The signifigance of this story is not that a NYTwits
reporter found Fahrenheit 911 accurate. Who are they to arbitrate accuracy?
The NYTwits have not gotten many facts straight, including simple arithmetic in regard to who "won" in Fraudida, for a painfully long time...No, the signifigance of this story is that a NYTwits reporter DIDN'T twist facts to imply inaccuracies in Fahrenheit 911, as they did to Al Gore and are doing to Sen. John F. Kerry (D - Mekong Delta)...
Greg Mitchell, Editors and Publishers: The author of
the piece, reporter Philip Shenon (who has covered the
federal 9/11 commission for the past year) predicts
that Moore “may face an onslaught of fact-checking”
unlike any a documentary film-maker has faced before.
Shenon’s verdict: “It seems safe to say that central
assertions of fact in ‘Fahrenherit 9/11’ are supported
by the public record….”
He also quotes Moore telling him, “without an ounce of
humor,” that attempts to libel him “will be met by
force.” He reveals that Moore has readied a “war room”
to offer instant rebuttal to conservative critics;
hired Democratic activist Chris Lehane; and has a team
of lawyers ready to bring defamation suits.
Shenon says Moore “is on firm ground” in arguing that
the Bushes have profited handsomely from their
relationships with the Saudis, including the bin Laden
family and the Saudi rulers. He also notes that Moore
is safe in charging that Bush paid too little
attention to terrorism before 9/11, and suggests he is
accurate when he claims that during Bush’s first eight
months in office he spent 42% of his time on vacation
(the source being The Washington Post.
And he predicts that perhaps more “damaging to the
White House” than any statistics in the film is its
unedited replaying of the seven minutes Bush spent
reading the book “My Pet Goat” to schoolchildren in
Florida after hearing the news of the second attack on
the World Trade Center.
Break the Bush Cabal Stranglehold on the "US
Mainstream News Media," Show Up for Democracy in 2004:
Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000536074
'NY Times' 9/11 Reporter Reviews Facts in Michael Moore Film
By Greg Mitchell
Published: June 19, 2004
NEW YORK We had Ronald Reagan Week in the press, and
Bill Clinton Week will pass in a few days, and then
Michael Moore Week will surely arrive. The New York
Times gets a jump on it in tomorrow’s Arts & Leisure
section with a lengthy appraisal of the facts and
opinions in Moore’s controversial film “Fahrenheit
9/11” which will be released on Friday.
The author of the piece, reporter Philip Shenon (who
has covered the federal 9/11 commission for the past
year) predicts that Moore “may face an onslaught of
fact-checking” unlike any a documentary film-maker has
faced before. Shenon’s verdict: “It seems safe to say
that central assertions of fact in ‘Fahrenherit 9/11’
are supported by the public record….”
He also quotes Moore telling him, “without an ounce of
humor,” that attempts to libel him “will be met by
force.” He reveals that Moore has readied a “war room”
to offer instant rebuttal to conservative critics;
hired Democratic activist Chris Lehane; and has a team
of lawyers ready to bring defamation suits.
Shenon says Moore “is on firm ground” in arguing that
the Bushes have profited handsomely from their
relationships with the Saudis, including the bin Laden
family and the Saudi rulers. He also notes that Moore
is safe in charging that Bush paid too little
attention to terrorism before 9/11, and suggests he is
accurate when he claims that during Bush’s first eight
months in office he spent 42% of his time on vacation
(the source being The Washington Post.
And he predicts that perhaps more “damaging to the
White House” than any statistics in the film is its
unedited replaying of the seven minutes Bush spent
reading the book “My Pet Goat” to schoolchildren in
Florida after hearing the news of the second attack on
the World Trade Center.
But Shenon adds: “The most valid criticism of the film
are likely to involve the artful way that Mr. Moore
connects the facts, and whether has had left out
others that might undermine his scalding attack.”
Shenon cites one unproven assertion that Saudis own 6
to 7 percent of the United States. Despite criticism,
he reveals, Moore has left in the film dark claims
that the bin Laden family was allowed to fly out of
the U.S. before air space was open to anyone else.
Shenon also reveals, however, that Moore has deleted
his claims that Attorney General Ashcroft did not take
any commercial flights in the summer before 9/11,
after finding that he had done so “at least twice.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greg Mitchell (gmitchell@editorandpublisher.com) is
editor of E & P