InsightMag.com: CNN report "does not satisfy our standards for aggressive investigative reporting"
In a January 23 posting, InsightMag.com claimed that "CNN didn't debunk anything" about Insight's January 17 accusation that "researchers connected to" Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) had said that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) "spent at least four years in a so-called Madrassa, or Muslim seminary, in Indonesia." The January 23 article then rehashed the unfounded smear against Obama and suggested that the issue should be investigated "by other news outlets -- such as Fox News -- who will look the facts straight on, without a vested ideological interest in downplaying Obama's Muslim heritage." InsightMag.com also posed this question of Obama: "If he was raised in a secular household (as he claims), why does he have -- or retain -- Muslim names, Barack and Hussein?"
As Media Matters for America noted, on the January 22 edition of The Situation Room, CNN correspondent John Vause visited "Barack Obama's elementary school in Jakarta." Vause stated that he had "been to madrassas in Pakistan, and this school is nothing like that." In its unbylined January 23 article, InsightMag.com responded: "Insight never -- not once -- in its article claims that Obama went to a Madrassa. We didn't claim it; Hillary's people did." (CNN did not report on the source of the smear.) The January 17 article InsightMag.com had asserted that "sources close" to a "background check" supposedly "conducted by researchers connected to Senator Clinton" said that "[t]he idea is to show Obama as deceptive" and speculated that the "predominantly" Muslim school that Obama has admitted he once attended might have taught "a Wahhabi doctrine that denies the rights of non-Muslims." InsightMag.com's response to CNN said the report "does not satisfy our standards for aggressive investigative reporting."
A January 20 New York Post article quoted Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson saying, "We have no connection to this story." The article further reported that Obama strategist David Axelrod said he did not "believe ... for a second" the allegation that Clinton's camp was behind the story. InsightMag.com referenced the denial from the Clinton camp after Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz wrote in a January 22 post on his weblog "Media Notes" that the original InsightMag.com story was a "flimsy charge from some magazine." That same day, InsightMag.com responded that its story "was not thinly sourced" and noted that "[t]he Clinton camp's denial has as much credibility as the 'I never had sex with that woman' statement." InsightMag.com's January 23 posting did not address the comments by either Wolfson or Axelrod.
Finally, in a January 19 post on the Chicago Tribune's Change of Subject weblog, Tribune metro columnist Eric Zorn wrote about Fox News' reporting of the January 17 InsightMag.com story and cited each of Obama's memoirs, including a passage from Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (Crown, 1995), in which Obama wrote: "In Indonesia, I had spent two years at a Muslim school, two years at a Catholic school. In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell my mother that I made faces during Koranic studies." Zorn further cited Obama's advisers, who noted that Obama was educated in Indonesia beginning in 1967 but that "the type of madrassas linked to the Taliban did not emerge until the Afghan war against the Soviets," which started 12 years later.
From the January 23 InsightMag.com article:
We seem to have touched a raw nerve with the liberal media establishment. First, The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz and now CNN are doing everything possible to assault and undermine Insight's credibility. CNN ran a news segment last night on Paula Zahn's show, "CNN debunks false report about Obama." In the wake of our story, CNN sent their correspondent to check out the Muslim religious school attended by Barack Obama as a young boy. CNN concluded that allegations "that Sen. Barack Obama was educated in a radical Muslim school known as a 'madrassa' are not accurate." The school's deputy headmaster told CNN: ""This is a public school. We don't focus on religion." CNN's correspondent then told the "Situation Room" on Monday: "I came here to Barack Obama's elementary school in Jakarta looking for what some are calling an Islamic madrassa ... like the ones that teach hate and violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan. ... I've been to those madrassas in Pakistan ... this school is nothing like that."
