Speakers: media leans both left, right
Media bias is either on the conservative side, run by billion-dollar corporations, or too liberal, handled by an overwhelming democratic workforce.
These were the arguments presented last night during a the two-hour discussion on media bias led by Jeff Cohen, of Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, and Cliff Kincaid, editor of the Accuracy in Media Report. The two differed in their analyses on which political leaning the media takes - and what should be done about it.
“What I’ve seen up close, is that the American media system is not a meritocracy,” Cohen said. “They are run by the worst.”
Cohen criticized the major media outlets for their conservative bias. This bias, he said, stems from the corporate “billionaires” who own them.
“I know from first-hand experience, that corporate-owned media leads to censored stories,” he said.
Specifically, Cohen cited his former employer MSNBC. The network, which is owned by “major defense contractor” GE, has interests in how news is reported.
“Those who asked the right questions about Iraq … have been banished from the system,” he said.
He used former MSNBC host Phil Donohue as an example. Donohue’s show was canceled shortly before the Iraq war began in March 2003. Cohen had been a senior producer of the showing.
“When war is approaching, the media gets even more conservative,” he said.
Cohen said that every study his group has done found that conservatives outnumber progressives as sources.
“Every time (The Phil Donohue Show) booked a guest on the left,” he said. “We’d have to book three on the right.”
Kincaid spoke next and prefaced his portion with some background information on him and Cohen.
“I graduated in journalism,” he said. “Jeff has a tremendous background, but he is a lawyer.”
Kincaid said that American media has an overwhelming liberal bias. He called the evening news programs, national newspapers and news magazines the “Old Media.” Rush Limbaugh, he said, also coined it the “Drive-By Media.”
“The standards of journalism have declined considerably,” he said. “Journalists are not taught anymore that they should keep their own personal opinions and biases out of their news stories.
“At Accuracy in Media, we have surveys going back 40 years of the National Press Corps showing that they are aligned with the Democratic Party,” he said. “We’ve got dozens of people in the media who have come forward and said, ‘Yes, what AIM has been saying for years has been true.’ ”
He listed those in the media as examples, including Thomas Edsel, a reporter for the Washington Post; Mark Halperin, the political director at ABC News, and Terry Moran, co-host of ABC’s Nightline.
Kincaid further cited that in the 1992 presidential election, 89 percent of the reporters in Washington voted for Bill Clinton. He said that, while many say the private political affiliations can be suppressed in reporting, it does not happen with the “Old Media.”
“The fact is,” he said, “conservatives can see the bias.”
He also disputed Cohen’s argument that corporate interests control what goes into the news.
“There is no media monopoly,” he said. “Those who blew the whistle on what Dan Rather did were the bloggers. Citizen journalists, creators of their own media, in fact, brought down CBS News and Dan Rather.”
Kincaid also warned against the Fairness in Broadcasting Act, which is currently before the U.S. House of Representatives.
The act, he said, would have federal bureaucrats analyze news outlets to see if their reporting is fair to all sides.
“The government would tell you what you can see, read and hear,” he said. “The people (Cohen) has helped bring to power in this last election would use government power to leverage media outlets.”
Cohen said that he does support limits on the number of broadcast licenses media companies can purchase. That limit, he said, was removed in 2002. Before, companies and individuals were limited to 21 broadcast licenses.
He charged that coverage leading up to the Iraq war influenced this change. He said that the major media outlets pandered to the FCC in exchange for the loosened regulations.
“The media, in my view, have blood on their hands,” he said.
Megan Spalding, an integrated strategic communications senior and the Director of Contemporary Affairs at the Student Activities Board organized the event.
“I thought that it was relevant because of the recent elections,” she said. “This is a topic that affects all students.”
Chuck Clenney, an English junior who is also a training director at WRFL, attended the discussion and participated in the question and answer segment.
“It’s something that’s essential,” he said. “We need to have debates like this.
“Independence in the media is just very important.”
Residents vote ‘No’ to condemn water company
The citizens of Lexington voted last night not to condemn Kentucky American Water, potentially ending a five-year-long controversy that has cost $1.2 million in tax money.
A referendum to purchase Kentucky American Water Company’s assets and place them under the ownership of Fayette County failed with 61 percent of voters decided “no.”
