it!] Notice, too, that these groups are presented as generic, middle-of-the-road citizen-activist groups. Judge for yourself. The links to their web pages are below.