Dear Ombudsman,

Thanks for speaking with me yesterday about the film Better This World which appeared on PBS on September 6^th and that is currently on the PBS website.

Obviously, PBS has a long history of showing important documentaries by leading filmmakers and viewers (like me) have come to expect high standards. Unfortunately, Better This World utterly fails to meet this standard through deliberately deceptive editing and the insertion of footage that is designed to bolster the provably false story of the convicted criminal liar who is the hero of the film.

Even PBS’s description of the film helps create a false impression…

The story of Bradley Crowder and David McKay, who were accused of intending to firebomb the 2008 Republican National Convention, is a dramatic tale of idealism, loyalty, crime and betrayal. Better This World follows the radicalization of these boyhood friends from Midland, Texas, under the tutelage of revolutionary activist Brandon Darby. The results: eight homemade bombs, multiple domestic terrorism charges and a high-stakes entrapment defense hinging on the actions of a controversial FBI informant. Better This World goes to the heart of the war on terror and its impact on civil liberties and political dissent in post-9/11 America.

As proven in court, there was no ‘radicalization…under the tutelage of revolutionary activist Brandon Darby.’ That was David McKay’s defense and when it collapsed under the weight of facts, McKay admitted that he had lied under oath and pled guilty. The ‘high stakes entrapment defense’ was based on McKay’s lie about a supposed meeting between McKay, Crowder and Darby.

The Better This World filmmakers deal with this meeting in a short but crucial scene that deceptively cuts together footage that was shot years part in two different cities to trick the PBS viewer into thinking a meeting had, in fact, taken place.

Here’s my transcript of this section:

Watch the full episode. See more POV.

Starting at 31 minutes into the film…

Crowder (?) “And when we had a meeting later…”

Video cuts to shot of Brandon Darby looking to left on screen.

“… Brandon was provocative and hysterical.”

Video cuts to shot of David McKay looking to the right then back to Darby looking left.

(Brandon says “This is what…this is where it gets interesting.”)

Video shows a pan around from the room showing an empty glass bottle, like would be used for a Molotov cocktail – then cuts to David McKay

FBI Agent : “And at this meeting … ”

Video cuts to shot of Brandon Darby then to shot of FBI Agent being interviewed

“…Crowder and McKay must have made the decision to do something else. Because it was at this meeting they asked where they could get certain supplies.”

Video cuts to shot of Brandon Darby

“Where they could go to a Walmart.”

This sequence represents a significant breach of journalistic / documentary ethics. It was intended to create a false impression in the mind of the viewer, when the filmmakers are completely aware of the real facts.

“This meeting” is a major part of this story because it was a lie that McKay told in his first trial, which resulted in a hung jury. McKay was later forced to admit this when it became clear that there was ample evidence to prove that he had made up this meeting. The entire premise of the film rests on whether Darby entrapped McKay and Crowder and ‘this meeting’ was McKay’s proof of said entrapment.

(more…)

From Accuracy in Media‘s Cliff Kincaid:

Media figures David Gregory of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” David Brooks of The New York Times, Fareed Zakaria of CNN’s “GPS,” Margaret Warner of PBS’s “Newshour,” and Riz Khan of Al-Jazeera English are among the speakers at the eighth Annual U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Washington, D.C. this week. The event is “held in partnership” with Qatar, the Middle East dictatorship that funds and sponsors the terror channel Al-Jazeera and has links to al-Qaeda.

The forum is co-sponsored by the liberal Brookings Institution, headed by former Clinton State Department official Strobe Talbott.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a speaker.

The official program guide for the conference features greetings from President Obama. “I appreciate your efforts to help advance the new beginning I called for between the United States and Muslim communities around the world,” he says.

However, the 9/11 commission demonstrated (page 90) that Qatar has been protecting terrorists, including the mastermind of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. A recently released cable from WikiLeaks goes further, saying that Qatari nationals were involved in 9/11 and may still be on the loose.

Meantime, Sultan al-Khalaifi, who is a Qatari blogger and the founder of a human rights organization, was apprehended on March 1 by Qatar’s dreaded security forces and has not been heard of since. Human rights organizations fear that he is being tortured for speaking out against the dictatorship in Qatar.