We at Insight commend CNN for at least showing the initiative to follow-up on the story and send a correspondent to check it out. But, contrary to their claims, CNN didn't debunk anything about our story. For the record, Insight never -- not once -- in its article claims that Obama went to a Madrassa. We didn't claim it; Hillary's people did. We reported -- and we fully stand by our story -- that the Hillary Clinton camp had conducted their own opposition research on Obama's Muslim past, and that the Clinton investigators had concluded Obama had attended a Madrassa. This is what Hillary's camp was saying and desperately trying to prove -- not Insight. Our sources also confirmed to us that the Clinton camp had come to the conclusion that not only had Obama been raised and educated as a Muslim, but that he had been deliberately concealing it. Moreover, our sources also said that Clinton's people were seeking to find out about the possible radical Wahhabi angle, and then peddle their information to their media allies later this year -- prior to the January 2008 primaries.
More to the point, we are a magazine that focuses on political intelligence. Our stated mission is to provide our readers with credible, reliable, cutting-edge information on what is really happening behind the scenes in the corridors of power. We did that in this case: we revealed what is truly going on in the Clinton camp.
Insight's reporting and scoops have placed us consistently ahead of the curve. We have a proud record for accuracy and independence. We have broken numerous major stories that later appeared in establishment print publications such as Newsweek, The Washington Post and The Washington Times. We were one of the first to report tension between President Bush and his father, the tremendous resentment by the GOP leadership against the White House, conservative threats to stay home during the elections, fights over strategy, and the resignations of key White House officials over the Republicans' loss of Congress.
Insight operates with seasoned journalists and a limited budget. Although we are not able to send correspondents to places like Jakarta to check out every fact in a story, we harness our resources for what we do best -- providing our readers with political intelligence.
As for CNN's investigation into Obama's Muslim school, we are not yet convinced. To simply take the word of a deputy headmaster about what was the religious curriculum of a school 35 years ago does not satisfy our standards for aggressive investigative reporting. The State Department portrays Indonesia as a hot bed of radical Islamist activity. Christians and non-Muslims face persecution on a daily basis. CNN's claim that Obama attended a multi-confessional, secular public school needs verification by other news outlets -- such as FOX News -- who will look the facts straight on, without a vested ideological interest in downplaying Obama's Muslim heritage.
Some would say if Obama has a Muslim background that could be a good thing, given the global threat from militant Islam. That is not for us to judge. Ours is to report, so the American people can have the information they need to make informed decisions. Recent history and contemporary events have shown that the religious belief systems of Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush were significant in their policy-making. The same might be true with Obama --whatever he believes. And perhaps also with Mitt Romney, Bill Richardson, and all other candidates standing for election to the highest office in the land.
The media uproar over our reporting reveals a media establishment choosing not to ask the tough questions about Obama's Muslim past: If he was raised in a secular household (as he claims), why does he have -- or retain -- Muslim names, Barack and Hussein? Were his father and stepfather as secular as he says? What is the exact nature of Obama's current religious affiliation and what are the beliefs and teachings of his current church in Chicago, the Trinity United Church of Christ? Does he adhere to these teachings or is he a Sunday bench warmer only? These kinds of tough questions need to be asked of all presidential candidates regardless of political party. This is the duty of a responsible press. We at Insight do not intend to shirk our responsibility -- no matter how often we are attacked.
This is a joke, right? I wouldn't even know where to begin assaulting this piece... and I'd have to stop laughing so hard first.
BTW, maybe Obama should rename himself Chuck Smith...
Yeah, I love it when Insight asks, "If he was raised in a secular household (as he claims), why does he have -- or retain -- Muslim names, Barack and Hussein? Apparently, it's the duty of all secular people with religious names to legally change their names.
It's almost too bizarre to be real... Who in his right mind would read such garbage?
"Apparently, it's the duty of all secular people with religious names to legally change their names."
It is. And that calls to mind the question: if that-ol' Republican presidential candidate in 1860 and 1864 wasn't Jewish, why didn't he change his name from Abraham?
I knew there wuz somethin suspicious 'bout thet character.
JUST SO I UNDERSTAND ...
This outfit criticizes CNN for NOT following "journalistic STANDARDS" that they themselves have never followed? Are they claiming to be immune from such "limitations", and I missed it? Perhaps because they are unabashedly smearing partisan propagandists?
barry o'hara? this is what passes for "insight"? preposterous.
