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*Critics claim a conflict of interest for Stossel donating profits from his public speaking engagements (as per by his ABC contract) to, among others, a charity that produces a program that features him.<ref>http://archive.salon.com/media/feature/2000/02/25/stossel/</ref><ref>http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020107/dowie/3</ref><ref>http://www.thegreatboycott.net/John_Stossel.html</ref><ref>http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientprofile.php?recipientID=761</ref> *Critics claim a conflict of interest for Stossel donating profits from his public speaking engagements (as per by his ABC contract) to, among others, a charity that produces a program that features him.<ref>http://archive.salon.com/media/feature/2000/02/25/stossel/</ref><ref>http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020107/dowie/3</ref><ref>http://www.thegreatboycott.net/John_Stossel.html</ref><ref>http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientprofile.php?recipientID=761</ref>

* In a 1999 ''20/20'' report pertaining to the allocation of medical research money, Stossel said ] kills more people than ]; in fact AIDS kills several times more.<ref name="fair00">http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1887</ref>

* In a 1998 special regarding complaints about rising CEO salaries, Stossel claimed that wages were up 70% over a 15 year period when they actually fell 6% in real terms, and were up only 55% without adjusting for inflation.<ref name="fair00" />


===Schults attack=== ===Schults attack===

Revision as of 14:06, 2 October 2007

John Stossel
John Stossel speaking at the Free State Project's New Hampshire Liberty Forum.
Born (1947-03-06) March 6, 1947 (age 77)
Chicago Heights, Illinois, United States
EducationB.A. in psychology, Princeton University (1969)
Occupation(s)Journalist, author

John F. Stossel (born 6 March 1947) is a consumer reporter, author and co-anchor for the ABC News show 20/20. Stossel practices advocacy journalism, which has resulted in frequent criticism from organizations that disagree with him. His reports, a blend of commentary and reporting, reflect his libertarian political philosophy, his views on economics (largely consistent with those of the Chicago school), and his skepticism of conventional wisdom. In his decades as a reporter, Stossel has received numerous honors and awards for his reports, as well as attracted criticism.

Stossel began his journalism career as a researcher for KGW-TV and later became a consumer reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City before joining ABC News as consumer editor and reporter on Good Morning America. Stossel went on to be a ABC News correspondent, joining the weekly news magazine program 20/20. Stossel has also written two books entitled Give Me a Break and Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity.

Biography and work

Education and Early career

John Stossel was born in Chicago Heights, IL, the second of two boys. He overcame a stuttering problem so he could become a reporter. Stossel graduated from Princeton University with a BA in Psychology in 1969 and was a member of Princeton Tower Club while there. He began his journalism career as a researcher for KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon. He later became a consumer reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City before joining ABC News as consumer editor and reporter on Good Morning America.

Personal life

Stossel lives in New York City with his wife and their two children. John's older brother, Tom, is a doctor.

20/20

Stossel joined the weekly news magazine program 20/20 in 1981, initially as correspondent. His "Give Me a Break" segments featured a skeptical look at subjects ranging from government regulations and pop culture to censorship and unfounded fear. The series was spun off into a series of one-hour specials, beginning 1994, with titles including "Stupid in America", "Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?", "Junk Science: What You Know That May Not Be So", "Boys and Girls Are Different", "Freeloaders", "Greed", "Is America #1?", "You Can't Say That!", "Stossel Goes to Washington", "The Power of Belief", "Sick in America". In May 2003 he became co- anchor.

Publications

Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity, authored by John Stossel, was published on May 1, 2005.

Stossel has written two books. Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media is an autobiography documenting his career and philosophical transition from liberalism to libertarianism. It describes his opposition to government regulation, his belief in free market and private enterprise, support for tort reform, and advocacy for shifting social services from the government to private charities. It was a New York Times bestseller for 11 weeks. Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel — Why Everything You Know Is Wrong questions the validity of various conventional wisdoms, and argues that the belief he is conservative is untrue.

With financial support from the libertarian Palmer R. Chitester Fund, Stossel and ABC News launched a series of educational materials for public schools in 1999 entitled "Stossel in the Classroom". In 2006, Stossel and ABC released Teaching Tools for Economics, a video series based on the National Council of Economics Education standards.

Philosophical influences

Contrarianism

Many of Stossel's news reports and writings reflect a disagreement wtih popular beliefs. His Myths and Lies series of 20/20 specials challenges a wide range of deeply held beliefs. He also hosted The Power of Belief (October 6, 1998), an ABC News Special that focused on paranormal claims and people's desire to believe. Stossel supports Steven Milloy's claim that opposition to DDT is misplaced. He is a global warming skeptic, agreeing that the phenomenon exists but arguing that science is not settled on whether it is caused by humans. He argues that the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, Rachel Carson, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore engage in environmental scaremongering on the subject. He was one of a handful of media personalities named by environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as "these Flat Earthers, these corporate toadies, lying to you, lying to the American public, and telling you that global warming doesn't exist ...."

Libertarianism

Stossel is one of the few libertarians in mainstream media. As a libertarian, Stossel believes in both personal freedom and the free market. He frequently uses television airtime to advance these views and challenge viewers' distrust of free market capitalism and economic competition. He told The Oregonian, on 26 October 1994:

I started out by viewing the marketplace as a cruel place, where you need intervention by government and lawyers to protect people. But after watching the regulators work, I have come to believe that markets are magical and the best protectors of the consumer. It is my job to explain the beauties of the free market.

