Accuracy in Media

Accuracy in Media (AIM)

Background

Accuracy in Media (AIM) is a conservative “media watchdog” with the stated aim of promoting “accuracy, fairness and balance in news reporting.”  

Accuracy in Media was founded in 1969 by “a group of concerned citizens”1Our Mission,” Accuracy in Media. Archived November 9, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/yb8VH including economist Reed Irvine. In 1972, AIM began publishing the AIM report, a newsletter “dedicated to correcting serious media errors.”2History of AIM,” Accuracy in Media. Archived January 12, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/iVtbZ

Reed Irvine, who passed away in November of 2004 at 82 “annoyed and infuriated major media for years with his syndicated critiques, prolific letters to the editor, and confrontational questions at corporate meetings that routinely accused the press and broadcasters of a liberal bias,” The Washington Post noted.

Irvine’s son, Don Irvine, now serves as the chairman of Accuracy in Media and its sister organization Accuracy in Academia.3Media Watchdog Reed Irvine, 82,Washington Post, November 18, 2003. Archived January 12, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/u0csk He described his father as “a die-hard anti-communist.”4Don Irvine,” Accuracy in Media. Archived January 12, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/9Qe96

AIM describes itself as “a non-profit, grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues that have received slanted coverage.”5About,” Accuracy in Media. Archived November 9, 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/cAYLu

AIM shares an address and fax number with the closely associated Accuracy in Academia,6Contact Us,” Accuracy in Academia. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/NpkFt an organization that promotes right-wing activities and has fought “political correctness” on university campuses. 7Media Watchdog Reed Irvine, 82,Washington Post, November 18, 2003. Archived January 12, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/u0csk

AIM on the Issues

Socialist World Government

According to Accuracy in Media’s Cliff Kincaid, as of 2009 the United Nations was “moving ahead with a global conference to lay the groundwork for world government financed by global taxes.” Kincaid adds that “The communist head of the U.N. General Assembly is leading the effort, but he is getting crucial support from “progressive” economists who advise the Obama Administration and the Democratic Party.”8Cliff Kincaid. “The Plan For Socialist World Government,” Accuracy in Media, June 17, 2009. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/kICxC

In 2007, AIM also claimed to have exposed the “Conspiracy” of the North American Union in a report “examining charges that a former Carter Administration official is behind a sinister campaign to create a North American Union that will submerge American sovereignty in a trilateral entity consisting of the U.S., Canada and Mexico.”9Accuracy in Media Exposes North American Union ‘Conspiracy’,” Accuracy in Media, February 19, 2007. Archived January 12, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/nPFTq

AIDS a “Manufactured Crisis”

In a 2006 article titled “The Post and the Phony AIDS Crisis,” Accuracy in Media’s Cliff Kincaid claims that “the number of HIV/AIDS cases in Africa has been grossly exaggerated by the United Nations in order to generate money through the world body to spend on the disease.” Quoting a Washington Post article that said that HIV/AIDS cases in Africa had been overstated, Kincaid says that the credibility of the United Nations should suffer. Kincaid promotes a book by Tom Bethell of Human Events, titled Politically Incorrect Guide to Science, which “deals with this manufactured ‘crisis’ over AIDS.”10Cliff Kincaid. “The Post and the Phony AIDS Crisis,” Accuracy in Media, April 25, 2006. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/QjbWM

Intelligent Design

In an Accuracy in Media article titled “Silencing Science,” Julia A. Seymour claims that those associated with intelligent design are wrongfully facing “mockery, intimidation or academic death through firing or suspension.”11Julia A. Seymour. “Silencing Science,” Accuracy in Media, December 21, 2005. Archived January 12, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/PPhVq

“Critics of intelligent design claim that the theory is not scientific, it is creationism in disguise, that there is no debate or controversy over the ‘facts of evolution’,” Seymour writes.

Seymour also quotes the Discovery Institute‘s Jay Richards:

We’re just pleading for free discourse,” said Richards, “science progresses through the free exchange of ideas.”

Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez, an astronomy professor at Iowa State University, said he just wanted to provide interested students with “both sides” of the issue “so they can make up their own minds.”

On DDT

Citing a paper by J. Gordan Edwards, Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid write that “the claim that DDT caused the thinning of bird egg shells and a decline in the bird population is false.”12Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid. “Al Gore and Rachel Carson,” Accuracy in Media, August 24, 2000. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/baqaE

Homosexuality

In 2000, Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid point to an article in the Massachusetts News, suggesting “homosexuals are recruiting children in the public schools of Massachusetts.”13Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid. “Homosexual Recruitment in Schools,” Accuracy in Media, June 20, 2000. Archived January 12, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Yi3OB In 2015, Cliff Kincaid criticized Obama for supporting gay members of the military:14Brian Tashman. “Right-Wing Pundits Rail Against Gay Military Leaders, Right Wing Watch, June 11, 2015. Archived January 12, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/byVTg

“In Obama’s Orwellian Armed Forces, two men make a marriage, even if one takes the title of ‘wife’ and the other ‘husband.’ Or, perhaps, both are husbands. Who knows? I may have to consult the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association for the latest instructions on the correct terminology,” Kincaid wrote. “Left behind in the wake of this exercise in building a new nation are the remnants of the old America—traditional values, a strong military, and a constitutional system based on free enterprise and limited government.”

Comments Surrounding 2021 Capitol Insurrection

Accuracy in Media was among dozens of the individuals and organizations profiled in DeSmog’s Disinformation Database who posted online or gave interviews about the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection. Some posted claims of election fraud, similar to those that drove the Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6. Some circulated dubious information about the insurrection itself. DeSmog has preserved a selection of notable posts related to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, including some that were later deleted or removed.

On Jan. 12, 2021 Accuracy in Media’s President Adam Guilette participated in an online broadcast, advertised on social media by the organization, where he discussed the Capitol insurrection and the Black Lives Matter uprisings.15Adam Guillette discusses the Capitol Hill media hypocrisy on Liquid Lunch,” Accuracy in Media, January 12, 2021. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

During that interview, Guillette discussed the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, by comparing the reaction to civil unrest over the lack of police accountability for the deaths of George Floyd and many other Black people in the US.16Adam Guillette Discusses the Capitol Hill Media Hypocrisy on Liquid Lunch,” YouTube video uploaded by user “Accuracy in Media,” Jan 12, 2021. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.

[00:05:36] “Well, to your point, they didn’t just normalize the violence. They celebrated the violence. They named streets after these people engaging in violence. They painted, you know, a lot of the roads to celebrate the folks who were engaging in violence. Hollywood celebrities even donated twenty five million dollars to pay the bail money for the rioters so that they could go out and riot again. So the notion that these people are suddenly outraged by the violence in the Capitol is ridiculous.” [00:06:02]

Stance on Climate Change

December 2016

Cliff Kincaid writes at Accuracy in Media:17Cliff Kincaid. “The CIA’s Dirty Tricks Against American Democracy,” Accuracy in Media, December 18, 2016. Archived January 12, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/bgcOU

“If the Democrats really wanted to take down Putin’s regime, they would abandon their anti-fossil fuel policies, give up on a “climate change” agreement that benefits our adversaries, and support the President-elect’s policies of growth and resource exploration and exploitation.”

November 2014

Highlighting an isolated weather event, AIM Newswire comments that “Even the liberal newspaper The Washington Post cannot deny how cold it has been recently.” They then suggest this is reason to discount global warming as increasing temperature-related fatalities:18Global Warming/Climate Change? Coldest November Morning since 1976,” Accuracy in Media, November 19, 2014. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Z3o3z

“So much for climate change or global warming endangering human lives…but what about the snow and cold weather? Global freezing, anyone?”

