Reply #18: There seem to be two different versions of the Holly Ramer story. [View All]

[w4rma]

Please join me in writing to the editors of the New Republic ([e-mail]) in protest of Spencer Ackerman's unfair posting in the TNR primary, "Means Testing." If we put enough pressure on TNR, perhaps they'll learn to report more responsibly. In addition, I suggest we set up a TNR watch dog website to publicize this kind of irresponsible reporting. We should invite supporters from the other campaigns to reply to unfair criticism of their candidates as well (This will make non-Dean Democrats go to the site and read our replies. Even though TNR doesn't care much what we think or say, they will care if our points are being viewed by the rest of their readership as well.)

visit www.tnr.com to view Mr. Ackerman's posting in the TNR primary.


Below is the letter I wrote. Please write your own letter with your own criticism, even just a few words, to the editors. Letters should be less than 200 words with your name, address, and telephone number. After the letter, I've given more information.


Dear Mr. Ackerman,
Your criticism of Howard Dean on 23 July 2003 was entirely unfair. Dr. Dean was asked whether he thought the deaths of Saddam Hussein's sons were a victory for the Bush administration. Dr. Dean answered that it was not a victory for the administration, and added, "It's a victory for the Iraqi people." This is comparable to the comments by the other candidates that you have provided. Your article, in neither presenting the context nor the full quotation provided by the Associated Press, fails to represent its subject honestly. I don't know which is a more disturbing possibility: that you did not look carefully enough at the AP story, or that you purposefully omitted crucial parts of the Governor's comments for your own rhetorical agenda. Your readers deserve far better treatment and an apology.

Thank You,
G. P. Huded


There are two very different versions of the AP story by Holly Ramer that Mr. Ackerman has based his criticism on. The version entitled "Dean chides fellow Dems for belatedly questioning war" presents Dean's comments in what appears to me the logical order, followed by comments made by other candidates. The other version entitled "Dean scolds fellow Democrats for belatedly questioning war" begins on a somewhat biased note, saying Dr. Dean "shrugged off the deaths of Saddam Hussein's two sons Tuesday, saying 'the ends do not justify the means.' He scolded Democratic rivals for backing the conflict." However the "means do not justify the ends" comment does not appear in its entirety until the last paragraph of this version of the article (though in the other version, it is the first quotation attributed to the Governor in the fourth paragraph). So, two versions of the same article present vastly different depictions of the same event. In the one I suspect Ackerman has seen, the means-end comment is taken out of context and placed in the lead, without the full context explained until the very end of the piece. Unless Dr. Dean first said the ends don't justify the means, and then criticized his opponents, and then finally said it was a victory for the Iraqi people, the AP version is misleading. From the content of the comments, the logical order (what Dr. Dean probably said) is first (in response the question whether it was a victory for bush) that it was victory for the Iraqi people, and then that the ends don't justify the means (a reference to whether it was a victory for Bush), and then criticism of his opponents. It looks to me like the AP botched the order (probably on purpose) and the New Republic ignored the context (also on purpose). Well, it's an outrage how the media distorts quotations like this, and it's time we put an end to it.


This is the article entitled "Dean chides fellow Dems..."
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/203/region/Dean_chides_fellow_Dems_for_be:.shtml

This is the article entitled "Dean scolds fellow Dems..."
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/07/22/dean.iraq.ap/

Posted by: G. P. Huded at July 23, 2003 05:52 PM | Link