So Insight is a conservative periodical put out by the Washington Times.
Just look at their front page...and you tell me if they focus on 'political intelligence'. I suppose that's a matter of opinion.
http://www.insightmag.com/ME2/Default.asp
Wow....I just went there and the big hgeadline says 'Carter Demanded Special Treatment For Nazi War Criminal...' and the two sentences right below it say the article talks about special treatment for the FAMILY of the Nazi guard who apparently had already been deported...Apparently you have to pay to read the rest, but I consider it a freebie news item that is current, relavent, and really speaks to my values...LOL
Yeah, it's been open season on Carter ever since he wrote that book criticizing Israel's policies in the West Bank. Unfortunately MMFA isn't really weighing in on this remarkable phenomenon--the vicious and orchestrated slandering of a former president--presumably because the Democratic Party establishment is equally unwilling to confront what is going on in the West Bank. I wish MMFA would step up to the plate on this one.
This was a Hannity pre-commercial teaser the other night;
"Did Jimmy Carter help Nazi war criminals...". I'm glad you linked this, I meant to check out what the actual story is.
Right, Insight is a Washington Times creation. They also funded the Paula Jones lawsuit against Bill Clinton. It's not about news, it's propaganda.
CNN even sent reporters to the actual school. I watched it yesterday. They examined the school curriculum. They spoke to current and former teachers. They talked to former classmates of "Barry" Obama. They talked to the principle of the school. They all backed up CNN's correction of the story. They stated it was not even an Islamic school, but a well-to-do public school. They had all different religions there, and they never promoted any one of them.
Insightmag.com and the Washington Moonie Times don't satisfy my standard for toilet paper.
I'm glad somebody mentioned the "Reverend" Moon's connection to the rag known as the Washington Times.
Rupert Murdoch is a flaming liberal compared to Moon and his nutbag brood. They make Fox News seem honest and ethical; no small feat as we all know.
Believe you me, if Moon says the sky is blue and water is wet, you best seek a second opinion.
Murdoch gets a pass from me for The Simpsons and King of the Hill.
Online conservative blogs and "magazines" never accept posted comments from members? Why? Because they know we would flood their slanderous websites with truthful comments which would embarass them to the fullest.
I'd love and put in my 2 cents on this non-story, but they do not allow posts.
"needs verification by other news outlets -- such as FOX News -- who will look the facts straight on"That's the funniest thing I've read all day. Even The Onion couldn't come up with something that clever and humorous.
Um...wouldn't FOX have a vested interested in comfirming such a false rumor?
Absolutely, hence the hilarity of the comment.
A few questions....
If Hillary's camp had this supposed information, why would they only choose Insight Magazine to expose it? Why not something more mainstream which might carry more weight?
Second, if Insight got this information from Hillary's camp, like they claim, why not produce the evidence? Why not name the Clinton staffer who supposedly contacted them?
Third, exactly how is CNN supposed to investigate this fully when Insight won't give names, and won't hand over their communications with the supposed Clinton staffer? Is CNN supposed to just take Insight's word?
I also love how Insight basically disavows themselves of the claim that Obama attended a madrassa (saying they were just reporting what Hillary's staff told them), then later they again argue why it's true, or could be true.
I note that Insight hasn't laid out what there investigation was? From the looks of things, they answered a phone call, transcribed the "info" and printed it. Have they offered any insight (it is their name, isn't it?) as to how they confirmed the story?
This really reads as comedy writing. This entire shameful episode proves that despite their protestations, Insight has no credibilty. "If he was raised in a secular household (as he claims), why does he have -- or retain -- Muslim names, Barack and Hussein?" Wow. No bigotry there. Insight is attempting the Scooter Libby defense - muddy the waters and hope the readers can't tell the difference.
If Scooter Libby wanted to be taken seriously as a grown-up, then why'd he keep a 10-year-old's nickname?
If Micheal A. Butt, Chairman & CEO of Buttcon Limited is happy with his name, why should Barak Obama change his?
They cited "sources close" to research "supposedly connected to" Senator Clinton?
That's enough for me! If it's a source thats close to a supposed connection, there's no need for further investigation.