At the Kentucky American headquarters on Richmond Road, executives of the company, sporting red “Vote No” buttons, celebrated after a brief press conference.
“We’re very proud of how we conducted our campaign,” said Nick Rowe, president and chairman of the board of Kentucky American. “Now we can remove this divisive issue and move forward.”
Lexington’s newly elected mayor, Jim Newberry, said the citizens’ vote on water condemnation deserves close consideration but did not rule out looking at other options.
“I wanted to see how this vote turned out,” Newberry said. “It is important that we consider what the majority want but also explore other possibilities. At this point, I can’t say for sure what I will do.”
Teresa Isaac, the incumbent mayor and avid supporter of condemnation, said she noticed similarities in citizens’ voting patterns in the mayoral race, which she lost, and the water referendum.
“There did seem to be a correlation, didn’t there?” she said.
In 2002, Isaac proposed that Lexington use eminent domain to obtain Kentucky American Water, a company owned by the German conglomerate Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk (RWE).
In January 2005, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted to end the condemnation of the company, but Isaac vetoed the decision the following week. The council voted 9 to 4 on March 24, 2005 to override that veto.
Several council members were appointed by Vice Mayor Mike Scanlon to discuss negotiations with Kentucky American, and in April 2005, the council voted to approve documents that described a legal settlement drafting a compromise between the city and the company.
Also in 2005, organizers from Lexington’s Let Us Vote committee and Bluegrass For Local Ownership of Water started a petition to collect signatures from community members to put the issue up for a vote.
A special election was scheduled for Nov. 8, 2005, but in October of that year, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the referendum must wait to be voted on in a regular election year. The court voted 4 to 2 against the special election.
Foster Pettit, chairman of the board of FLOW, said last night’s election was not the end of his group’s campaign.
“I’m disappointed,” Pettit said. “I think the vote represents the way people feel on eminent domain or condemnation, not on local ownership. I think RWE will come back pretty quick with a request for a rate increase and cut employees.”
Rowe responded to that charge at the press conference by saying the company will be just to the community.
“Kentucky American has a large investment in this community,” Rowe said. “We’ll be fair. Our process of rate-making is very transparent.”
Pettit said his group will continue working for local ownership of water, but did not go into specifics on how it would proceed after last night’s decision.
“It’s a setback for our effort, but I don’t think it’s the end of the story,” Pettit said. “I think we’ll just wait and see how RWE treats the company. I think we’ll have to see how that plays out with the voters of our community.”
Lawyer calls for more reporter protection
More protection is needed for journalists in an age where they are “under siege.”
That’s what Lucy Dalglish, the executive director of the Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press, said last night during “The State of the First Amendment,” sponsored by UK’s First Amendment Center.
Students and faculty came to hear Dalglish discuss the past, present and possible future legal protections journalists and their sources.
Dalglish said 2006 had been a rough year in terms of first amendment protection. She cited three cases specifically where journalists had been sentenced to jail time for not turning over sources or documentation.
“Once again, we have come to a period in time when the executive power of government is going unchecked,” she said. “Reporters are under siege.”
The first half of her speech focused on the history of protections for journalists.
Much of the talk centered around the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Branzburg v. Hayes. In that decision, the court found that journalists are not protected in criminal trials if they had information on a crime.
To counter this, 32 states and Washington, D.C. have created “shield laws” to protect journalists from being forced to turn over information. Twelve of the 32 state shield laws include protection for anonymous sources.
Dalglish stressed the need for a shield law at the federal level to provide an adequate level of protection for journalists and their sources. While 99 such laws have been presented before Congress, none has passed.
“Any statutory protection must provide protection for confidential sources,” she said.
She discussed the current state of first amendment protections and took audience questions in the latter half of her presentation.
The current presidential administration’s use of the States Secrets Act, she said, has been a hindrance to getting to the truth.
“This administration is all about control of their message,” she said. “Right after 9/11, 1,200 foreign nationals were imprisoned. We still don’t know who those people were.”
Dalglish also discussed the backlash journalists have received in attempts to obtain information.
“Right now, we have more federal subpoenas pending since the 1970’s,” she said.
Most of these subpoenas seek the anonymous sources that journalists used to get their information.