At a Monday press conference, under the auspices of the forum, at the National Press Club, to release poll results supposedly demonstrating support for Islamist and anti-American revolutions in the Middle East, two academics from the University of Maryland admitted they didn’t know anything about the plight of the blogger.

Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, said, “Personally, I’m not aware of this.” He went on to say, however, that the arrest of any reporter by a government in the Middle East is not acceptable.

(more…)

Turns out roughly 2% of NPR’s funding comes from public coffers.  The real money comes from charitable donations to NPR and its public radio affiliates who rely on the NPR “brand” to attract charitable donors and then, in return, pay back to NPR the lion’s share of its operating budget.

So the real threat – the thermonuclear threat – posed by O’Keefe’s video may be the loss of NPR’s all-important tax exempt status.  Without tax-exempt status, NPR’s charitable donation well runs dry.

In O’Keefe’s latest video, Ms. Liley reassured the actor posing as a Muslim Brotherhood front group that NPR could legally accept the $5 million dollar gift anonymously to shield the group from government audits disclosing the donor’s identity.  On March 1, 2011, she confirmed this in writing via email, as you can see in the video.    (more…)

Earlier this week, in a segment on his NPR video exposé, PBS’s NewsHour aired the false claim James O Keefe pleaded guilty to attempting to bug the offices of Sen. Mary Landrieu:

And last year [O'Keefe] was arrested and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of attempting to bug the offices of Louisiana Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu.

O’Keefe and company pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of entering federal property under false pretenses.  There were never any allegations of a plot to bug or wiretap Sen. Landrieu in the FBI affidavit and a law enforcement official conceded over a year ago that the four men were not attempting to wiretap or intercept calls.  Despite all that, the reporter from PBS makes a definitive and erroneous claim that the activists pleaded guilty to attempting to bug Landrieu’s phones.  What’s more, legal representation for the accused went on record in January of last year, almost immediately after the arrest, stating there were no intentions to tap phones in the Senator’s office.

The bogus media meme that O’Keefe was trying to bug or wiretap a U.S. Senator was proven false a year ago.  We advise PBS and its reporters bring themselves up to speed on this story before they report on it further. (more…)

NPR Executive Vivian Schiller is gone, but the problem of raging anti-conservative bias in government funded radio and TV still remains. Don’t believe me? I’m the one who was effectively banned from PBS because of my loud, proud pro-troop support on Judy Woodruff’s show.

…On the May 21 edition of Fox News’ Hannity & Colmes, conservative radio host and Move America Forward chairman Melanie Morgan addressed a May 17 statement by Linda Winslow, executive producer of Public Broadcasting Service’s The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, in response to viewer complaints regarding the discussion between Morgan and VoteVets.org chairman Jon Soltz on the May 8 edition of the NewsHour. Winslow wrote: “Since the program is produced live, we can’t do much to eliminate rude guests from your television screen once the segment has begun; what we can do is guarantee you will never see that person on our program again.” On Hannity, Morgan accused Media Matters for America — which published a May 9 item on Morgan’s NewsHour appearance — of encouraging “their people” to call PBS and get her banned from the network. Morgan further stated: “I am demanding an apology from Linda Winslow, because this is a woman who clearly is lying about the situation.” Morgan also asserted: “PBS has a blatant anti-conservative bias. They don’t want to hear a proud pro-American, pro-troop point of view,” adding, “I think that … PBS should be ashamed of itself.”

In introducing the segment, co-host Sean Hannity stated: “In an action that reeks of censorship, PBS’ signature broadcast, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, effectively banned conservative radio host Melanie Morgan from any future appearances.” Hannity was referring to Winslow’s statement, which appeared in PBS ombudsman Michael Getler’s column on May 17.

Don’t forget Juan Williams, a liberal who made the “mistake” of saying exactly what he thought and was fired as a result. (more…)

I’d wager most of us would agree that NPR is something of a failed news media enterprise given its inherent bias and recently revealed utterly condescending and repugnant view of the average American citizen it is intended to serve – not disrespect.