"needs verification by other news outlets -- such as FOX News -- who will look the facts straight on"That's the funniest thing I've read all day. Even The Onion couldn't come up with something that clever and humorous.
- kelso rich
I was going to type the same thing. And Insight is questioning the integrity of CNN's reporting? Hi-f'ing-larious.
"Were his father and stepfather as secular as he says? What is the exact nature of Obama's current religious affiliation and what are the beliefs and teachings of his current church in Chicago, the Trinity United Church of Christ? Does he adhere to these teachings or is he a Sunday bench warmer only? These kinds of tough questions need to be asked of all presidential candidates regardless of political party. This is the duty of a responsible press. We at Insight do not intend to shirk our responsibility -- no matter how often we are attacked. "
Wow - it is a good thing we have responsible journalists at Insight - maybe even at FoxLies - otherwise we would still believe that Iraq was responsible for 9/11, that Saddam had WMD, that this little war in Iraq is almost won, and that Afghanistan is getting there, too. We might even continue to buy into the "Clintonistas' " stories about what they did to respond to terrorism and terrorists, versus what Bungle did for the first 8-1/2 months of his first term, or even what he managed to accomplish in the aftermath of 9/11. Next week's Insight feature : "Where is Osama, and when do we get him?" We'll have all the "Insight" that you need!
GGgrrrrrr...!!!! We will investiate EVERYTHING, Dammit!! We will go to all corners of the earth...er.., well, maybe not...What? CNN did? Well, uumm....their FACE TO FACE conversation with the headmaster CANNOT BE ACCEPTED!! And...and...to all you people who grew up in a secular household- CHANGE YOUR NAME, you religious FANATICS!! Only FOX NEWS IS IMPARTIAL people, so just get over it!!
"If he was raised in a secular household (as he claims), why does he have -- or retain -- Muslim names, Barack and Hussein? "
The ignorance, bias, racism here is astounding in it's breadth and depth. This is toilet paper tabloid crap!
It's prosperous that CNN even has to pick up a so called story like this.
I have an idea for the breaking news wonders at NewsMags rags.
Why not FINALLY find someone who can verify Bush Jr. actually showed up for his Guard Service, why not get us the real deal on his reprimand and loss of his pilot's wings for not showing up for a Guard physical. How about that DUI- is it true he was a raging alcoholic till age 40, how exactly has he stopped using the juice?
And if you really want to get hard hitting, how about getting ahead of the campaign curve on how to stop smears like the Rove one on McCain during the South Carolina primaries, using race, and mental illness, actually calling the Mr. and Mrs. in a "whisper" campaign crazy, he for being a POW all those years( how dare he) and she for her obvious depression and "dark skinned" child. Just whose child was that?
Ahhh this is gutter talk.
There is a significant ignorant and dangerous population in this country now making all things and anyone Muslim the new "evil". Now that is crazy making.
I wish that Mohammad Ali were not is such suffering with his Parkinson's Disease. I believe he ( as he was so outspoken during the VietNam War) would be an eloquent spokesperson for what it means to be a Muslim.
To get back to Barack Obama's name- it's a beautiful name andhe is also an eloquent and gracious speaker in the face of all this absuridity over a nemame.
In a country built on a "melting pot" it's time people spoke out about this balatant ignorance and express zero tolerance for it. People who are drawn to stories like questions on Obama's name promoted by Newsmag are dangerous.
They thought they would get a "two for one" by attributing it to Hillary Clinton's campaign. They are just vulgar.
Oh, so nonbelievers can't give their kids biblical names anymore or be suspected of being hyperreligious?? I'm sure there are a lot of atheists and secular or very nominally religious folks in our Judeo-Christian culture named John, Joshua, Jacob, Mary, David, etc., etc., who have no plans to change their names either. That is the lamest thing I have ever read in a so-called serious publication in my life. And they call that a tough question??? It proves absolutely nothing about Obama.
