AIM?

I don't want this to end up a political argument, so please try to stay on topic.
I'm trying to determine something. We all hear and probably complain ourselves about inaccuracies in news reports. I've heard it from both the left and the right, and what I want is to determine the truth.
Well I ran into this organization called Accuracy In Media. I've heard of them before, but don't really know anything about them. I did some research, and what I found indicated that they've been around along time (late 60's), are non-profit, and probably have a conservative bias.
Now, it seems to me that there probably isn't any organization like this that is totally 100% neutral, so this in itself doesn't bother me too much. What I'd like to know is if anyone knows anything about this organization or any other that tries to separate the truth from the fiction in news reports and the media in general. After all, isn't the truth what we are all after?

I thought this was going to be about AIM data acquisition systems. Carry on.

According to the great gods of wikipedia -

Despite AIM's assertion of political neutrality, it is frequently described by the mainstream media and other media watchdog groups as a conservative organization

AOL Instant Messner? My handle is o72365

The truthers will uncover the truth, but usually only to back up who they support. Thats how I found the info on the groups CFA were donating to and the things they did. I doubt the same group would be supporting good conservatives as another and vice-versa.

bravenrace wrote: ...probably have a conservative bias. ...isn't the truth what we are all after?

If you want to piss off a conservative, tell him a lie.

If you want to piss off a liberal, tell him the truth.

I thought this was the AIM health supplements my wife eats.

http://www.theaimcompanies.com/whole-body-health-nutrition.aspx?lid=35

From AIM's FAQs -

"But how do you know the media’s political opinions influence their reporting?

Many of them are actually admitting it these days. They admit they’re anti-business, pro-big government, anti-family and anti-religion. A couple of years ago, CBS commentator Bernard Goldberg caused quite a stir by saying in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece that he couldn’t believe people were actually still arguing about whether or not the media were liberal, because it was so obviously true."

That seems a tad less than neutral.

Politifact. They seem to do a pretty good job of parsing the truth out while working very hard to be unbiased. http://www.politifact.com/

Otto Maddox wrote: According to the great gods of wikipedia - Despite AIM's assertion of political neutrality, it is frequently described by the mainstream media and other media watchdog groups as a conservative organization

Where's the surprise there? Although I will not vouch for AIM in any way at all, anything that is not notably leftist is described as "conservative" by the MSM, who themselves are pervasively liberal.

Otto Maddox wrote: According to the great gods of wikipedia - Despite AIM's assertion of political neutrality, it is frequently described by the mainstream media and other media watchdog groups as a conservative organization

You can tell what a product is lacking by what is emphasized in commercials. ( Lite Beer "Great taste!" )

With a name like that I'd just automatically assume they are the opposite.

You can't depend on any one organization for it, because they're all going to end up with a bias one way or another based on who is running it. We do all hope for the truth in media but it isn't possible to separate the people reporting it from the reporting itself. But the same is true of the accuracy checking organizations. So how far do you go? I don't know. Sometimes I wish it was turtles all the way down.

Duke wrote:

Otto Maddox wrote: According to the great gods of wikipedia - Despite AIM's assertion of political neutrality, it is frequently described by the mainstream media and other media watchdog groups as a conservative organization

Where's the surprise there? Although I will not vouch for AIM in any way at all, anything that is not *notably* leftist is described as "conservative" by the MSM, who themselves are pervasively liberal.

You know what, "the Liberal Media" is a favorite refrain of the right but that's not really true. Not in the least.

RealMiniDriver wrote:

bravenrace wrote: ...probably have a conservative bias. ...isn't the truth what we are all after?

If you want to piss off a conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to piss off a liberal, tell him the truth.

Bwaaahahaha, nice flounder.

NPR is both funded by the government and by private industry and organizations. It doesn't really advertise, so I'll give it more credibility than most.

In reply to PHeller:

From my experience, NPR is very liberal.

