Posts Tagged ‘Associated Press’

The Associated Press loses its way

Posted: September 12, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

The Associated Press, a critical news operation and one-time bastion of political neutrality, has turned leftward in its coverage.

In recent months, the evidence has mounted that the AP no longer stands above the political fray. For example, a recent AP article said that the U.S. Supreme Court had “tossed out the heart” of the Voting Rights Act, when in reality, the court ruled that nine southern states would no longer have to “pre-clear” election law changes with the federal government. The AP lamented in another story that “far-right conservatives” in Tennessee were elected to city council seats. Another news report said that “GOP election tactics” intentionally disenfranchised black voters in Wisconsin.

As a result of these and other stories, AllSides, a group that tracks media bias, has changed its rating for the AP from “center” to “leans left, citing an increase in “word choice bias” and “bias by omission of views” in AP coverage. AllSides said it closely monitored AP content because the organization is “broad and far-reaching.” The AP is by far the largest news organization in the world, with more than 3,000 employees around the globe in nearly 100 countries. The AP provides news and information to more than 1,300 news organizations.

What has changed? 

Last year, the AP announced a series of partnerships to subsidize reporting of climate change, race, and democracy. The Washington Free Beacon reviewed the list of donors, which showed the vast majority funded left-wing political causes. For example, the Ida B. Wells Society, founded by Nikole Hannah-Jones and the suspect “1619 Project,” gave money for “more inclusive storytelling.” The AP is also taking money to fund coverage in its “democracy journalism initiative” and “the intersection of race and voting.” The donors include the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, which also backed Stacy Abrams, the leftist Georgia politician. The AP also got money from Take Back the Court, which advocates expanding the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation spent $2.5 million on the AP’s climate and education reporting initiatives and $400,000 on its democracy journalism initiative. The foundation also funds Planned Parenthood and Advocates for Youth, which promotes transgender ideology. The Public Welfare Foundation, which backs reduced penalties for various crimes, ponied up $200,000.

The Rockefeller Foundation awarded the AP a total of $750,000 to increase reporting “on the increased and urgent need for reliable electricity in underserved communities worldwide.”

Associated Press spokeswoman Nicole Meir told The Washington Free Beacon that the organization maintained “complete control” over content produced through its philanthropic partnerships, and that “no funder has any influence over AP journalism.”

Anyone who’s ever dealt with donors knows that foundations often play an active role in how money gets spent. 

The leftist tilt of the AP is particularly bothersome since the organization hired me in its Chicago bureau in 1974 straight out of graduate school, and I learned from some of the best editors I ever had. The renowned news editor Dick Ciccone, who became the managing editor of The Chicago Tribune, told me: “Get it fast. Get it right. Keep your opinions to yourself!”

–Hat tip to my wife

A journalistic trifecta

Posted: January 31, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Associated Press combined to create arguably one of the worst weeks ever for mainstream media.

Although I realize that most of us have given up on news organizations, the outrage has grown among some of the media’s longtime defenders.

The Columbia Journalism Review, a left-leaning organization tied to Columbia University, published a four-part series that savages The Times’ coverage of Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

“No narrative did more to shape Trump’s relations with the press than Russiagate. The story, which included the Steele dossier and the Mueller report among other totemic moments, resulted in Pulitzer Prizes as well as embarrassing retractions and damaged careers,” CJR executive editor Kyle Pope wrote in an editor’s note. 

Jeff Gerth, the critique’s author and a former Times reporter, said he believes the Times damaged its credibility outside of its “own bubble” and that even famed journalist Bob Woodard told him coverage of the Russia probe “wasn’t handled well.” 

The Associated Press, once a venerable outpost for objectivity, fairness, and balance, has lined up with the woke crowd.

Last week, the AP, where I once worked, issued a directive for its stylebook, once regarded as the most important set of guidelines for journalists.

The organization tweeted advice not to use generic labels for groups of people who share a single common trait, giving as examples the poor, the mentally ill, and the college-educated.

But the AP backed down after the guideline came under fire. The French embassy in the United States joked that it should possibly change its name to the Embassy of Frenchness.

Then The Philadelphia Inquirer weighed in on the foibles of a private restaurant’s failure to uphold political correctness.

Restaurant critic Craig LaBan decried the Union League Club for honoring Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

“At the end of December, the Union League announced plans to build a $25 million rooftop restaurant with an expansive terrace. Imagining the gorgeous city views from atop the elegant red brick bones of this ornate 1865 building, with breezy outdoor dining and a more casual dress code planned to debut later this year, I’d begun to think this grand addition to the city’s culinary skyline might be just the cue for me to finally write about the city’s reviving private club restaurant scene.

“Or maybe not. This week’s gold medal celebration of Florida governor and potential presidential candidate Ron DeSantis was a stark reminder that the Union League isn’t just a private social club with pretty good food: its mission is served with an increasingly MAGA-flavored side of political ideology.”

I realize that business and sports reporting had been taken over by leftists, but I was surprised that food reporting had been usurped by lefties.

Nevertheless, all three of these once-venerable institutions got a fair amount of grief from nearly every slice of the political spectrum.