Accuracy in Media (AIM)
Accuracy in Media (AIM) is a conservative media-watchdog organization founded in 1969, primarily aimed at identifying and condemning perceived inaccuracies and biases in news reporting. Established by Reed Irvine, AIM emerged from a desire to address what he viewed as a liberal distortion of American media. The organization actively monitors newspapers and television news, disseminating its findings through newsletters, columns, radio commentaries, and television programs, notably "The Other Side of the Story." AIM's activities include organizing letter-writing campaigns to advertisers and participating in shareholder meetings to advocate for more balanced representation of conservative viewpoints.
While AIM asserts that it is providing a necessary counterbalance to what it perceives as left-leaning media, critics have accused it of fostering self-censorship and promoting censorship of liberal ideas. Over the years, AIM has taken controversial positions on various significant issues, including the presidency of Barack Obama, public health narratives during the COVID-19 pandemic, and topics related to antisemitism. Its efforts have sparked debates about media bias and the role of watchdog organizations in American journalism.
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Accuracy in Media (AIM)
- FOUNDED: 1969
- TYPE OF ORGANIZATION: Conservative media-watchdog body dedicated to condemning inaccuracies and bias in media news
- SIGNIFICANCE: This organization’s aggressive efforts to expose allegedly liberal bias in the news media have frequently led to calls for censorship
During the late 1960s, Reed Irvine (1922-2004), a bureaucrat in the Federal Reserve Board, decided to escalate his own personal war against liberal bias of American news organizations. Tired of writing letters to newspapers and television operations, Irvine wanted to form an organization that would point out what he considered to be liberal distortions of the news. His new organization, Accuracy in Media, began monitoring newspapers and television news, and it publicized examples of media bias and misdeeds in its own newsletter, weekly newspaper columns, regular radio commentaries, and a weekly television program—The Other Side of the Story—broadcast through satellite and cable television channels.
The organization has motivated letter-writing campaigns directed toward advertisers who sponsored television programs considered to have a liberal bias. AIM representatives have also attended shareholder meetings of large media corporations to critique their news services and to introduce resolutions urging what the organization considers a fairer hearing for conservative points of view. Charged with encouraging media self-censorship, AIM has countered that because the media are effectively censoring conservative ideas it is simply providing a necessary counterbalance to the left-leaning press. In the twenty-first century, AIM took controversial stances on various topics, including the election of President Barrack Obama, the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic, and antisemitism.
Bibliography
"About Accuracy in Media." Accuracy in Media, aim.org/about. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.
"About Accuracy in Media." Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0000046. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.
"Activism." Accuracy in Media, aim.org/category/activism. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.