Xceler8x wrote: Politifact. They seem to do a pretty good job of parsing the truth out while working very hard to be unbiased. http://www.politifact.com/

Thanks, that is what I'm looking for.
To all those pointing out the right-bias of AIM, I think I stated that in my original post. My question is whether or not their reporting is truthful. It is possible for an organization to be biased one way or the other and still report the truth. I just don't know if anyone actually does, and if so, who is it?
Thanks again Xcel, I'll check them out.

AIM? Which model. I think the newest one is the AIM9X

Politifact seems like a pretty reasonable website, but it really only checks factual data. Which can be very useful, but there are a lot of aspects of "news" that have a certain amount personal (professional) opinion involved (economic theories etc.) so it can be very difficult to present information in a fully factual way.

In reply to aircooled:

I understand what you are saying. But a lot of people also watch or listen or read political opinion and take it as fact, which isn't really the fault of the commentator as much as it is the listener. There's speculation on things like the economy, which is legitimate in its own way, but isn't factual. Then there's opinion on things that can easily get distorted to the point where it's not even close to the truth. I guess that's part of the reason I made this post, is to find out if there are any sources that stick closer to the truth.
I personally believe we'd all be better of without these political pundits that spout out there opinions to millions, whether they are right or wrong. They influence people. I think if all we heard were the facts, we'd be a lot better off.

dculberson wrote:

RealMiniDriver wrote:

bravenrace wrote: ...probably have a conservative bias. ...isn't the truth what we are all after?

If you want to piss off a conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to piss off a liberal, tell him the truth.

Bwaaahahaha, nice flounder.

I lobster but never flounder. . .

Duke wrote:

Otto Maddox wrote: According to the great gods of wikipedia - Despite AIM's assertion of political neutrality, it is frequently described by the mainstream media and other media watchdog groups as a conservative organization

Where's the surprise there? Although I will not vouch for AIM in any way at all, anything that is not *notably* leftist is described as "conservative" by the MSM, who themselves are pervasively liberal.

It's all in the perspective of how you hear it.

For instance, I see NPR as very balanced, and much media pandering to the bill payers (aka- conservative). Fox is noteably bad, but IMHO the worst of the worst is ESPN- in how they cover what they are entertaining at the same time.

I blame the 24 hour news networks. All these stations can't go 24 hours a day without inserting tons of pseudo news - usually by angry people with a heavy liberal or conservative bias. The country would be better off if the Glenn Becks and Keith Olbermanns of the world never showed their face in the media again.

aircooled wrote: AIM? Which model. I think the newest one is the AIM9X Politifact seems like a pretty reasonable website, but it really only checks factual data. Which can be very useful, but there are a lot of aspects of "news" that have a certain amount personal (professional) opinion involved (economic theories etc.) so it can be very difficult to present information in a fully factual way.

One of the problems of the professional theories is that so few of them have any real data, yet they all pretend that they are not theory, but in fact proven "laws" of economics. They do a great job in splintering opinion, and not recognizing the merits of the other side. Drives me nuts. All sides (there are more than 2, from what I see).

alfadriver wrote: One of the problems of the professional theories is that so few of them have any real data, yet they all pretend that they are not theory, but in fact proven "laws" of economics. They do a great job in splintering opinion, and not recognizing the merits of the other side. Drives me nuts. All sides (there are more than 2, from what I see).

QFT

dculberson wrote: You know what, "the Liberal Media" is a favorite refrain of the right but that's not really true. Not in the least.

I will disagree heartily based entirely on my own observations for lo these last 35 years or so. And I am extremely centrist, with absolutely no love for either the Left or the Right.

It is clear to me that most generic outlets that do not actively describe themselves as conservative are at very best slightly left of center, ranging to solidly left, ranging to Rolling Stone, who still try to describe themselves as "unbiased" despite leaning so far to the left that they would make Woody Guthrie blush.

bravenrace wrote: .... I personally believe we'd all be better of without these political pundits that spout out there opinions to millions, whether they are right or wrong. They influence people. I think if all we heard were the facts, we'd be a lot better off.

Absolutely.

I sometimes think their whole purpose is to find ways to get people worked up and piss them off, no matter what it takes. I am just amazed that people actively seek this. Realistically it is a form of entertainment, but the viewers clearly are not being "entertained"