Sunday, October 10, 2004
Mark Halperin's ABC News Memo
I cannot believe I haven’t dealt with this here yet.
First, let’s have a look at the memo that Drudge acquired.
I want you to think about the implications of this memo. Consider that this is the thinking of a major player in one of the Big Three networks, somebody with the power and authority to advise and direct the actions of researchers, producers, reporters and news-readers. He has influence.
Also consider that he actually wrote and issued a memo that so clearly shows a bias. He’s concluding that President Bush is far more nefarious than is Senator Kerry in their respective campaign activities. This is a judgment about the inherent value of what each of them has said. These are issues that are still under contention, not finally decided by historians or the people, and are still legitimate matters of debate. But Halperin proceeds as if they’re already matters of record. Decided. Facts.
This, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and those in between, is called bias.
This is exactly what people like me are endlessly droning on and on about. I’m just a little surprised that we get handed to us such a compelling and documented example of what we’d been saying for years.
Finally, consider that Mr. Halperin felt comfortable in issuing this memo within his organization. Why would that be? I mean, wouldn’t the wary be a little reluctant to be so blatant in front of one’s peers? I would think so unless Mr. Halperin, who is a professional and certainly not stupid, felt that his memo’s point of view would be well received by the people to whom he'd sent it. And why would that be? Why would he assume that there’d be not a ripple of concern from the recipients of the memo?
The reason is that what he wrote proceeds from a point of view that is something he encounters every day around the water cooler and espresso machine in the offices of ABC News. When everybody you talk to at work thinks a certain way then restating that way of thinking in a memo is just a natural and comfortable thing to do. Who’d object, after all?
And that, my friends, is a little scary and a whole lot illuminating. It’s as if people like me had been running around for decades in our tinfoil hats warning about an alien invasion, and one day we log on to Drudge and he’s reporting that the aliens have actually landed next to the Washington Monument.
And it makes you wonder exactly how pervasive this bias really is in the halls of the mainstream media. Sure, Pew Research polls have been telling us for a long time that the mainstream press is biased (80% or so voting for the Democrats), but to see how completely relaxed they are about putting that bias into their reporting is jaw-droppingly amazing.
I cannot believe I haven’t dealt with this here yet.
First, let’s have a look at the memo that Drudge acquired.
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.
I want you to think about the implications of this memo. Consider that this is the thinking of a major player in one of the Big Three networks, somebody with the power and authority to advise and direct the actions of researchers, producers, reporters and news-readers. He has influence.
Also consider that he actually wrote and issued a memo that so clearly shows a bias. He’s concluding that President Bush is far more nefarious than is Senator Kerry in their respective campaign activities. This is a judgment about the inherent value of what each of them has said. These are issues that are still under contention, not finally decided by historians or the people, and are still legitimate matters of debate. But Halperin proceeds as if they’re already matters of record. Decided. Facts.
This, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and those in between, is called bias.
This is exactly what people like me are endlessly droning on and on about. I’m just a little surprised that we get handed to us such a compelling and documented example of what we’d been saying for years.
Finally, consider that Mr. Halperin felt comfortable in issuing this memo within his organization. Why would that be? I mean, wouldn’t the wary be a little reluctant to be so blatant in front of one’s peers? I would think so unless Mr. Halperin, who is a professional and certainly not stupid, felt that his memo’s point of view would be well received by the people to whom he'd sent it. And why would that be? Why would he assume that there’d be not a ripple of concern from the recipients of the memo?
The reason is that what he wrote proceeds from a point of view that is something he encounters every day around the water cooler and espresso machine in the offices of ABC News. When everybody you talk to at work thinks a certain way then restating that way of thinking in a memo is just a natural and comfortable thing to do. Who’d object, after all?
And that, my friends, is a little scary and a whole lot illuminating. It’s as if people like me had been running around for decades in our tinfoil hats warning about an alien invasion, and one day we log on to Drudge and he’s reporting that the aliens have actually landed next to the Washington Monument.
And it makes you wonder exactly how pervasive this bias really is in the halls of the mainstream media. Sure, Pew Research polls have been telling us for a long time that the mainstream press is biased (80% or so voting for the Democrats), but to see how completely relaxed they are about putting that bias into their reporting is jaw-droppingly amazing.
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