Beware of partisan media

Bill O'Reilly

Monday, March 29th, 2004

A few weeks ago, I opined that partisan journalism was getting out of
control in America and that ideological fanaticism was badly damaging
journalistic standards because in some cases facts were being altered to
fit the agendas of certain reporters and commentators. Now comes more
disturbing news about the news.

According to an article in The New York Times Magazine, a nonpublicized
meeting was held here in New York early last December attended by John
Kerry and a number of liberal-leaning journalists, including CNN's Jeff
Greenfield, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, Richard Cohen, whose column
appears in this newspaper, and Frank Rich of the aforementioned New York
Times.

Now, this powwow might have been just an innocent "get to know you"
soiree, but there are hints it might have been quite something else. One
of the attendees, Jim Kelly, the managing editor of Time magazine, was
quoted as saying that Kerry was asked a number of times about his vote
on Iraq, and, according to Kelly, "by the third go-round the answer was
getting shorter and more relevant."

The "third go-round"? That sounds like coaching to me, but I could be
wrong. Maybe the Massachusetts senator simply wasn't making himself clear.

What I'm not wrong about is that more than a few so-called journalists
have turned into activists - people who are dedicating themselves to
getting a certain party or person elected and are using their positions
in the media to do it.

There is nothing wrong with news organizations endorsing a candidate or
a columnist writing about his or her political preferences.

But actively participating in political campaigns by coaching candidates
and strategizing with them is absolutely against every journalistic
standard, and it is happening - usually under the radar.

Kerry invited me to his Nantucket home a couple of years ago, and I went
over to chat with the senator and meet his wife. Nice time. We both have
deep New England roots, and that's what we talked about. I stayed away
from politics, and so did he. Nothing wrong with a journalist getting a
personal look at a senator.

But let's face it, with the rise of entertainers like Rush Limbaugh and
other radio talk-show people who openly root for the Republicans, those
on the left feel they are at a disadvantage.

Thus we now have that vacuum being filled by some opinion journalists
who never met a left-wing cause they didn't espouse. Again, fanatical
news analysts are allowed, even though they're boring. But crossing the
line into actively helping a political campaign cannot be tolerated by
any news operation.

The exposure of the liberal journalists who met with Kerry received
scant attention from the media. Can you imagine if executives from the
Fox News Channel, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Times had
gathered at Camp David for a little slap and tickle with President Bush?
And nobody was told about it? And The New York Times found out about it?

Can you say PAGE ONE BOLD FACE HEADLINE?

So, you as a news consumer should know American journalism is becoming
increasingly partisan, and ideologues on both the right and the left
have infiltrated the news business at very high levels.

But remember this: Passionate news analysis is one thing, but abusing
the public trust is quite something else.