[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18787]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               MEDIA BIAS

  (Mr. SMITH of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, between now and the election, I am 
announcing the weekly award for the most biased media story.
  The CBS broadcast on President Bush's National Guard service has 
collapsed. CBS and Dan Rather issued an apology, but still tried to 
justify their actions.
  However, there is no excuse for why this broadcast made its way into 
the homes of millions of Americans. There is no excuse for not trying 
to obtain the original documents. There is no excuse for not checking 
the credibility of the person making the accusation who has a history 
of attacking President Bush. There is no excuse for being in a rush to 
smear President Bush. There is no excuse for contacting the Kerry 
campaign before airing the broadcast, and there is no excuse for this 
serious breach of journalistic ethics.
  Mr. Speaker, this week's media bias award has no competition. It goes 
to CBS News.

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