Spinning the Evidence
Reported by Eleanor - June 29, 2004 -
On Fox News w/Jon Scott (June 29, 9:58 a.m.ET), a promo for a story on Fahrenheit 9/11 was stated as: "Why you shouldn't believe what Michael Moore is spinning." At 10:38 the story finally aired with a statement that, "The film has about a dozen inaccuracies." Moore said that the Saudis received favorable treatment because of Bush family ties.
The problem with this statement is that the evidence for the "dozen inaccuracies" was never addressed in the story. Instead, Chris Ullman, Carlyle Group Corporate Communications, said that Moore never called or wrote to the Carlyle Group; that Bush Senior didn't join the Carlyle Group until 1998, two years after Moore said he benefited from that connection; and that Bush Sr. signed an agreement about not being able to invest in the Carlyle Group. (Did he invest before he joined?)
Comment: An explanation of the "dozen inaccuracies" in the Moore film did not materialize. But the headline,"Fact or Fiction" and the earlier promo about "Why you shouldn't believe what Michael Moore is spinning" stick in viewer's minds, even if the evidence for the Fox questions is nowhere to be found.