Specifically, she cited Judith Miller, who spent two-and-a-half months in jail for failing to reveal her source in the investigation of who leaked the name of a covert CIA operative.
“Nearly all of the key witnesses in that case were journalists,” Dalglish said.
There’s “no question” that the subpoenas are scaring away sources who would have normally gone to the media, she said.
“There’s no question that these cases have had a chilling effect,” she said. “Sources have said, ‘I’m not talking to you guys anymore.’”
As a precaution, some editors have given advice to their print journalists to throw out their notes after the completion of each story. Many broadcasters have taken to erasing outtakes within 72 hours of a story airing.
“You can’t subpoena what’s not there,” Dalglish said.
A federal shield law, she said, is necessary to end cases like this. Even though versions of a shield law are being discussed in both houses of Congress, only the Senate’s version would likely be passed.
In that version, “it will be virtually impossible for journalists who cover national security to be protected,” she said.
A Democratically-led House would be “much more likely” to pass an adequate federal shield law, she said.
Dalglish’s discussion will continue tomorrow with “Do we Need a Federal Shield Law for Reporters” at 10 a.m. in Center Theater. That event is free and open to the public.
$400-plus raised for Ag. Dean scholarship
Yesterday, patrons of the Chevy Chase Cold Stone Creamery heard something in addition to the typical, “Would you like a sample?”
Every customer was also asked, “Are you here to support the Dr. Larry Turner Scholarship?”
The student organization Educators of Family and Consumer Sciences (EFACS), in association with the College of Agriculture and its subsidiary the School of Human Environmental Science, hosted the scholarship fundraiser. The scholarship was created in honor of Turner, who died in the August crash of Comair Flight 5191.
In total, there were 12 students from EFACS working either to bring customers in or to wait on them once inside.
For every ice cream order from a customer who identified himself or herself as supporting the scholarship, Cold Stone gave the fund $1. Separate donations were also accepted in a jar placed by the register.
EFACS president Tim Coyle, a fifth-year senior majoring in family consumer sciences, said the event grossed more than $400, $250 of which was from the separate donations.
“Everybody was awesome,” Coyle said. “The last hour, it was just packed. We had tons and tons of students and faculty come in.”
The event also featured “Celebrity Scoopers,” who took shifts scooping ice cream for customers. These included Scott Smith, the dean of the College of Agriculture; Jaime Sparrow, the college’s director of student relations; and Lisa Harm, the college’s scholarship coordinator. There were 10 total celebrity scoopers, most of whom were professors in the agriculture college.
“I think the whole thing went great,” Harm said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Though the specific criteria have not yet been defined, the scholarship money will go to a student in the College of Agriculture who plans on going into the Cooperative Extension Service. According to its Web site, the CES provides educational information on families and the environment to Kentuckians in their local communities through a variety of programs such as 4-H. Turner had been the director of the CES.
Ag. dean scholarship hopes to raise funds with ice cream
The Dr. Larry Turner Scholarship Fund
will be getting some help from the community again today - this time from ice cream.
The Educators of Family and Consumer Sciences, a student organization in the College of Agriculture, will be at the Chevy Chase Cold Stone Creamery to raise money for the fund.
Turner, who died in the Flight 5191 crash, was the associate dean for extension and director of the Cooperative Extension Service at the College of Agriculture.
“I hope that everyone can get out and support this great cause,” said Andrea Baker, the EFACS community chair.
The event, which will last from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., will feature “Celebrity Scoopers,” where notable people - such as the dean of the agriculture school and several of its professors - will be scooping ice cream for patrons.
Cold Stone will donate $1 to the scholarship fund for every customer that comes in and says he or she is there for the scholarship event.
Baker said she picked Cold Stone because the company is “big on community.”
“Cold Stone is always interested in helping the community,” said Cherise Wilson, who owns and operates the Chevy Chase store along with her husband, Lamar.
Wilson said that most fundraisers at her location raise between $200 and $250.
“But Angie (Baker) has just taken it to a whole new level,” Wilson said, referring to the amount of publicity.
Baker has contacted local television stations and newspapers in order to publicize the event.
“I’m hoping that we can get at least 500 people,” Baker said.