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Mark Steyn   National Post   15-May-2000   CBS fabricates news
"But yet again those old Soviet hardliners can only marvel: They spent decades smashing presses and jamming transmitters in an effort to shut down the flow of information.  Americans achieved that happy state just by leaving it to ABC, CBS and NBC." � Mark Steyn
Mark Steyn in the National Post (Toronto) of 15-May-2000 takes the position that Donna Dees-Thomases Million Mom March had its projected attendance downgraded to 100,000, though how many actually showed up is the object of varied speculation; and more importantly that contrary to the attempt to portray Donna Dees-Thomases as a suburban mother who had never organized anything larger than a car pool before, she was in reality a CBS employee.  In comparison to the massive distortions of Morley Safer's Ugly Face of Freedom of 23-Oct-1994, the Million Mom March media stunt seems like a peccadillo, but does contribute to the view of the mass media as ready to deceive and manipulate, with the CBS perhaps playing a leading role.

Two excerpts from the longer article:

But, speaking of Casts of Idiots, what about CBS?  By now, you may be curious about that "part-time job," as NBC coyly referred to it.  A couple of waitressing shifts?  A little secretarial work for the school district?  No, Donna is a part-time publicist for David Letterman's Late Show.  Before that, she was a full-time publicist for CBS news anchor Dan Rather.  CBS This Morning was one of the first news shows to report the Million Mom March movement last September, when Hattie Kauffman interviewed Donna.  "What," asked Hattie, "turns a mild-mannered suburban mom into an anti-gun activist?"

The correct answer is: "A leave of absence from my employer, CBS, which, by remarkable coincidence, is also your employer, Hattie."  But that's not what Donna said.  Only in the last week has CBS News begun disclosing that she's one of theirs.
Mark Steyn, Made to Measure for the Media, National Post, 15-May-2000, p. A14.

Heigh-ho.  The non-March is over now, and the non-Millions are relaunching themselves today as a political lobby group.  Good luck to them.  But yet again those old Soviet hardliners can only marvel: They spent decades smashing presses and jamming transmitters in an effort to shut down the flow of information.  Americans achieved that happy state just by leaving it to ABC, CBS and NBC.
Mark Steyn, Made to Measure for the Media, National Post, 15-May-2000, p. A14.

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