Actually, wasn't he referring to himself as "Barry" at least in his Hawaiian high school? I saw the yearbook pictures. And CNN didn't just talk to some school official in Indonesia. They talked to former classmates, to people who'd been at the school for years. And every school has yearbooks, memorabilia, school newspapers, archives, etc. They showed school pictures from that time of girls in typical Western sports garb playing ball and mixed gender classes of kids in Western clothes. They would have copies of books and secular or ecumenical curricula, etc., some of which they did show in the report. There is no way in hell any of this would have been allowed in the type of fundamentalist madrassa that would cause any alarm -- and as has been pointed out, that kind of school at that time is ahistorical. They didn't exist. Most of these countries were ruled by secular dictatorships and the last thing they wanted was radical religious types indoctrinating their kids and potentially mounting religious revolution, such as the ayatollah did in Iran.
And he was, what, 6 to 10 years old?? I was a nice little conservative girl when I was 12 and I'm a flaming liberal now and have been since my 20s. People change and they throw off early teachings all the time. And from the descriptions of his mother and their family, I seriously doubt if there was any kind of indoctrination of that sort going on in their family. The fact that she was a white Kansas girl married to a black foreigner in the 1950s doesn't exactly mesh with conformist fundamentalist religion.
Insight's ridiculous response just proves what a bogus piece of crap the original story was, no matter who it came from.
Actually Val, I don't reaaly have anything against changing a kids name to something more secular.Sometimes just makes things worse.
Respectfully,
Judas Lucifer Satan Hitler III
Unbelievable! Insight claims:
For the record, Insight never -- not once -- in its article claims that Obama went to a Madrassa. We didn't claim it; Hillary's people did.
But this sentence appears in their article, without quotes, without attribution to any source, but just as a simple fact:
In Indonesia, the young Obama was enrolled in a Madrassa and was raised and educated as a Muslim.
How transparent can Insight's lies get? Yeesh.
After engaging in a twofer smear ("Hillary's people" say Obama is "deceptive") based on - by its own account - a single, entirely unverified, claim by someone tenuously "connected" to the Clinton campaign, Nosight magazine says CNN's report "does not satisfy our standards for aggressive investigative reporting."
Well, yeah, that's actually probably true, not their standards, no.
Not to mention the FIRST sentence in the article...
Are the American people ready for an elected president who was educated in a Madrassa as a young boy and has not been forthcoming about his Muslim heritage?
I wouldn't ask anyone to change their name, BUT I would ask Barack to be forthright about his upbringing. He did attend a Madrassa. He was raised Muslim. He has Muslim step-brothers. Check out the two articles that I have posted on my blog here http://www.mittromneyin2008.com
Obama denies that he went to an Islamic school. But I guess you know better than Obama...
ttp://news.aol.com/elections/president/story/_a/obama-debunks-claim-about-islamic-school/20070124114109990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Eric,
So what, What if everyone in his family was a practicing Muslim. What damned difference does it make? Do you really believe that being a Muslim is something wrong to be? If you do you're a bigot, just like the slime balls that wrote this story and the slime balls that started the madrassa rumor to get all of the Muslim haters up in a frenzy about Barak Obama. These people make me sick.
In your article, you claim that Obama did attend a "madrassa" after all:
The problem that we have here is that in Arabic the word “madrassa” means “school”. Are they saying that Barack Hussein Obama did not attend school?
By that logic, you and I both attended "madrassas" as well. Mine was a public "madrassa" in Ohio. It's also true to say that attended an "ecole", I guess.
HE WAS UPFRONT, but if he turned cartwheels in the halls of the senate it would not be enough.
You have allowed 7 years of Republican stupidity to seep into your brain.
We should not hate any and all things muslin.
ITS THE PEOPLE WHO HARMED US NOT THE ENTIRE RELIGON!!
One poster on thearticle you linked to pointed out:
Did you even have a look at the CNN report? It shows that the school was a mixture of Christains, Bhuddists, and Muslims. The teachers dressed in western style. In no ways is it a radical madressa.
I'm interested in some warnings about the strange religious background of a candidate.
What's that Eric? You have some info at Mitt Romney in 2008.com?
Hold on, let me put on my crazytown walking shoes.
