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So much for conservative "journalism"

September 29, 2009 3:07 pm ET by Eric Boehlert

The hidden-camera trick which produced the ACORN story has led lots of conservatives to toast a new era in right-wing journalism. Chris Wallace hails the sting as important "investigative reporting." But of course, it's not really journalism at all.

Here's the definitive proof, in case you missed it over the weekend. Anti-ACORN film maker James O'Keefe told Wallace his objective is to "destroy" people and that no, he doesn't know if he broke any privacy laws in Maryland when he taped ACORN workers, because he has no idea what the law there is in terms of hidden cameras.

Like I said, that aint journalism.

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    • Author by IRONY 101 (September 29, 2009 3:14 pm ET)
      4  
      Well, sure...isn't destroying people the goal of legitimate journalism? LOL...

      These people are such blatant extremists it hurts to listen to them...and they actually are too blind and/or stupid to realize how transparent they are.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by pointofview (September 29, 2009 3:45 pm ET)
        1 6
        Well, sure...isn't destroying people the goal of legitimate journalism? LOL...


        If you are Dan Rather it is. His goal was always to destroy conservatives.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by neon desert (September 29, 2009 3:57 pm ET)
          6 1
          It that's true, he would have joined the Republican party, which has done an unparallelled job of it.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by benjr (September 29, 2009 4:06 pm ET)
          2 1
          What a joke
          Report Abuse
        • Author by steeve (September 29, 2009 6:28 pm ET)
          1 1
          He was fired for doing what Hannity does every ten minutes, so bugger off.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by New Frontier (September 29, 2009 8:20 pm ET)
            1
          Dan Rather...His goal was always to destroy conservatives.


          He went after truth--and the truth tends to have that effect on conservatives.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by Tbone Slickens (September 30, 2009 9:49 am ET)
            1  
            He went after truth


            Yeah...he went after his OWN version of the truth and got caught pushing forged documents to try and swing an election. He and five flunkies were fired and now Danny is in hotel HD hell doing fluff pieces on penguins! Danny yo sho have come a looooong way!

            Oh...BTW...Danny lost his day in court. Seems the judges THREW HIS CASE OUT! Danny dismissed

            You keep defending the indefensible though. I give you props on the left for never giving up on a dead horse!
            Report Abuse
      • Author by themidnightreview.com (September 29, 2009 3:51 pm ET)
        4  
        I force myself to watch these programs because I feel I have to constantly correct people who just get it wrong. I am tired of hearing garbage that Obama was not born in America. I'm tired of hearing about guns and indoctrination and all this other nonsense.

        Why doesn't this kid leave the journalism to people who actually know what they are doing?
        Report Abuse
        • Author by liberalXtian (September 29, 2009 5:09 pm ET)
             
          If journalism was left to those who know what they are doing, Fox news would be a big empty building.
          Report Abuse
    • Author by epkklk851 (September 29, 2009 3:26 pm ET)
      4  
      I admit that I haven't seen much of the videos that Mr. O'Keefe has made, but I wouldn't have believed him if he came to see me. They looked like something out of a TV show, someone's idea of what a pimp and a hooker should look like, and when they started talking that rot, I am not sure whether I would have smiled and listened for details by keeping them talking or spun some stories of my own to keep them talking. I may be naive, but I can't imagine that a real pimp would be dumb enough to seek out help to set up a brothel, and exactly how are two white kids going to get their hands on a bunch of underage Latinas? I can't imagine that any Latino business man, legit or otherwise, would make such a deal. The whole thing stank, and for him to be morally outraged that ACORN was abetting prostitution is ridiculous. Undercover journalism does serve a purpose, but this was entrapment and not intended to fix anything or help anyone. And when you couple it with his lies, it discredits everything.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by themidnightreview.com (September 29, 2009 3:56 pm ET)
        4  
        Who would have believed that a politically ambitious kid whose girlfriend was a prostitute, and was importing young El Salvadorean girls for a brothel, wanting ACORN to help them file paperwork was actually a pimp!

        Come on! Were the ACORN employees idiots? Maybe, but this guy's story is ridiculous and it just doesn't hold up... he won't disclose all the information, he shows edited clips but full transcripts, he claims to not know the law, he lied about other locations throwing him out, he got pranked by another ACORN worker, and he openly admitted to being a radical who was out to destroy (weren't those the claims made by the right about Van Jones?)...

