CNN and the Liberal Propaganda Machine

by Cliff Kincaid

Why were Senate democrats so silent about the NARAL ad that lied about the record of Judge John Roberts? Accuracy in Media revealed that the Democratic media company behind the ad handled the three biggest Senate Democratic wins in 2002-Mark Pryor, Tim Johnson, and Mary Landrieu. The ad, running on CNN despite charges that it is false and deceitful, accused Roberts of supporting anti-abortion terrorism.

AIM also revealed that CNN had a conflict of interest in running the ad because NARAL has been funded by CNN founder Ted Turner, a current board member of CNN parent company Time Warner.

NARAL's media company, Struble Eichenbaum Communications, boasted that "Our record defeating Republican incumbents is unmatched," and has deep connections to prominent liberal Democratic Senators, including Patty Murray, who says, "they'll help you win."

One of the firm's founders, Karl Struble, began his career as a Democratic Party operative for Jimmy Carter and was a media consultant to Tom Daschle, who lost his Senate re-election race last year. Struble, who is said to emphasize feelings over issues in his political commercials, has referred to George W. Bush as "the president of the big oil companies" and Dick Cheney as "the Vice President from Halliburton."

Another fascinating aspect to this controversy is that the NARAL propaganda blitz was preceded by a puff piece in the New York Times about NARAL Executive Director in New York, Kelli Conlin, a 46-year-old lesbian and the mother of two-year-old twins. Conlin, a former President of the New York City Chapter of the National Organization for Women, holds a Masters of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University in Illinois and a B.A. from Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana.

CNN's airing of the NARAL ad was blasted by Fidelis, a national Catholic-based advocacy group. It said in a statement that "CNN agreed to accept the NARAL attack ad on Judge John Roberts, yet has refused to air a pro-life ad featuring international humanitarian Mother Teresa. In 1998, CNN rejected an ad produced by Right to Life of Michigan featuring a touching interview with Mother Teresa filmed just before her death. At the time, the cable network cited its policy prohibiting issue advertisements."

The group's statement quoted Barbara Listing, President of Right to Life of Michigan, as saying, "CNN refused to run our pro-life ad. And yet now sadly, CNN is willing to run a commercial so full of lies from such a strident pro-abortion organization such as NARAL that independent watchdog groups have labeled it 'false.'"

Fidelis had launched a multi-prong campaign at CNNBias.org to allow the public to contact CNN executives via e-mail in their offices in Atlanta and New York, urging them to pull the NARAL ad.

The ad was eventually pulled-not by CNN but by NARAL. So CNN's double-standard remains.

Cliff Kincaid

Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of the AIM Report and can be reached at cliff.kincaid@aim.org