And another thing;
If Romney is seriously going to abandon his career as a major league catcher to be president, why can't he stop calling himself "Mitt"?
This "Eric" "blogger" is doing Mitt Romney no favors. With help like his, Mitt won't make it too far. Talk about friends being your enemas!
I noticed on their [Insight's] web page that they made Rolling Stone's "Hot List" . . . yeah, "hot", as in hot, steaming pile of . . .
"If he was raised in a secular household (as he claims), why does he have -- or retain -- Muslim names, Barack and Hussein?"
Ooh, ooh, ooh!! (waving hand and jumping up and down) Please can I answer this one?? --- Because it's his NAME?!
Here's one: If he was raised in a Christian household (as he claims), why does George Bush not have a more biblical sounding name -- like Mordecai-- or Satan?
Hmmm. Which sources do I believe in this case. The sources that CNN provided, or the shadowy source put forth by ImageMag.com.
Sadly, we all know that there are plenty of people dumb enough to eat this all up. In their minds BIraq Hussein Osama is allready a halfrican madrassa-going radical muslim terrorist.
"CNN's claim that Obama attended a multi-confessional, secular public school needs verification by other news outlets -- such as FOX News -- who will look the facts straight on, without a vested ideological interest in downplaying Obama's Muslim heritage."
Until this story has been thoroughly investigated by the Fox News Investigative team of Ann Coulter, Dennis Miller, and Pat Robertson, Insight stands behind the story.
I heard that George W. Bush was educated at two secular, liberal, East Coast elitist institutions. Also, he has a monkey's name.
This is a great line on so many levels.
"Insight never -- not once -- in its article claims that Obama went to a Madrassa. We didn't claim it; Hillary's people did."
First, it goes without saying that it seems pretty unlikely that anyone associated with Senator Clinton’s campaign would have chosen to leak this to Insight.com when they supposedly have such influence with the wider mainstream media. I recall hearing this kind of thing on Fox News like, “I am Sean Hannity and when we get back we’ll get the inside scoop on Hillary from Newt Gingrich.” Like Gingrich has access to inside information on Clinton.
Second, under normal circumstances Insight and the rest of the right wing media would treat any information coming from the Clinton Campaign with the utmost suspicion.
Third, isn’t it interesting that the same people who read this and distribute it get all riled up when Olberman refers to George w. Bush as Mr. Bush, but they don’t have a problem when there publications refer to Senator Clinton by her first name. This could be intentional. It could turn out that the effort to smear Obama originated from Hillary Duff’s people. It may turn out that she is furious that Obama has been IM’ing with Wilder Valderama and she has been feeling snubbed. As a result, she has unleashed her vast resources on a smear campaign against Obama. That is more plausible than the Clinton Campaign leaking to Insight.com.
It's interesting that they are so trusting of their supposed Hillary source that only the word of Fox News will dissuade them. Do they consider Hillary to have such an aura of credibility that even her peons are incapable of fudging the truth? Wow.
So let me guess what Insight Magazine's defining standards are for "aggressive investigative reporting:"
Satisfied?
..."What is the exact nature of Obama's current religious affiliation and what are the beliefs and teachings of his current church in Chicago, the Trinity United Church of Christ? Does he adhere to these teachings or is he a Sunday bench warmer only? These kinds of tough questions need to be asked of all presidential candidates regardless of political party."
...But NO Religious Test shall Ever be required as a Qualification to ANY Office or Public Trust under the United States.
Sound familiar?
Scatamooch
InsightMag.com [link to www.insightmag.com] color="#0052a3">responded that its story "was not thinly sourced" and noted that "[t]he Clinton camp's denial has as much credibility as the 'I never had sex with that woman' statement."
Hmm. Clinton did not say "I never had sex with that woman". He said "I did not have sexual relations with that woman". This what made Ol'Bill so much fun. If you look up "sexual relations" in the dictionary, something like the third or fourth definition is "sexual intercourse". In typical Clintonesque fashion, by that definition of "sexual relations", he was telling the truth. Nice job by Insight in distorting the quote