December 9, 2009

Writing for Accuracy in Media, Cliff Kincaid declared:19Cliff Kincaid. “ClimateGate, the Green Dragon, and the End of Christianity –  Special Report,” Accuracy in Media, December 9, 2009. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Z8lU0

“With the ClimateGate revelations of flimsy ‘science’ behind the man-made global warming theory, the role of the religious left in promoting this fraudulent scheme now deserves serious media scrutiny. “

Kincaid goes on to quote climate change denier James Wanliss, author of The Green Dragon, a book that argues environmentalism is “the reconstruction of a pagan world order” and a “rejection of Christian spirituality.”20Cliff Kincaid. “ClimateGate, the Green Dragon, and the End of Christianity –  Special Report,” Accuracy in Media, December 9, 2009. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Z8lU0

August 10, 2007

AIM Editor Roger Aranoff claims, writing at the AIM website, that the science is not settled on climate change:21Roger Aronoff. “Newsweek Burns Truth in Global Warming Story,” Accuracy in Media, August 10, 2007. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/YphUa

“In fact, while most observers and experts agree that the climate is changing and may even be warming over the long term, the real debate is over whether human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, are responsible, and whether we can do anything about it. The critics of the theory cast doubt on that connection, noting the lack of definitive evidence of a cause and effect. There are other explanations for possible warming, such as solar activity.”

February 2007

Cliff Kincaid, Director of Accuracy in Media’s Center for Investigative Journalism, said in a 2007 column on AIM‘s website:22Cliff Kincaid,” Accuracy in Media. Archived January 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/EOQrL 23Cliff Kincaid. “Media Promote Global Warming Fraud,” Accuracy in Media, February 5, 2007. Archived January 6, 2017. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/dDVsx

“Incredibly, the much-publicized United Nations climate change report, which blames global warming on people, has no published science to back it up.”

November 2005

AIM columnist Cliff Kincaid criticized Fox News for broadcasting a program The Heat is On, which reported that global warming represents a serious problem. Kincaid argued “[t]he program was one-sided to the point of being comical,” and said the airing was a “scandal” in an article titled  “Hostile Takeover of Fox News.”24Cliff Kincaid. “Hostile Takeover of Fox News,” Accuracy in Media, November 21, 2005. Archived October 20, 2007. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/ZpVsf

Funding

The following is a combination of data archived at the Conservative Transparency (CT) project combined with original research of 990 tax forms by DeSmog. Note that not all CT funding values have been verified by DeSmog.25Accuracy in Media,” Conservative Transparency. Search performed January 6, 2017.

Key People

Name201026Who We Are,” Accuracy in Media. Archived February 13, 2010. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/TiPSl201127Who We Are,” Accuracy in Media. Archived July 28, 2011. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Vn9TJ201228Who We Are,” Accuracy in Media. Archived June 16, 2012. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/IzuG3201329Who We Are,” Accuracy in Media. Archived April 12, 2013. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/6995I201730Who We Are,” Accuracy in Media. Archived January 12, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/vKPunDescription
Chandler Hudson   Y Operations Manager
Charles RozierYYY  Director of the Accuracy In Media/Allied Educational Foundation Speaker Bureau
Cliff KincaidYYYYYDirector of the AIM Center for Investigative Journalism
Deborah LambertYYYYYDirector of Special Projects
Don IrvineYYYYYChairman
Heidi Barnes  Y  Operations Manager
Logan Churchwell YY  Director of Public Relations & Online Development
Megan Beth Lott    YVice President of Development & Contributing Editor
Mercedes AmayaYYYYYMailroom Manager
Roger AronoffYYYYYEditor
Sarah Schaerr NortonY    Director of Public Relations
Elizabeth JenkinsY    Operations Manager

Accuracy in Media 990 Forms

Accuracy in Academia 990 Forms

Actions

June 6, 2016

In an Accuracy in Media (AIM) article titled “The Red Guards Are Green,” Cliff Kincaid writes that Democratic Attorneys general who are delving into climate change denial in the U.S. are trying to “stifle debate ver the job-destroying policies of the Obama regime” and to “criminalize and prosecute those challenging the global warming theory.”31The Red Guards Are Green,” Accuracy in Media, June 6, 2016. Archived January 12, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/J7e3M

Kincaid describes proposed policies of Senator Bernie Sanders, President Obama, and Hillary Clinton, as all of a “totalitarian nature” given “they all propose to use government power to control the economy by either confiscating the assets of private firms or running them out of business.”

