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For Immediate Release: A Manufactured Crisis

WorldNetDaily does the bidding of conservative legal and advocacy groups by playing up their press-release charges of attacks on Christmas and Christianity.

By Terry Krepel
Posted 12/20/2004


Last month, ConWebWatch noted a WorldNetDaily story based almost entirely on a press release by a conservative legal group. It appeared as part of a wave of WND stories citing examples of alleged attacks on Christmas, Christianity in general or American traditions like the Declaration of Independence.

This prompted us to wonder: How many of these stories that WND is promoting as part of its "news" product are really just glorified versions of press releases issued by conservative legal and advocacy groups?

ConWebWatch examined several original WND stories from the past few weeks. Press releases from conservative groups clearly were the impetus for many of them, down to, in one case, running the release nearly word for word. ConWebWatch also found that in many cases, the other side of the story -- what the school or other institution has to say about the charges being made by the conservative group -- is not presented; if it is, it often appears far down in the story after the conservative group's charges are quoted in detail, and the conservative group may then be permitted to rebut any charges that are made.

Listed below are the details of 15 recent WND stories and the press releases from which they sprang:

* * *

WND story: "Anti-Christmas district hit with federal lawsuit," Dec. 20 (South Orange/Maplewood, N.J.)

Source of press release it was based on: Thomas More Law Center

WND's fidelity to press release: High, though it adds information about a related story.

Other side of the story provided? No.

* * *

WND story: "Officials reverse decision to bar Christmas trees," Dec. 18

Source of press release it was based on: American Center for Law and Justice.

WND's fidelity to press release: High, though it adds information about a related Christmas tree-banning case.

Other side of the story provided? No.

* * *

WND story: "Federal judge rules for Nativity display," Dec. 15 (Bay Harbor Islands, Fla.)

Source of press release it was based on: Thomas More Law Center.

WND's fidelity to press release: High; it's rewritten but contains nothing that wasn't in the press release

Other side of the story provided? No.

* * *

WND story: "Schools prohibit Christmas colors," by Ron Strom, Dec. 15 (Plano, Texas)

Source of press release it was based on: Liberty Legal Institute ("Children Victimized by School District’s Unconstitutional Censorship Policy"), Alliance Defense Fund.

WND's fidelity to press release: Low. Strom contacted Kelly Shackelford, Liberty Legal's chief counsel, for more comment; quotes from Alliance Defense Fund taken from its press release.

Other side of the story provided? No. Last paragraph of story claims that "[a] request for a response" from the school district "had not been fulfilled by press time."

* * *

WND story: "Justice opens probe into school district," Dec. 16, by Ron Strom (Plano, Texas)

Source of press release it was based on: Liberty Legal Institute ("Justice Department Opens Investigation In "Candy Cane Case").

WND's fidelity to press release: Low. Strom again contacted Kelly Shackelford, Liberty Legal's chief counsel, for more comment.

Other side of the story provided? Yes; school district's attorney is allowed two paragraphs, but Shackelford is given the opportunity to rebut him.

* * *

WND story: "School district backs down, will allow Christmas cards," Dec. 14 (West Bend, Wis.)

Source of press release it was based on: Liberty Counsel.

WND's fidelity to press release: High. Everything in WND's story was in the press release.

Other side of the story provided? No.

* * *

WND story: "City will prosecute Christian protesters," Dec. 14 (Philadelphia)

Source of press release it was based on: American Family Association's Center for Law & Policy.

WND's fidelity to press release: High. Everything in WND's story was in the press release.

Other side of the story provided? No.

* * *

WND story: "Prosecutor: Bible is 'fighting words'," Dec. 16 (Philadelphia)

Source of press release it was based on: American Family Association's Center for Law & Policy.

WND's fidelity to press release: High. Everything in WND's story was in the press release, including the comment by the Center For Law & Policy attorney that "Stalin would be proud."

Other side of the story provided? No.

(An Oct. 15 WND story on the same subject is based in part on press releases by the Center for Law & Policy Concerned Women for America's Culture and Family Institute and Repent America and also fails to provide the other side of the story. WND editor Joseph Farah rants on this case in a Dec. 20 column, calling it "one of the most brazen, frontal attacks on religious freedom and free speech I have seen in my lifetime," but he doesn't present the other side of the story, either. Farah has clearly based his column on the biased, press-release-generated reports on his own site.)

* * *

WND story: "School censors Christmas from student performance," Dec. 10 (Mustang, Okla.)

Source of press release it was based on: Alliance Defense Fund.

WND's fidelity to press release: Low. WND adds details from a local TV report and an Associated Press story.

Other side of the story provided? Yes; WND adds quote from school superintendent defending decision.

* * *

WND story: "Church leaders threatens Target boycott," Dec. 3

Source of press release it was based on: National Clergy Council.

WND's fidelity to press release: Medium. The National Clergy Council's statements from the press release are featured, but also adds a quote from Concerned Women for America.

Other side of the story provided? Yes; WND adds quotes from Target spokesman defending the chain's decision.

* * *

WND story: "Schools snub Christian group despite ruling," Dec. 3 (Montgomery County, Md.)

Source of press release it was based on: Center for Law & Religious Freedom.

WND's fidelity to press release: High, down to the center's encouraging the public to attend a legal hearing.

Other side of the story provided? No.

* * *

WND story: "Group to sing carols in front of ACLU office," Dec. 4

Source of press release it was based on: Public Advocate of the United States.

WND's fidelity to press release: High.

Other side of the story provided? No.

* * *

WND story: "ACLU subjected to Christmas carols," Dec. 8

Source of press release it was based on: Public Advocate of the United States.

WND's fidelity to press release: Medium. WND adds background on actions the ACLU has taken.

Other side of the story provided? Sort of; WND notes that the ACLU's actions are based on "the First Amendment Establishment Clause," though it lets an embarrassing typo slip through when it mentions "other pubic institutions."

* * *

WND story: "Is Declaration of Independence unconstitutional?" Nov. 23

Source of press release it was based on: Alliance Defense Fund.

WND's fidelity to press release: Very high. Story is structured like press release.

Other side of the story provided? No.

* * *

WND story: "ACLU loses Christmas case," Nov. 16 (Cranston, R.I.)

Source of press release it was based on: Alliance Defense Fund.

WND's fidelity to press release: High; the WND version, however, deleted the fact that an "ADF-allied attorney" represented the city of Cranston.

Other side of the story provided? No.

* * *

Despite the prominence of these incidents, seemingly crafted to create the appearance of a widespread, nefarious campaign of "secularlists" and "leftists" who are, in the words of WND columnist Kevin McCullough, "attacking God" -- Fox News Channel has also hyped many of these same stories to create a similar appearance -- these incidents remain quite isolated and indicate no such trend, aside from a demand for publicity by conservative legal and advocacy groups to push their particular agenda and their willing media partners like Fox News and WND.

WND and Fox News haven't been the only ones, of course; a Dec. 20 NewsMax column by Kathleen Antrim goes the ludicrously alarmist route: "I predict it won’t be long before churches have to remove their crosses from their steeples because they can be seen from public roads. Religious pendants and necklaces will be officially outlawed in public. Picketing on public sidewalks will be allowed only for thought police politically correct issues like pro-abortion."

Antrim knows better, and so does WorldNetDaily. Christianity is not being banned in America -- especially with folks like Antrim and organizations like WND who make it their job to be outraged by any perceived slight to their beliefs.

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