ACORN, a community-based advocacy group for low- and moderate-income families, has been in the news in recent weeks thanks to an undercover video in which two employees in the organization's Baltimore office appear to offer unethical advice on home loans, tax evasion and disguising identities of underaged sex workers to two conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute. The organization has fired the workers and hired a former Massachusetts attorney general to conduct an internal review. It's also suing the filmmakers for illegal taping under Maryland law.
The media scrutiny of the 500,000-member group continues today, with reports that a leading Senate Republican, Charles Grassley of Iowa, has called on the Internal Revenue Service to look at how ACORN has transferred charitable and government funds meant for the poor to political and profit-making arms of the group. Those transactions occurred before a change in the group's leadership last year.
This is not the first time ACORN has found itself in the media spotlight: The organization first became a high-profile story during last year's presidential campaign when Republican candidates and other conservatives attacked the group and tried to link it to Barack Obama, with GOP presidential candidate John McCain charging hyperbollically in an October debate that the group was "maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."
Now a new study documents serious problems with the way major media outlets have handled the ACORN story.
Titled "Manipulating the Public Agenda: Why ACORN Was in the News, and What the News Got Wrong," the independent study of coverage by 15 major news organizations was authored by Peter Dreier, a professor of politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and Christopher Martin, a journalism professor at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.
They trace the latest uproar over ACORN to the White House firing of David Iglesias, the U.S. Attorney in New Mexico, for failing to help GOP election prospects by prosecuting alleged instances of voter fraud by the group. At the time ACORN was involved in a major voter-registration drive in the state.
Dreier and Martin note that after the House Judiciary Committee released over 5,000 pages of documents last month detailing the central role former Bush senior advisor Karl Rove played in Iglesia's termination, nearly every major news organization reported on the documents' release:
For instance, 80.3% of the stories about ACORN's alleged involvement in voter fraud failed to mention that ACORN was reporting registration irregularities to authorities, as required under law, while 85.1% of the stories about ACORN's alleged involvement in voter fraud failed to note that ACORN took action when it became aware of the problems. And 95.8% of the stories failed to provide deeper context -- "especially efforts by Republican Party officials to use allegations of 'voter fraud' to dampen voting by low-income and minority Americans."
Interestingly, the study found that local newspapers were more likely to verify facts with county election boards and thus were less susceptible to the politicized "voter fraud" frame than national news outlets.
The authors conclude:
The media scrutiny of the 500,000-member group continues today, with reports that a leading Senate Republican, Charles Grassley of Iowa, has called on the Internal Revenue Service to look at how ACORN has transferred charitable and government funds meant for the poor to political and profit-making arms of the group. Those transactions occurred before a change in the group's leadership last year.
This is not the first time ACORN has found itself in the media spotlight: The organization first became a high-profile story during last year's presidential campaign when Republican candidates and other conservatives attacked the group and tried to link it to Barack Obama, with GOP presidential candidate John McCain charging hyperbollically in an October debate that the group was "maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."
Now a new study documents serious problems with the way major media outlets have handled the ACORN story.
Titled "Manipulating the Public Agenda: Why ACORN Was in the News, and What the News Got Wrong," the independent study of coverage by 15 major news organizations was authored by Peter Dreier, a professor of politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and Christopher Martin, a journalism professor at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.
They trace the latest uproar over ACORN to the White House firing of David Iglesias, the U.S. Attorney in New Mexico, for failing to help GOP election prospects by prosecuting alleged instances of voter fraud by the group. At the time ACORN was involved in a major voter-registration drive in the state.
Dreier and Martin note that after the House Judiciary Committee released over 5,000 pages of documents last month detailing the central role former Bush senior advisor Karl Rove played in Iglesia's termination, nearly every major news organization reported on the documents' release:
...[B]ut none of them -- including the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal -- mention that Rove was specifically focused on attacking ACORN for its voter registration efforts in New Mexico and other states, even though ACORN is mentioned frequently as a Republican target in the investigative documents.The study points out that while ACORN has long been involved in efforts to improve housing, wages, access to credit and public education, the focus of most news stories about ACORN -- what the authors call the "story frame" -- was voter fraud:
The "voter fraud" frame appeared in 55% of the 647 news stories about the community organization in 15 mainstream news organizations during 2007 and 2008.But at the same time, many media outlets failed to distinguish allegations of voter registration problems from actual voting irregularities, and between allegations of wrongdoing and actual wrongdoing.
For instance, 80.3% of the stories about ACORN's alleged involvement in voter fraud failed to mention that ACORN was reporting registration irregularities to authorities, as required under law, while 85.1% of the stories about ACORN's alleged involvement in voter fraud failed to note that ACORN took action when it became aware of the problems. And 95.8% of the stories failed to provide deeper context -- "especially efforts by Republican Party officials to use allegations of 'voter fraud' to dampen voting by low-income and minority Americans."
Interestingly, the study found that local newspapers were more likely to verify facts with county election boards and thus were less susceptible to the politicized "voter fraud" frame than national news outlets.