Kincaid writes that this is a sign “America is becoming a socialist state,” also criticizing the Obama administration which “has been seeking to destroy the entire coal industry.”

With regards to the Paris Climate Agreement, Kincaid promotes a paper by The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) “which says the agreement is essentially a fraud.”

October 2015

Media Matters reports that Accuracy in Media (AIM) had removed all references to Wayne Simmons from its Benghazi commission website after Simmons was arrested on “charges of major fraud against the United States, wire fraud, and making false statements to the government,” including allegedly falsely claiming he worked for the CIA.32Eric Hananoki. “After Arrest Of Wayne Simmons, Conservative Benghazi Group Scrubs Him From Its Website,” Media Matters, October 16, 2015. Archived January 11. 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/H787X

AIM released the following statement on Simmons:

“We were stunned and saddened to hear the news about Wayne Simmons. He has been a colleague of ours on the Citizens’ Commission on Benghazi since we were established in 2013. We have removed Wayne’s name from the list of members on the website of the CCB, pending the outcome of the legal proceedings. As with everyone charged with a crime or crimes in this country, he is innocent until proven guilty. We wish him the best.”33Eric Hananoki. “After Arrest Of Wayne Simmons, Conservative Benghazi Group Scrubs Him From Its Website,” Media Matters, October 16, 2015. Archived January 11. 2016. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/H787X

May 2015

Cliff Kincaid, Director of Accuracy in Media’s AIM Center for Investigative Journalism, criticized Pope Francis for coming “down on the side of the ‘progressive,’ and even Marxist, forces in the world today.”34Cliff Kincaid. “The Catholic Church Has Gone Socialist,” Accuracy in Media, May 12, 2015. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/RLimm

In a blog post titled “The Catholic Church Has Gone Socialist,” Kincaid claims that Pope Francis “has made common cause with the forces of international Marxism, which are associated with atheism, the suppression of traditional Christianity and the persecution and murder of Christians,” so “[c]onservative Catholics and many other are terrified of what is to come.”35Cliff Kincaid. “The Catholic Church Has Gone Socialist,” Accuracy in Media, May 12, 2015. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/RLimm

The Huffington Post notes that Kincaid goes as far to cite climate change denier Timothy Ball, who had argued in an interview that “the Catholic Church is regretting making him the Pope” after “the powerful Cardinals pushed” Pope Benedict “aside.”36Martin Marty. “Rightist Critics of Pope Francis,” The Huffington Post, May 21, 2015. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/xlg0t

February 1, 2012

On this date, AIM presented the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award to radio host Dana Loesch and CBS correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.37Dana Loesch, Sharyl Attkisson to Receive Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Awards at CPAC 2012,” Accuracy in Media, February 1, 2012. Archived January 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/cuJSj

According to The Huffington Post, Atkisson has “issued a factually deficient report on purported ‘New Solyndras’ which included green-energy companies that hadn’t received federal money or hadn’t actually gone bankrupt.”38Accuracy In Media Honors Inaccuracy In Media,” The Huffington Post, March 13, 2013. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/dwTbi

January 31, 2011

Accuracy in Media (AIM) presented the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award to Tucker Carlson and Ken Timmerman for “outstanding contributions to journalism.”39(Press Release). “Tucker Carlson, Ken Timmerman to Receive Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Awards at CPAC,” Accuracy in Media, January 31, 2011. Archived January 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Xt2jI

Carlson is the co-founder and former editor-in-chief of The Daily Caller. According to The Huffington Post, “Carlson’s Daily Caller has a record of pushing questionable or false claims,40Chelsea Rudman. “Right-wing media launch bogus attacks on Obama’s India trip,” Media Matters, November 5, 2010. Archived January 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/hBkBf as well as numerous conspiracy theories.”41Timothy Johnson. “Daily Caller Opinion Page An Embarrassing Spectacle Of Conspiracy Theories,” Media Matters, September 6, 2012. Archived January 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/V8EeF

