CNN Airs At Least 54 Misleading Segments On ACORN

Media Matters:

From October 6 through October 15, CNN ran at least 54 segments mentioning allegations that the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now [ACORN] submitted allegedly false or duplicate voter registration applications this year in a number of states, according to a Media Matters for America search* of the Nexis database. But only one of those segments mentioned both of the following two relevant points: 1) that the statutes of most of those states require third parties registering prospective voters to submit all registration forms they receive; and 2) that actual instances of illegal votes being cast as a result of registration fraud are extremely rare. Indeed, in an October 10 press release, ACORN noted that "in almost every state we are required to turn in ALL completed applications, even the ones we know to be problematic." And in a 2007 report titled "The Truth About Voter Fraud," New York University's Brennan Center for Justice stated, "[W]e are aware of no recent substantiated case in which registration fraud has resulted in fraudulent votes being cast." Of the 54 CNN segments addressing the allegations against ACORN, two mentioned only the former of those two points, while one mentioned just the latter.

Read the whole story: Media Matters

Comments

[Ironquill]

CNN has become Fox Light, obviously looking for many of the same viewers as Fox. CNN has been stiffed by the McCain/Palin team but continues to run 24/7 coverage of Palin rallies.
This analysis of the ACORN coverage doesn't surprise me,
it falls into the category of sitcom stuff, with no real threat to any actual voter.
Obvioulsy CNN has long given up any serious reporting on Palin's credentials, cronyism, ethics violations, or religious extremism.
If McCain does somehw pull this out, I will cancel my cable subscription, because honestly, I will not be able to watch one more clip of anything McCain or Palin,ever.

[patianneb]

So, while CNN is doing there little "fact check" on what the candidates are saying, I guess it never occurred to them to check their own?
I've left them for MSNBC...Matthews Olberman Maddow ... my version of MOM ....

[ndaba]

That Drew Griffin and Wolf Blitzer are some of the real culprits for the misleading segments. some one asked where is Jack Caffrey l am wondering too. he was the only one who made sense to me in the situation room.

[Cy08]

What's new, CNN and its designated LOUDMOUTH "LOU DOBBS" have been Anti-Obama from the start of his campaign.

[peterhowitt]

DOBBS is repugnant and a bigger egotist than the guys on Fox - quite an achievement.

Hey CNN - where is JACK CAFFERTY????!!!!!

[londonrainbow]

Jack's wife died. So he is on compassionate leave.

[londonrainbow]

Most irrelevant person on tv. Guess who. LOU dobbs

[SunshineDaydream]

i haven't had my tv on for days, except from 8-10 for keith and rachel. it is completely outrageous, not to mention the mcpalin ads down here are constant and annoying.

[VikingQuest]

Pretty sad . . .

Let me guess, you think ACORN has never done anything wrong then and theor employees are great people?

[Icantbelieveher]

ACORN has been around for a long time! Why did the U.S. attorneys choose not to prosecute them if they had done anything wrong? This is a smoke screen for gullible people to get them to believe that there's something wrong with poor and minority people exercising their right to vote!

Why hasn't this been brought up before now? Because there is absolutely no chance it will be resolved before the election. They don't want their sheep learning the truth, not that they would believe it if it bit them in the butt!

[Durango]

I suspect that many of their employees are Great People.

Most people involved in Community organizing are.

If you can't see the obvious political spin surrounding ACORN I suggest you go back to school and take a course on critical thinking.

It would be very advantageous to know when you and the media are being played for fools.

Or are you a player?

[evekendall]

Let me guess, you think that G. Gordon Liddy and the Alaska Independence Party have never done anything wrong?

[BBackSoon]

Did you even read the article?

“two relevant points: 1) that the statutes of most of those states require third parties registering prospective voters to submit all registration forms they receive; and 2) that actual instances of illegal votes being cast as a result of registration fraud are extremely rare.”

[Eoin45]

VikingQuest you are comprehension challenged. And your screenname is funny. You're probably questing from your mom's basement.

[SunshineDaydream]

pretty sad for who?

btw, i have much more concern for diebold. et al.

[Palmz]

They figured out If FOX is getting away with unsubstantiated facts and cleaning their clock in the ratings game then they need to follow them to improve ratings. I stopped watching long ago.

[evekendall]

ACORN is all over the tv today, but not McCain's ties to Gordon Liddy (worse than Ayers) or Palin's ties to AIP. Write the media:

ABC:
ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3271346
Nightline: abcnews.combcnews.com

CBS:
60 Minutes: cbsnews.com.com
Couric/CBS Evening News: cbsnews.comnews.com
Face The Nation: cbsnews.com.com
Global contact form: http://www.cbs.com/info/user_services/fb_global_form.php

CNN:
CNN Newsroom: [e-mail]
CNN/AC/360: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?10
CNN/Larry King Live: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.lkl.comment.html?75
CNN/Election Center: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form4.html?125
CNN/The Situation Room: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?65
CNN/Campbell Brown: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form4.html?127
CNN/Jack Cafferty: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form4.html?88
CNN/John Roberts: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form4.html?97
Contact forms: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/cnntv/

FOX:
Fox NewsSunday/Chris Wallace: foxnews.com.com
Fox News: foxnews.comxnews.com

