MediaWatch: August 1994
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: August 1994
- Reporters Hold Anti-Clinton Ads to Higher Standard of Disclosure, Accuracy
- NewsBites: Health Plan or Else
- Revolving Door: The Times Agenda
- Networks Fail to Investigate Allegations While Dismissing Revelations
- Too Tough-On-Crime Lawman
- The Numbers Game
- So Much for the Truth Squad
- Janet Cooke Award: ABC's Tom Foreman Finds the Majority of Ad "Inaccuracy" and "Scare Tactics" on the Right
So Much for the Truth Squad
Limbaugh's Correctors
An obviously impressed Howard Kurtz led off his Washington Post "Media Notes" column on July 8 with a study by the far-left Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) charging that Rush Limbaugh is guilty of "sloppiness, ignorance, or fabrication" and has a "finely honed ability to twist and distort reality."
But Kurtz, as well as every other news outlet that covered the story, including Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times, failed to explore FAIR's record of accuracy. That includes FAIR's role in charging, without any scientific proof, in 1993 that domestic violence increased dramatically on Super Bowl Sunday. In a January 31, 1993 story Washington Post reporter Ken Ringle revealed that FAIR and the other activists publicizing these claims had no scientific data to back them up. Two days later, FAIR spokesman Steve Rendall told The Boston Globe: "It was not quite accurate...It should not have gone out in FAIR materials."
When it comes to accuracy in reporting about Limbaugh's profession, Kurtz should look closer to home. In a May 22 story, Post reporter Ann Devroy referred to syndicated talk show hosts "Rush Limbaugh, G. Gordon Liddy and Ron Reagan," apparently meaning Michael Reagan. In a June 15 report on a GOP fundraiser, the Post's Lloyd Grove and Joe Donnelly described the "mistress of ceremonies Blanquita Cullum" as "a Texas radio shock jock." In fact, she hosts a political talk show on a Richmond, Virginia station.
