Topic: Accuracy in Media
Cliff Kincaid's Jan. 12 Accuracy in Media column declares victory over the memo cited by Fox News that claimed links between Arizona shooter Jared Loughner and the publication American Renaissance. But Kincaid backpedals on his previous insistence that AmRen isn't a racist group.
We'll concede that AmRen isn't anti-Semitic, as Kincaid insists -- even the Anti-Defamation League agrees that founder Jared Taylor "personally refrains from anti-Semitism," though the very much anti-Semitic David Duke has appeared at some of AmRen's conventions, inciting debate between the pro-Jewish and anti-Jewish factions of the "racialist" movement of which Taylor is a part.
But Kincaid did dial back his defense of AmRen on the race front:
A controversial right-wing publication, AR publishes articles criticizing racial preference and “diversity” programs that favor minority groups at the expense of majority rights. It also examines racial differences, a taboo subject for much of the media that gives rise to frequent leftist charges of “racism” and “hate.”
Unlike a few days earlier, Kincaid refrained from asserting that "there is no evidence that American Renaissance by any objective standard is a racist organization." Because, as we detailed, that simply is not true. Also, last time Kincaid described AmRen merely as "politically incorrect"; now he admits it's "controversial."
On the other hand, Kincaid complained that the memo's questionable claims "smeared an innocent group in the process." Not quite; on the question of racism, AmRen is guilty as charged.
When will Kincaid admit that unambiguous fact? Don't hold your breath waiting.
