Insight (magazine)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Insight on the News | |
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| Type | biweekly online magazine |
| Format | magazine |
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| Owner | News World Communications |
| Editor | Jeffrey T. Kuhner |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Political allegiance | conservative |
| Headquarters | 3600 New York Avenue NE Washington DC 20002 |
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| Website: insightmag.com | |
The American Internet magazine Insight (formerly Insight on the News) was founded to be a sister publication to The Washington Times newspaper, in the mold of Newsweek's relationship to The Washington Post, as a conservative alternative to Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News & World Report. For a time, Insight was a newsmagazine included with The Washington Times, but its print operations ended in 2004.
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[edit] Arlington cemetery controversy
In 1997 Insight reported that the administration of President Bill Clinton gave political donors rights to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This charge was widely repeated on talk radio and other consevative outlets; but was later denied by the United States Army, which has charge over Arlington Cemetery [1].
[edit] Paula Jones controversy
In 1998 Insight invited Paula Jones, who had filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton to attend the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner, where Clinton spoke [2].
[edit] "Madrassa" media controversy
In January of 2007, Insight published an unsourced article reporting a rumor that "researchers connected to Senator [Hillary] Clinton" had discovered that rival candidate Barack Obama was educated in a radical Islamic Madrassa school during his youth in Indonesia.[1].
To investigate this statement, which were quickly propagated in the United States mass media, including on Fox News, CNN reporter John Vause visited the school and found its staff in Western attire, its student body apparently consisting of Muslims, "Christians, Buddhists, also Confucian(s)".[2] The CNN story also quoted a spokesman for Clinton, who dismissed the allegation as "an obvious right-wing hit job" on both candidates. Insight responded that CNN's investigation did "not satisfy our standards for aggressive investigative reporting", and said that they provided "political intelligence" on "a limited budget".[3].
A January 29 New York Times story commented on the Insight story. The article notes:
Insight editor Jeffrey T. Kuhner "whose Web site published the first anonymous smear of the 2008 presidential race, is hardly the only editor who will not reveal his reporters’ sources. What sets him apart is that he will not even disclose the names of his reporters."
In the article, Kuhner says that the article is "solid as solid can be" [4]. The Fox News Network has since acknowledged that the story violates their basic rule of knowing "what you are talking about." John Moody, vice president for news at Fox, also included this in his daily editorial note on January 23: "For the record: seeing an item on a website does not mean it is right. Nor does it mean it is ready for air on FNC. The urgent queue is our way of communicating information that is air-worthy. Please adhere to this."[5].
After receiving so much media scrutiny, Insight defended itself as an online weekly "political intelligence report", and not part of the "mainstream print and broadcast news organizations," and therefore not required "to ferret out (more) facts and make judgment calls on relevance"[6].
Obama, who is Christian, not Muslim, wrote about his early school years in his 1995 book Dreams from My Father (p.142):
- "In Indonesia, I’d spent 2 years at a Muslim school, 2 years at a Catholic school. In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell mother I made faces during Koranic studies. In the Catholic school, when it came time to pray, I’d pretend to close my eyes, then peek around the room. Nothing happened. No angels descended."[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Hillary's team has questions about Obama's Muslim background", Insight, Jan. 16-22, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-01-26.
- ^ "CNN debunks false report about Obama", CNN, January 22, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-01-26.
- ^ "Hats off to CNN, but... about Obama", Insight, January 23-29, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-01-26.
- ^ "Feeding Frenzy for a Big Story, Even if It’s False", New York Times, 29 January 2007. Retrieved on 2007-01-29.
- ^ Akers, Mary Ann. "Obama's Grudge Factor", Washington Post, 30 January 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
- ^ "Last word: What Insight reported and what it did not", Insight, 1 February 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