Timmerman has also been linked to endorsing and promoting false claims,42Accuracy In Media Honors Inaccuracy In Media,” The Huffington Post, March 13, 2013. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/dwTbi such as the birther conspiracy theory.43Kenneth R. Timmerman. “Obama Refuses to Answer Birth Certificate Lawsuit,” NewsMax, October 24, 2008. Archived January 10, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/yhUMl

February 18, 2010

AIM presented the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award to Andrew Breitbart and Marc Morano for their “outstanding contributions to journalism” during a ceremony as part of the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Accuracy in Media chairman Don Irvine applauded “Marc Morano’s excellent reporting on the ClimateGate scandal that exposed the politicized science behind claims that the science is settled on global warming.”44Andrew Breitbart, Marc Morano to Receive Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Awards,” Accuracy in Media, February 16, 2010. Archived January 6, 2017. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/L0aCQ

Marc Morano is the Executive Editor and Chief Correspondent for ClimateDepot.com, a prominent blog focusing on climate change denial. He has also been a communications director for Senator James Inhofe and has worked as a producer for the Rush Limbaugh Television Show.45Andrew Breitbart, Marc Morano to Receive Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Awards,” Accuracy in Media, February 16, 2010. Archived January 6, 2017. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/L0aCQ

December 9, 2009

Cliff Kincaid, Director of AIM‘s Center for Investigative Journalism, promotes the often-debunked “Climategate” as evidence of the “flimsy ‘science’ behind the man-made global warming theory.” In the article, Kincaid promises to examine “role of the religious left in promoting this fraudulent scheme now deserves serious media scrutiny.” He goes on to introduce James Wanliss, senior fellow at the Cornwall Alliance and author of The Green Dragon: Is Global Warming a Religion which portrays environmentalists as a “pagan world order.”46ClimateGate, the Green Dragon, and the End of Christianity –  Special Report,” Accuracy in Media, December 9, 2009. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Z8lU0

“Both professing Protestants and Roman Catholics bear a burden of guilt for the current political mess we are in with the global warming and other hysterias,” Kincaid quotes Wanliss. “If the church had not turned from the gospel of Jesus Christ it is unlikely the Green Dragon would have been able to so deeply sink its fangs into our lives.”47ClimateGate, the Green Dragon, and the End of Christianity –  Special Report,” Accuracy in Media, December 9, 2009. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Z8lU0

March 16, 2006

AIM Editor Roger Aronoff writes at Accuracy in Media, criticising a CBS 60 Minutes segment which had acknowledged the dangers of climate change. “There is much evidence that contradicts the assertions made in the 60 Minutes story,” going on to cite the often-debunked Oregon Petition as support for the supposition that “there are many scientists who are skeptics.”48Roger Aronoff “More Hot Air on Global Warming,” Accuracy in Media, March 16, 2006. Archived January 11, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/XcnCK

November 2005

AIM columnist Cliff Kincaid criticized Fox News for broadcasting “The Heat is On,” which reported that global warming represents a serious problem. Kincaid argued the piece was one-sided and stated that this “scandal” amounted to a “hostile takeover of Fox News.”49Cliff Kincaid, “Hostile Takeover of Fox News,” Accuracy in Media, November 21, 2005 (Archived). Archived June 9, 2009. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/fndEb 50Watchdog critic frets about Fox’s ‘leftward’ slant,” Raw Story, October 20, 2006. Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/46595

Accuracy in Media Contact & Location 

As of May 21, 2016 the main contact address was:51Contact Us,“ Accuracy in Media. Archived May 21, 2016.  Archive.is URL: http://archive.is/Bg0JW

4350 East West Highway
Suite 555
Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: (202) 364-4401
Fax: (202) 364-4098
E-mail: [email protected]

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