        Enough already!

        -------------------
        The Midnight Review
        Mum Is The Word
        Report Abuse
        • Author by shaggles (September 29, 2009 4:22 pm ET)
          1  
          I couldn't agree more. The whole thing's a joke. I doubt anyone really bought his ridiculous story. And if a couple low level employees were actually that stupid how does that implicate ACORN as whole?
          Report Abuse
          • Author by DellDolly (September 29, 2009 4:34 pm ET)
               
            Well, it implies that they didn't hire the best people. But what that also implies is that they spent their money on providing services, not on training and big salaries.
            Report Abuse
          • Author by 4EverOutKasted (September 29, 2009 5:08 pm ET)
               
            They never show the offices that kicked them out. I think it went something like this. They went to like 5 or six ACORN offices with ther costumes on and they all kicked them out. So they had to change their strategy. They cut the cameras and went in there without their costumes on and taold the employees that they would pay them each to go along with the whatever they came up with when they come back. The employees are probably underpaid and overworked probably bit at the opportunity to screw the company. So they agreed. Then the two clowns come back in with a "hidden" video camera and came up with that story and the employees followed their lead. They left cut the cameras and then paid those employees and they couldn't believe it actually worked, so they went to another city and did plan B. Find some disgruntled employees and offer money and Viola! I wish I would have seen those clowns. The hidden camera would have shown me assaulted them for perpretuating a fraud. Those employees had to be aware of Fox News coming at them every day and before our President took office. Shame. (SNL if you do a skit on this, I want a royalty check, lol)
            Report Abuse
            • Author by themidnightreview.com (September 30, 2009 11:04 am ET)
                 
              I was wondering about that... trying to keep my options open. They never show the entire video and they do look rather young.

              Giles: Excuse me ACORN workers, I'm a dumb student trying to do a school project, will you help my friend and I? We have money...

              ACORN: I get paid minimum wage. Okay.


              It sounds convincing...
              --------------------------
              The Midnight Review
              Mum Is The Word
              Report Abuse
        • Author by 4EverOutKasted (September 29, 2009 5:00 pm ET)
             
          You so right. As soon as I saw them walk into the office with their "Party City's Pimp and Ho" costumes; I would have been on high alert and called the police. On top of that, a majority of the clients do not look like them at all. So to see suburban kids stroll in there and coming up with the BS of a story, I would've been like "SECURITY".
          Another thing is why would a pastor's daughter stoop so low to play a prostitute. WOW.
          Report Abuse
    • Author by mk3872 (September 29, 2009 3:28 pm ET)
      2  
      I guess that means he's just interviewing for a job at Fox News, doesn't it?
      Report Abuse
    • Author by pros2pros2940 (September 29, 2009 3:59 pm ET)
      2  
      Two words that don't go together : conservatism & journalism

      I see very little benefit to society with the increase in "conservative" talkers, journos, bloggers, think tanks, etc.

      They only exist to spin republican failures, airbrush the legacies of Reagan et al and make mountains out of molehills

      Every wingnut knows Reagan cut taxes once but don't know that he raised them 7 times later and nearly tripled the national debt.

      How many wingnuts know about Iran Contra ?
      Report Abuse
    • Author by pbrauer (September 29, 2009 4:56 pm ET)
         
      Fox hired Wallace to add some legitimacy to their coverage, clearly somebody like Tony Snow couldn't be seen as objective outside of Fox. The ratings of Fox News Sunday have suffered, so Wallace must compromise any objectivity he had previously and serve "red meat" to the Right Wing.

      Sad, I wonder what his dad thinks.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by idaresay (September 29, 2009 5:12 pm ET)
         
      thanks for the confirmation... just working on a 'media' survey regarding 'freedom of speech' but not to worry... you folks will catch on eventually!
      Report Abuse
    • Author by GaryD (September 29, 2009 5:23 pm ET)
        1
      And Keither Olbertard is a real journalist, huh? I miss Russert, Cronkite, Wallace, and Murrow. Those were REAL journalists. All we get now from both sides is just a bunch of pansies.
      Report Abuse

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