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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: paret who wrote (712201)	11/9/2005 2:15:19 PM
From: Geoff Altman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

That NORML has a collection of fact based articles is irrelevant, NORML didn't write the articles, they didn't change the articles. Let's look at some of the sites you're posting from: Accuracy in Media From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (Redirected from Accuracy In Media) Jump to: navigation, search Accuracy In Media (AIM) is an American organization which monitors the news media in the United States. Founded in 1969 by Reed Irvine, at the time an economist with the Federal Reserve, AIM describes itself as "a non-profit, grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues that have received slanted coverage". It commonly attacks what it sees as liberal bias in the media. In spite of AIM's claim of political neutrality, many mainstream media sources and liberal media watchdog groups such as Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting refer to it as a conservative organization. AIM openly maintains many ties to conservative groups and is known for criticizing journalists with accusations of leftist bias, but rarely (if ever) levels claims of conservative bias against reporters or news organizations. Its positions on issues would also usually be classified as conservative: AIM editorialized in support of Nicaraguan Contra leaders such as José Francisco Cardenal. It also supports the Committee for a Free Afghanistan, a US group that has backed the Afghan rebels beginning in 1981, notwithstanding the fact that many of the Afghan mujahideen rebels would later form the Taliban. Also supported are Augusto Pinochet, who was called a savior of Chile, and the group often quotes from the The Epoch Times on issues regarding China, instead of any main media sources. AIM publishes a bimonthly newsletter called the AIM Report, of which Irvine is the editor. In these newsletters Irvine often encourages subscribers to write to people or organizations urging them to change their policies. In the early days, AIM was run primarily by Irvine and then-executive secretary Abraham Kalish. Kalish and Irvine would send letters to the editors of many newspapers promoting their organization. If a letter was rejected, AIM would buy space in that paper and print the letter. Beginning in 1975, AIM began purchasing stock in major media companies, which allowed Irvine to attend their annual meetings and make AIM's views known. He has been described as combative and occasionally rude during those encounters. Irvine now has an annual private meeting with the publisher of The New York Times, which critics say serves primarily to isolate other shareholders from Irvine's campaigning. Times vice-chair Sydney Gruson claims "I never find any merit in AIM's allegations." At CBS's meetings, Irvine frequently denounced Walter Cronkite as a Soviet dupe. At a 1986 meeting, Irvine requested that Cronkite be removed from the CBS board of directors for allegedly supporting unilateral disarmament. AIM also famously denounced journalist Helen Marmor, who in 1983 produced a documentary for NBC concerning the Russian Orthodox Church. AIM contended that "it ignored the repressive religious policies of the Soviet state." The group also denounced New York Times reporter Raymond Bonner for his reporting in January 1982 of the El Mozote massacre in El Salvador. AIM devoted an entire edition of its AIM Report to Bonner, reporting that "Mr. Bonner had been worth a division to the communists in Central America." The issue included some insinuations about Bonner's political sympathies, noting that he had once worked for Ralph Nader. Critics say AIM's attacks on the media seem to have little to do with actual misrepresentation or inaccuracies in media accounts. They assert that Irvine and AIM is quick to attack groups that do not fit in the group's ideological niche. Donald Graham, the publisher of the The Washington Post, alleges that Irvine tends to "throw around accusations about people being communists." AIM has also been criticized for making illogical Ad hominem attacks against journalists critical of conservative leaders. A September 9, 2005 press release from AIM said that reporters on the Hurricane Katrina aftermath are "self-righteous windbags" and "hotdogs" for rushing to "blame Bush and let a black mayor and female governor off the hook." The press release goes on to state that rather than the hurricane or alledgedly slow emergency response, actually "the media coverage was (the) disaster."