NBC and MSNBC:
Andrea Mitchell: [e-mail]
Brian Williams: [e-mail]
Chris Matthews: msnbc.commsnbc.com
David Gregory: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23580538/
David Shuster: msnbc.comsnbc.com
Keith Olbermann: [e-mail]
Meet the Press: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6872152/
MSNBC News: msnbc.commsnbc.com
Rachel Maddow: msnbc.comnbc.com

Media Guide:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/

[Vince2250]

CNN has never been unbiased. How do they talk about Ayers, but never AIP? How do they constantly talk about Obama's associations, but never talk about the corrupt lobbyist and advisers surrounding McCain. They continue to spew the garbage that McCain & Palin speak. If any of the MSM were "fair", they would at minimum stop covering Palin rallies until someone could interview her. This will be the first time in American history that we have a person a heartbeat away from the presidency that have "never" given a single real interview.

EVERY thing we know about Palin is corrupt. It appears that people in this country won't be satified until everyone outside the super rich are living in "tent" cities

[VikingQuest]

"How do they talk about Ayers"

A president's relationship with a guy that helped bomb the Pentagon and told kids to "kill their parents" is a story . . . it would be if McCain's buddy was a KKK member.

[Chillinout]

Obama didn't know Ayers when he was doing those things. McCain, on the other hand has people surrounding him and donating to his campaign that were helping terr orists while he knew them.

Obama and ACORN are at the top of the news because it is in the media's best interest to keep this election close. And it is in the media's best interest to get a Republican in the White House.

[VikingQuest]

ACORN is not sunshine and roses despite what liberals believe . . . there is a reason they have employees sent to jail every election cycle.

[Icantbelieveher]

None of the bogus registrations are put through the system by ACORN! The state election county clerks are responsible for verifying and entering these registrations. ACORN is required to give these bogus registrations over to the state, along with the names of the people who turned them in. They are contractors!!!

IF ACORN HAD PERPETRATED FRAUD, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN DISBANDED A LONG TIME AGO!

Get educated! Don't just repeat what you heard on Fox News!

[cynic1000]

Why are you here?

[shelobo]

Don't hold it against CNN,they had no choice but to swing TOWARDS any thing that will BOOST McCains LIES,Wulf was catching hell not to mention McCain has some one on almost every Cable news network in CINDYS PURSE.and McCain sat on the COMMUNICATIONS BOARD ...MSNBC is the last HONEST , BRAVE Cable news left standing now.....for now anyways.ALL the cable news should STOP broadcasting Palins HATE filled speechs, before a POLITICAL PARTY Civil War starts among AMERICA'S PEOPLE .

[boogiewoman]

LOU DOBBS! He is going after Acorn as if they are from Mexico!

[timberdoodle]

Lou Dobbs is a hate moner and bigot. He is also a nothing more than a big blowhard that thinks wearing a lapel pin makes him a great American. What Lou Dobbs believes is that he is the master race and just spews hate. I have often wondered why any Democrat would go on his show because all he does is interupt them if they make a truthful point.

[StillAmused]

A simple question the comatose, brain-dead "news" media has failed -- and is too fencepost-stupid -- to ask:.

How many times did Mickey Mouse actually VOTE in any recent election?.

People so incapable of critical thinking they can't distinguish between REGISTRATION FRAUD (perpetrated AGAINST ACORN by some of its own paid field workers) and actual VOTING FRAUD (the kind mastered by the GOP) have no business disseminating their version of "news". These are the same stenographic dimwits who treated Junior as a serious presidential candidate, then proceeded to treat him as a serious president for eight years... instead of doing their job, tarring and feathering him in print and running him out of town on a journalistic rail.

Without the MSM's eager collaboration, the junior-varsity political vandals running the McCain/Palin campaign wouldn't get away with preposterous, laughable claims that ACORN "threatens the fabric of our democracy".

[MikaS]

I rarely watch CNN since they sidelined Jack, But I have caught a couple of Drew Griffin's ACORN segments. He should be ashamed of himself.

[67yrolfe]

I’m delighted that Media Matters finally pointed out what I’ve been posting on here for months while so many of you kept defending that network. It was so obvious I wondered why Arianna never pointed it out.

It’s true that CNN is worse than FOX. They throw out a liberal bone periodically, allow Huff Post writers to appear and too many of you are fooled into believing that they are impartial. I guess it’s because we’re so starved for truth. Everyone must realize that all the networks are corporate owned and for the most part their employees are over paid parasites, willing to do their bidding. They are not investigative reporters! The corporate neo-con bosses do not want CHANGE!

By the way, where is JACK CAFFERTY? He’s sure had a lot of “days off” without any explanation of why since he challenged Wolf Blitzer, a couple weeks ago, not to "make excuses" for Sarah Palin's qualifications to be VP.

[Cherlesq]

The CNN reporter assigned to this story handled it like a tabloid story. He reported like Geraldo Rivera. It was transparent and unprofessional. CNN has lost it's hard earned reputation as a serious news organization.

[TimeGrid]

Drew Griffin

[SeekerOne]

About an hour ago, Drew Griffin mentioned that there is a difference between voter registration fraud and vote fraud. Thanks, Drew. But, he sadly noted, even if it's much ado about nothing, ACORN brought all this grief upon themselves by their lack of oversight.