The authors conclude:
Our analysis of the narrative framing of the ACORN stories demonstrates that -- despite long-standing charges from conservatives that the news media are determinedly liberal and ignore conservative ideas -- the news media agenda is easily permeated by a persistent media campaign, even when there is little or no truth to the story.
So, will Barack be reprising his role as ACORN defense lawyer?
ACORN: Association of Criminals Obama Represented in the Nineties.
“I've been fighting alongside of ACORN on issues you care about my entire career [ including child “services”, financial “services”, and “voter” registration? ] Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote in Illinois, Acorn was smack dab in the middle of it, and we appreciate your work.” --Obama, 2007
ACORN: Assisting Call-girls, Obama, Reid and Nancy
September 25, 2009 2:42 PM | Reply
Not sure what Anonymouses point is.
Coming up with funny fake acronym meanings doesn't make ACORN bad.
Having fake pimps show up at every ACORN office until they find some stupid ACORN workers don't make the organization as a whole.
Your anger about ACORN is exclusively based on the republicans propaganda which is only political in nature.
September 26, 2009 12:51 PM | Reply
For too long, Americans have mis-labeled most every categaory of who/what is viewed as respectable. Neither a briefcase, suit, camera, nor the uproar of the naysayers' protestations against, makes one (even appear to be) less than a criminal. What this shows is the double-standard Americans have become famous for. Until there is an indictment or investigation into the 'business practices' of the insurance industry, Blackwater, Haliburton, etc., for their continued and blatant stealing from the US taxpayers, those calling for the de-funding of ACORN appear the hypocrites they are.
When a corporation takes on "life form" and is the recipient of the very Constitutional privileges with which ACORN empowers its clintele, then it has become a sad day for thinking American citizens. To be sure, ACORN has become THE scapegoat for the conservatives whose days have been numbered from ACORN's efforts; but, to label ACORN's actions criminal is to condone those of of the real criminals. Haliburton, previously known as Brown&Root, whose war chest from the Vietnam war increased significantly at the expense of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, continues the trend and has now begun "electrocruting" American troops in Southwest Asia. One should view their actions as purely criminal - profiteering from their shoddy work again at the expense of American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who have been placed in harm's way. Where is the cry of protest? Big business gets a(nother) pass because....?
Give ACORN my share of tax dollars - $53 million contract paid over 15 years - simply because ALL Americans will reap a benefit from their efforts, if only (and especially) a civic one. To continue to swell the profiteerring booty - welfare - for Haliburton, the insurance industry, Blackwater, and the rest of the criminals goes against the appeal to common sense. Afterall, when conservative lawmakers of the republican party accept that it is their role to become passive players whose only duty is to make loud and continuous protests of the governing process, then one should know their views are not as purported. It's time for the American people to apply basic logic to the rhetoric of these conservative lawmakers.
Now, about this - ACORN: Assisting Call-girls, Obama, Reid and Nancy. Surely, you jest....Remember C St? There is no need to post/rehash the names of those conservatives who seem to be 'morally-challenged' since we have received an over-abundance of the news coverage of those goings-on. I suppose what happens in Vegas (and elsewhere) doesn't stay in Vegas (and elsewhere), afterall, huh? Read the first sentence again.
Americans are better than what the conservatives would have you believe, Anonymous.
September 27, 2009 1:37 PM | Reply
RE: your Sep 25, 2009, 2:42 pm
Did you read the news article at all?
What's your opinion about the article? Or, like most conservatives, is this an attempt to deflect from "the real story?" I think real Americans should be up in arms over this conservative attempt at hiding from the truth, you and those exposed in the article. But, I realize, too, that not many of you all care at all about the truth.
You simply want to be mimicking-ditto-heads. Never let anything so small as the facts get in the way. Talk about the facts and make a serious comment on them. Denial in its truest form.
September 27, 2009 1:54 PM | Reply
How does ACORN address the estimated-400,000 illegal voters?
When 1% of any organization is corrupt, the entire organization must take the hit.
Firing certain employees does not correct the problem.
Deano
September 27, 2009 9:21 PM | Reply
Deano,
Haliburton, Blackwater, insurance/health care industry....
Who took the hit? Certainly not cheney for Haliburton; haven't seen any news of any of these companies offering up their 'sacrificial lamb.' And furhtermore, since you nor Anonymous own either of the criminal-tainted companies....Come on !!!! What's your point? Again, ditto-heads are so confusing they confuse themselves. You all make this too easy: logic is missing from your protestations.
Common sense ain't so common.
September 28, 2009 7:42 PM | Reply
400,000 illegal voters?
Deano- facts are NOT optional.
Do you know how many actual, successfully prosecuted cases of fraudulent voting there's been in the US in the last several YEARS?
Hundreds of thousands?
Tens of thousands?
Thousands?
Hundreds?
?
14.
FACT.
Start down the rabbit hole little Deano, and see where the true corruption "lies".
September 30, 2009 1:08 AM | Reply