[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 137 (Monday, December 6, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING REED IRVINE

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                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 6, 2004

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, as America has experienced 
a presidential election marred by shocking media bias, it is a sad 
reminder how important Reed Irvine's visionary role has been to promote 
fairness. Never before has the need been greater with CBS News 
presenting forged military records as fact, with The New York Times 
contriving an October surprise hoax to slander America's troops, with 
multiple news organizations gleefully producing fraudulent exit polls 
to influence voters, and with the Public Broadcasting System 
hysterically forecasting on election night a coup by Bush supporters. 
Despite these attacks, the voters knew better and President Bush 
prevailed.
  Fortunately, the propoganda purveyors have been unmasked by Reed 
Irvine with the assistance of courageous magazines, talk radio, 
bloggers, and Fox News.
  It is particularly fitting that the below obituary was prepared by 
the noted and courageous, crusading journalist John Gizzi in Human 
Events for the week of November 22, 2004.

              Death of a Watchdog: Reed Irvine (1922-2004)

                            (By John Gizzi)

       To many liberals in the media targeted by his pointed 
     criticisms, Reed Irvine, the founder of Accuracy in Media, 
     was a tormenter. But to his legions of friends and admirers 
     he was the ``Sergeant Joe Friday of the American media.''
       Following his death on November 16 from complications 
     following a stroke, the 82-year-old Irvine was remembered as 
     the conservative movement's pioneering media watchdog.
       Born in Salt Lake City, Irvine graduated in 1942, at the 
     age of 19, from the University of Utah. He then joined the 
     U.S. Navy, which taught him Japanese, and became an 
     interpreter for the U.S. Marine Corps in the Pacific 
     theater of war and in occupied Japan. Following his 
     discharge, he did graduate work at the University of 
     Washington and won a Fulbright scholarship to Oxford, 
     where he earned a master's degree in 1951.
       From 1951 until he retired in 1977, Irvine worked at the 
     Federal Reserve Board. The topic of media bias dominated a 
     group Irvine regularly lunched with and soon he founded 
     Accuracy in Media to try to keep the national press honest.
       Through op-ed pieces, lectures, in-depth studies, a regular 
     newsletter and frequent appearances on radio and TV, Irvine 
     provided evidence that the major media indeed had a liberal 
     bias. The grassroots following he developed provided AIM with 
     the resources to launch national campaigns against the ``gods 
     of the antennae.'' In 1983, for example, an AIM crusade 
     convinced the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) to give equal 
     time to AIM to rebut an hour-long special, Vietnam: A 
     Television History.
       In 1985, Irvine started Accuracy in Academia to combat 
     leftist teachings at U.S. colleges.
       For those outside the movement, Irvine may be best 
     remembered for his spirited appearances at town hall meetings 
     hosted by Ted Koppel on ABC's ``Nightline.'' Perhaps the most 
     poignant tribute to Irvine came from Koppel. ``Reed Irvine 
     was, at times, a harsh critic of the television news industry 
     and me in particular,'' Koppel told Human Events, ``but 
     throughout the many years that I knew him, he was never 
     anything but courtly and personally gracious. Just as I would 
     insist that all other enterprises in our society benefit from 
     the presence of a critical and fearless press, so, too, the 
     press benefits from being held to high and occasionally harsh 
     standards. Reed Irvine fulfilled that function to the greater 
     good of all.''
       Irvine leaves his wife of 56 years, Kay Araki Irvine, son 
     Don (who succeeded him as president of Accuracy in Media), 
     and three grandchildren.

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