“We’re going to be pushing hard on journalism with voice,” AP promises this year, according to a leaked memo spotted by Accuracy In Media’s Logan Churchwell:
With the first legitimate event of the 2012 Republican presidential primary just days away in Iowa, the Associated Press today offered a clear example of hatchet jobs to come for the candidates. Mitt Romney was given an early example of what the AP means by “journalism with voice.”
I previously raised concerns over a leaked memo from AP Managing Editor Mike Oreskes two weeks ago. Charging all journalists to use the said “voice,” he did not offer any examples but, rather very contradictory directions (emphasis added):
“We’re going to be pushing hard on journalism with voice, with context, with more interpretation. This does not mean that we’re sacrificing any of our deep commitment to unbiased, fair journalism. It does not mean that we’re venturing into opinion, either. It does mean that we need to be looking for ways to be more distinctive and stand out in the field — something our customers need and want. The why and the how of the news are as crucial as the who, what, when and where.”
The AP offered a very clear example this morning for how these directions will be executed.
As if the title, “Romney tries to come across as man of the people” wasn’t bad enough, it only got worse from there. But in so doing, they reveal a clear playbook as to how the Associated Press will be framing the Romney campaign in 2012.
Read the whole thing; Step Three in AP’s master plan as described by Churchwell will likely play an increasing role as 2012 grinds on.
Or to put it all another way, as Victor Davis Hanson wrote this weekend, “As a general rule, when you watch a story on CBS, listen to NPR, or read the New York Times, assume that the news is prepped in such a way as to suggest the opposite of what really happened.”
Winston Smith concurs.
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