NewsHour Should Correct Lehrer's Falsehood

Lehrer ... on the program, "The reason we shut down his press is because it was calling for violence."

FAIR asked what Lehrer was relying on to support his claim. A NewsHour spokesperson offered newspaper articles from the New York Times (4/6/04) and the Chicago Tribune (4/5/04).

But those articles don't support Lehrer at all; they report U.S. charges that the paper was printing inaccurate information that could incite violence, but do not mention any calls for violence by the paper. In fact, another New York Times article (4/5/04) actually pointed out that "the paper did not print any calls for attacks."

Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting reports on a recent rash of false or inaccurate statements by the media. There are five reports starting April 15th.