Jim Geraghty of NRO offers some interesting information as regards NPR compensation and severance packages. In defense of NPR workers, how could one not be condescending given some of its compensation levels and severance packages for producing so much media so many Americans ignore for being the Leftist shill it so often obviously is.

Hopefully now that it’s been exposed, the Republicans in Congress will demonstrate some backbone and get taxpayers off the hook from having to subsidize such extravagance in the face of so much failure and disappointment.

The departure of heads of NPR can prove costly for the organization, which is funded in part by the U.S. taxpayer. According to NPR’s 990 financial disclosure form with the IRS, in 2008, former NPR CEO Kenneth Stern received $872,189 in severance payments. Stern was reportedly forced out by the NPR’s corporate board after less than 18 months in the top job.

To her credit, Schiller understood that the organization was facing tough times and felt a need to lead by example; the fiscal 2009 form indicates she took no compensation from NPR.

However, I suppose she’ll be entitled to a severance package . . .

Also note those 990 forms are fascinating troves of information.

NPR president Kevin Klose’s compensation that year was an eye-opening $1,176,202. Interim CEO Dennis Haarsager’s compensation amounted to $315,878 that year.

Below are the Radio Television Digital News Association’s guidelines for the use of hidden cameras in news gathering. The Left, abetted by the mainstream media, has sought to demonize James O’Keefe from the start. Not content to stop there, they have also used O’Keefe to demean and undermine Andrew Breitbart given their linkage as the ACORN video story was playing out. In turn, they also attempt to further undermine O’Keefe for any connection to Breitbart. In short, if you prove to be an effective fighter against the Institutional Left, any and all events, associations, facts – and even non-facts – are considered fair game to try and damage your reputation.

At the same time, a Leftist blogger can call a sitting Republican Governor, not just lie about his identity, but impersonate another, David Koch – and there’s nary a peep about the dubious ethics involved. In fact, the usual Leftist suspects, TPM and the Washington Post, for example, make hay out of it to attack the conservative Republican. Worse, not only does the Democrat Party ignore the dubious ethics employed by the imposter caller, they demand an investigation into, not the impersonator of a private citizen, but Gov. Scott Walker.

Governor Scott Walker’s conduct on the prank call with the David Koch imposter has largely receded from the national media spotlight, but if Wisconsin Democrats have their way, it will be the subject of an investigation by Wisconsin’s enforcer of campaign finance and ethics statutes.

If that isn’t clear enough as regards the double-standard employed by the Left and their media pals, you may recall another recent incident where NBC’s Dateline attempted to do a sting targeted at individuals who would dare attend a NASCAR event. Thanks to new media, in the person of Michelle Malkin in that instance, the plot was exposed.

On a side note, James O’Keefe promptly released the entirety of his video of his lunch meeting with Ronald Schiller, now gone from NPR. To this day, Katie Couric has not done that as regards a hit piece on Sarah Palin she manufactured from an interview during the 2008 campaign.

(more…)

WASHINGTON (AP) – The chairman of NPR’s board of directors says the board asked chief executive Vivian Schiller to step down after another executive called the tea party racist.

NPR chairman Dave Edwards said Wednesday that accepting Schiller’s resignation was difficult. She stepped down a day after a conservative activist posted a video showing NPR executive Ron Schiller calling tea party Republicans xenophobic and racist.

Vivian Schiller says NPR is facing the most serious threat yet to its congressional funding. She says there’s extraordinary pressure on Congress to make cuts and the remarks by Ron Schiller were outrageous and unfortunate at such a critical time.

Ron Schiller is not related to Vivian Schiller.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story after the jump. (more…)

Vivian Schiller to Discuss the Future of Public Radio in an Age of Budget Cuts, March 7

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — NPR chief executive Vivian Schiller is leading an effort to persuade Congress not to slash funding for public broadcasting. She will make her case at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on March 7.

“The elimination of federal funding would be a significant blow to nearly 900 public radio stations that serve the needs of more than 38 million Americans with free over-the-air programming they can’t find anywhere else,” Ms. Schiller said. “It would diminish stations’ ability to bring high-quality local, national and international news to their communities, as well as local arts, music and cultural programming that other media don’t present. Rural and economically distressed communities could lose access to this programming altogether if their stations go dark.”

