Posted on 10/30/2003 6:24:55 AM PST by GrandMoM
CBS News has come under fire from members of Congress who say they were 'deeply offended' by a lop-sided "Eye on America" series on homeschooling that aired earlier this month.
"As members of Congress who either homeschool our own children or support the right of parents to homeschool, we were deeply offended by the recent 'Eye on America' dealing with homeschooling," reads an Oct. 22 letter sent to CBS News president Andrew Heyward. "You chose to take a handful of tragic incidents and, from them, cast aspersions on the entire homeschool movement. Your report was unfair and indicative of both bias and ignorance."
Thirty-three members of Congress signed the letter. Most of them are members of the Republican Study Committee, a group of over 85 House Republicans organized for the purpose of advancing a conservative social and economic agenda.
Congressman Todd Akin, R-Mo., who homeschooled – and currently homeschools – his five children spearheaded the effort. Akin's son, Perry, recently graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo.
"The Congressman feels the vast majority of people who homeschool are very serious about it and are concerned about the quality of their children's education and welfare," Akin's spokesman, Steve Taylor told WorldNetDaily.
Described by National Review as "one of the most bizarre news judgments ever," the two-part report which aired Oct. 13-14 focused on a handful of child-abuse cases from the past decade involving families who claim to homeschool their children.
Dan Rather
As first reported by WorldNetDaily the reports inflamed the homeschooling community.
"We are outraged that CBS would ignore the obvious facts and draw the erroneous conclusion that homeschoolers need to be strictly regulated," said J. Michael Smith, president of the Virginia-based Home School Legal Defense Association. "The story is a shameless attempt to smear an entire community of committed, dedicated parents."
The first segment featured a North Carolina couple, the Warrens, who claimed they homeschooled their children but were discovered to have kept them in squalor. Two of the children were killed by their 14-year-old brother who then killed himself.
"The school bus never stopped at the secluded trailer on Hickory Crossroads here in rural North Carolina ... because for five years Nissa and Kent Warren homeschooled their children," the segment began. "Then county workers got an anonymous tip: Better check on those kids."
Next came reaction from a local district attorney: "I was stunned at the squalor that I saw. There was rotting food, animal feces on the floor ... Is this a location where you could expect somebody could be learning lessons and going to school?"
In his introduction to the sensational report, CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather intoned:
"You've heard the success stories, and there are many. This homeschooled child won a big spelling bee. That child a geography bee. And most parents involved in homeschooling have their childrens' best interest at heart. But in an Eye on America investigation, CBS' Vince Gonzales uncovered a dark side to this largely unregulated system of education." The letter points out what CBS left out of the report and questions its conclusion that more regulation over homeschooling is needed.
"What your correspondent, Vince Gonzales, failed to mention in his segment was the numerous child protection laws [that] already exist that could have been used to safeguard the children in question," the letter reads. "In point of fact, North Carolina Social Services had repeated contact with the family and had even removed the children from the home for a time. Despite numerous laws and the involvement of state agencies, this tragedy occurred."
In response to WorldNetDaily's call seeking comment, a CBS spokesperson quoted Heyward as saying, "this will be addressed."
More than 1.6 million children are homeschooled in America, with the number of families choosing the alternative to public school at an estimated rate of 7-15 percent a year.
The letter underscored the achievement of homeschooled children who score, on average, 80 points higher on the SAT and who are actively recruited by admissions officers at Harvard, Rice and Stanford University.
"We sincerely hope reporting of this kind is the exception and not the rule at CBS," the letter concludes.
In the meantime, CBS is taking heat for its upcoming miniseries on former President Ronald Reagan and his wife.
Congressman Eric Cantor, R-Va., fired off his own letter registering his "serious concerns" over another apparent liberal smear.
Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Mo.
"CBS, as one of the most watched and respected American television networks, has a duty to its audience, sponsors and history to create an accurate and fair biography of the Reagans," Cantor wrote in the Oct. 22 letter to CBS President and CEO Les Moonves.
WorldNetDaily has reported Moonves responded to mounting criticism and a boycott by saying the network is adjusting the script to present a more balanced view.
Les Moonves
In an interview with Tina Brown broadcast last night on CNBC, Moonves said criticism of a film nobody has seen is "rather odd" but pledged "changes will be made."
The miniseries, set for airing Nov. 16 and 18, includes scenes of Reagan cursing at his staff and his wife slapping her daughter, according to the script excerpts. Other scenes show the former president declaring he is the anti-Christ and, in response to AIDS, stating, "They that live in sin shall die in sin" – though there is no record of him saying such things.
Sponsors of the program have not been announced and might remain unknown or undetermined until just prior to its airing. Some boycotters are targeting advertisers for other CBS programs.
Michael
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