Accuracy in Media

Accuracy in Media (AIM) has grown from a one-person crusade to a million-dollar-a-year operation by attacking the mainstream media for abandoning the principles of "fairness, balance and accuracy" in its reporting. New Right philanthropies, think tanks and media support its work, and many members of its advisory board are former diplomats, intelligence agents and corporate directors.

Overview
AIM was founded by Reed Irvine in 1969, when Irvine called for sedition charges to be brought against Students for a Democratic Society, the Black Panthers and the Progressive Labor Party, arguing, "If you're going to halt treason, you've got to do it while it's small." [Village Voice, January 21, 1986]

In the 1970s, Irvine endeared himself to the New Right by alleging that the corporate media were a propaganda tool for the Soviet KGB and Fidel Castro. In 1982, AIM attacked New York Times reporter Raymond Bonner for his reports (later proven accurate--see Extra!, January/February 1993) about the El Mozote massacre. Along with the Wall Street Journal editorial page, AIM succeeded in pressing the Times to pull Bonner from his Salvadoran beat.

Irvine later called for napalm to be used against FMLN guerrillas in El Salvador. (AIM Report, March 1990). During the Gulf War, he encouraged a nuclear strike against Iraq. [Seattle Times, January 16, 1991]

With the end of the Cold War, AIM now assails environmentalists as the "infiltrators" of the media establishment. Critical reports about industries that fund AIM--such as chemical and oil interests--ara a frequent target of AIM critiques.

During the Clinton era, alleged conspiracies related to the Democratic president were a frequent topic in AIM's work--particularly the notion that Vince Foster was not a suicide but a victim of foul play. AIM charged that Republicans, including independent counsel Kenneth Starr, were somehow complicit in covering up Clinton's plots; discussing Hillary Rodham Clinton's notion of a "vast right-wing conspiracy," Irvine retorted that "the only conspiracy I knew of was the conspiracy of the Republican leadership to protect Bill Clinton." [AIM Report, February 1998]

AIM has been criticized as a censorious group eager to silence voices it disagrees with and disdainful of the First Amendment. The group for a time offered as a donation premium Target America, written by AIM board member James L. Tyson, a book advocating that government "ombudsmen" police major-network newscasts for "accuracy" and "fairness". 

Reed Irvine suffered a stroke in 2003 and died in November 2004. His son, Don Irvine, succeeded him as AIM chairman.

In October 2008, AIM launched a website promoting a boycott of the New York Times, edited by Don Feder.

AIM operates Accuracy in Academia, founded in 1985 as an outgrowth of AIM. AIM also operates the American Journalism Center, which it describes as "an intense internship training program for aspiring journalists and students seeking careers in the public relations and/or marketing fields. Most of our interns will work in the offices of Accuracy In Media and Accuracy In Academia for the duration of their internship."

Board of Directors (2009)

 * Don Irvine, Chairman (also heads Parents and Grandparents Alliance)
 * Gene C. Schaerr,President
 * Samuel Shepard Jones, Jr., Treasurer and General Counsel
 * Joan Hueter, Vice President,(previously Director AIM, Former President of National Association of Pro-America)
 * Roger Aronoff, Executive Secretary, (former Media Analyst)
 * James Davis, Director (former Financial Consultant)
 * John Esposito, Director
 * Fred C. Gielow, Jr., Director

Office holders

 * Don Irvine, Chairman (also heads Parents and Grandparents Alliance)
 * Samuel Shepard Jones, Jr., Treasurer and General Counsel
 * Joan Hueter, Director, (Former President, National Association of Pro-America)
 * Malcolm E. Smith, Retired Advertising Executive
 * Nancy Morgan, Conservative activist
 * Trevor Armbrister, Author

National Advisory Board

 * Arnold Beichman, Writer and Analyst
 * Midge Decter, Writer
 * Charlton Heston, Actor
 * Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, USN (Ret), Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
 * R. Adm. William C. Mott, USN (Ret), Vice-President, National Strategy Information Center
 * Dr. Frederick Seitz, President Emeritus, Rockefeller University
 * James L. Tyson, President, Council for the Defense of Freedom

Staff

 * Deborah Lambert, Director of Special Projects
 * John Wessale, Executive Assistant
 * Charles Rozier, Director of the Speakers Bureau
 * Roger Aronoff, Media Analyst and Documentary Producer
 * Claudia L. Mason, Administrative Assistant
 * Mercedes M. Amaya, Mailroom Manager
 * Cliff Kincaid, AIM Report Editor
 * James Davis, Financial Consultant
 * Jerris Leonard, Attorney

Funders

 * Bethlehem Steel
 * Carthage Foundation; see Scaife Foundations
 * Chevron
 * Ciba-Geigy
 * Coors Foundation
 * Dressor Industries
 * Exxon
 * Lawrence Fertig Foundation
 * Getty Oil
 * Horizon Oil and Gas
 * IBM
 * Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical
 * F.M. Kirby Foundation
 * Mobil Foundation
 * Pepsico
 * Phillips Petroleum Company
 * Smith Richardson Charitable Trust; also see Smith Richardson Foundation
 * Texaco Philanthropic Foundation
 * Union Carbide

Related Sourcewatch

 * Accuracy in Academia
 * American Journalism Center
 * Jon Basil Utley

Contact Information
4455 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Suite #330 Washington, D.C. 20008 Phone: 	(202) 364-4401 Fax: 	(202) 364-4098 E-mail 	ar1 AT aim.org Web: http://www.aim.org/