Schiller started her NPR career two years ago – a time when the U.S. economy was plunging. The media organization’s corporate underwriting was shriveling and its stock investments tumbling. Schiller was being introduced to the staff just as NPR was laying off workers, eliminating programs, reducing salaries and slashing travel budgets.

But even in those hard times, Schiller pushed for innovation and excellence, especially in the digital world. (more…)

On February 18, our taxpayer-subsidized entertainers at PBS gave a little shoutout to one of their most stout supporters. On its Twitter feed on Friday, PBS heartily thanked the extremist left-wing activist group Moveon.org for its support in helping the broadcaster push for greater amounts of money from the pockets of the taxpayers and continue its feeding at the public trough.

PBS happily posted the following Twitter message:

Yes, a very special, taxpayer subsidized shoutout to the group responsible for calling our president “Hitler.” Isn’t it sweet that our taxpayer funded TV network is so chummy with the extremist organization responsible for saying that General Petraeus, the leader of our men and women at war, is a traitor to his country? It’s just so gosh darn touching to see that PBS and the haters at Moveon.org seem to be so simpatico on things, isn’t it? Makes ya all warm and mushy inside, right?

(more…)

Your taxpayer dollars at work promoting Cuba’s failed socialist system … PBS recently aired a report on Cuba’s outstanding health care system.

This was simply unbelievable.

Out state-run media is no longer just liberal – It’s communist:

They forgot to mention that Cuban President Raul Castro just warned his fellow Cubansthat they are running out of time and if they don´t change now, their will be an economic collapse.

(more…)

Our pals at the Media Research Center bring the Christmas cheer with a highlight reel of the year in liberal media bias.  Enjoy:

We have to cut something to pay for the extra 13 months of unemployment benefits!

(Especially as we wait for tax cut revenue to replenish the coffers, though the coffers would fill up more and quicker if we had more economic stability beyond two measly years since no business owner/employer sketches anything out for such a short amount of time.)

Now the stories come that NPR/PBS is upon uncertain times.

I’ve yet to find the term “ELMO” or “THIS AMERICAN LIFE” listed as subsidies in Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution.

At stake are hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding and the future of such popular programs as “Nova,” “This American Life” and “Sesame Street.”

And while public media has long been a favorite target for Republican lawmakers, the mounting federal deficit — coupled with a series of PR blunders — mean that threats to slash government aid to non-profit stations are no longer just idle boasting.

[...]

Should the government turn off the spigot, National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service will likely have enough corporate and donor support to limp along, but jobs will be lost and popular shows will have to be canceled. On a local level, some of the thousands of public television and radio stations will almost certainly have to close up shop.

What?! You mean progressives won’t reach into their pockets and dole out cash to keep alive the stations they love so fiercely? But, but, if they love them so much, why wouldn’t they pay to keep them operating? Are they too lazy or stingy to pay their own way? Is their interest purely slacktivist? It’s trendy in some circles to claim listenership of government stations but sadly trends rarely inspire passion.

(more…)

ABC announced their election night coverage early on and Big Journalism Editor Dana Loesch will join the network in studio for 6 p.m. – 2 a.m. election night; Bigs founder and head of the Breitbart empire Andrew Breitbart will be bringing analysis live from Arizona.

Providing analysis and historical context will be ABC News contributorsGeorge Will, Cokie Roberts, Donna Brazile and Matthew Dowd. They will be joined by Ron Brownstein, Editorial Director for the National Journal Group and conservative commentator Dana Loesch.

The Bigs will bring you up-to-the-minute live election coverage with editors liveblogging, video streaming, and broadcasting round-the-clock coverage from sources including ABC, Hugh Hewitt / Salem Radio Coverage, CNN, MSNBC, PBS News Hour, and CBS news.

Playing it safe while watching the calls of “DEFUND!” roll in for its sister in government funding, NPR.

Gwen Ifill rounds out the analysts; maybe this time she’ll have a better grasp of American history.