Topic: Accuracy in Media
In an April 18 "special report" at the Richard Mellon Scaife-funded Accuracy in Media, Cliff Kincaid declares that Media Matters (disclosure: my employer) is "a front organization for Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign." But Kincaid needs to work on his conspiracy-mongering to make it more factual and less hypocritical.
Kincaid doesn't explain why, if Media Matters is a "front organization" for Clinton, Media Matters has regularly defended John Edwards and Barack Obama against instances of conservative misinformation.
Kincaid claims that "In the Media Matters world, where Hillary rules, you are not supposed to say anything seriously or comically critical of the former First Lady" -- using as an example of the "comically critical" Don Imus' description of Hillary as Satan. But he doesn't explain why there is no mention on the Media Matters site of one of the most conservative-beloved examples of Hillary-bashing, in a "Saturday Night Live" skit from January.
Kincaid claims that Keith Olbermann's use of Media Matters items on his MSNBC "Countdown" show "puts in question the 'independence' of MSNBC in the Imus matter." But he doesn't explain why the Media Research Center's heavy presence on Fox News does not similarly call into question the "independence" of Fox News.
Kincaid plays up connections between Media Matters and George Soros, but AIM has a history of downplaying its links to Richard Mellon Scaife.
Kincaid misrepresented a Media Matters item about him, claiming that Media Matters had "falsely impl[ed] that I had fabricated a letter from the Afghan Ambassador" and "rushed into print with this defamatory item without checking the facts beforehand. Then it refused to retract or apologize after being caught." In fact, Media Matters merely pointed out that "the letter as posted on the America's Survival website [operated by Kincaid] consisted of separate elements cobbled together from various sources" and that "Kincaid had provided no acknowledgment that the document he posted was an electronic collage and certainly no explanation for why he had not simply posted a photographic reproduction of the letter."
We could go on, but we have better things to do.