Stossel's argues that personal greed creates an incentive to work and to innovate. He has promoted school choice as a way to improve American schools, because he believes that when people are given a choice they will choose the better schools for their children. Referring to educational tests that rank American students lower than others he says:

The people who run the international tests told us, "the biggest predictor of student success is choice." Nations that "attach the money to the kids" and thereby allow parents to choose between different public and private schools have higher test scores. This should be no surprise; competition makes us better.

He has also criticized many government programs as inefficient, wasteful, and harmful.

Awards, praise, and controversies

Awards

Stossel has won many awards, including 19 Emmy Awards. In one year, according to Stossel in his book Give Me A Break, "I got so many Emmys, another winner thanked me in his acceptance speech 'for not having an entry in this category'." Stossel has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club, and has received the George Polk Award for Outstanding Local Reporting and the Peabody Award. In 2006 Ed Sigall, in an article in NewsMax.com, wrote that Stossel had not been given any awards for his work after he began espousing libertarian opinions.

Praise

Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman once described John Stossel by saying, "Stossel is that rare creature, a TV commentator who understands economics, in all its subtlety." An article published by the libertarian group Advocates for Self Government notes praise for Stossel. Anthony Gregor, writing on LewRockwell.com, described Stossel as a "heroic rogue... a media maverick and proponent of freedom in an otherwise statist, conformist mass media." The Republican Liberty Caucus mentions his "concise libertarian messages" and investment analyst Mark Skousen said Stossel is "a true libertarian hero."

Controversies

Politically progressive organizations such as Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) and Media Matters for America and others, have criticized Stossel over his political positions, alleged distortion of facts, balance of coverage of facts and interview subjects, and claimed conflict of interests. Examples include:

  • During a 2000 20/20 report, Stossel claimed that ABC News tests had shown that neither organic nor conventional produce samples contained any pesticide residue. The Environmental Working Group discovered that the produce samples had been tested only for bacteria; even after receiving that information, however, ABC rebroadcast the story uncorrected. Stossel was reprimanded by ABC and issued an apology over the incident.
  • In 2001 a segment that accused educators of presenting only one side of an environmental debate in schools had to be edited out of a special on Earth Day at the last minute when a group of parents revoked permission to use footage of their of children. They accused Stossel of asking "leading questions" to get the children to say what he wanted. Stossel responded that the questions were "What did you learn about Earth Day? What's global warming?", and that the parents had been "brainwashed" by environmental activists, "totalitarians" who wanted to silence him.
  • Stossel pointed out that a petition on global warming circulated by the Union of Concerned Scientists had received much more attention than the Oregon Petition, which questioned the danger to the earth's climate and had many more signatories. Stossel suggested this showed media bias. FAIR criticized Stossel, claiming that the Oregon Petition was was "famously discredited".
  • In 2007, Frederick Price sued ABC over a 20/20 special on televangelists that showed Price apparently boasting over his riches and possessions. Actually Price was describing a hypothetical person who lives a spiritually unfulfilled life despite having great wealth. ABC News aired two apologies over the incident.
  • Liberal economist James K. Galbraith said Stossel took a short interview clip out of context and that he was making the opposite point. Stossel defended the overall work but acknowledged the possibility of error, saying "It was something that got put in late." Todd Seavey, the associate producer who conducted the interview, denies that the staff made any distortion. "Stossel doesn't need to twist other peoples' positions...", explained Seavey. "Stossel has proven he's perfectly happy to go on camera and say it himself."
  • Julie Pierce, who appeared in the film Sicko complaining about insurance company denial of "experimental" cancer treatments to her deceased husband, criticized Stossel for alleged distortions and factual inaccuracies, and not interviewing or seeking comments from her, in his opinion piece "Sick Sob Stories". Stossel expressed sympathy and responded to some of her criticisms.
  • Media Matters for America criticized Stossel over a 2007 20/20 segment on health care, saying he devoted a disproportionate amount of time interviewing five advocates whith whom he agreed, and only one taking the opposite position.
  • Brown University biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling told FAIR that after she had been contacted for a February 1995 segment on gender differences, none of her views nor the views of any other researchers who disagreed with Stossel's would be included in the broadcast. Fausto-Sterling was told that there was no time to interview the scientists with opposing views. Columbia University Program on Gender, Science and Law co-director Joan Bertin was also called by Stossel's staff, who said they had no interest in material that did not agree with Stossel's preconceived thesis.
  • Critics claim a conflict of interest for Stossel donating profits from his public speaking engagements (as per by his ABC contract) to, among others, a charity that produces a program that features him.

Schults attack

On December 28, 1994, during an interview for 20/20 on professional wrestling, wrestler David Schults assaulted Stossel after Stossel asked if professional wrestling was fake. Stossel claimed that he still suffered from pain and buzzing in his ears eight weeks after the assault. Stossel sued and obtained a settlement from the WWF. Schults maintains that he attacked Stossel on orders from Vince McMahon, the head of the WWF.

Notes

  1. Stossel, John (2007-02-27). "Excerpt: John Stossel's 'Give Me a Break'". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-04-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "John Stossel". Notable Names Database. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  3. "John Stossel Biography". HarperCollins. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  4. "Columns by John Stossel". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  5. Rose, Ted (2000-03). "Laissez-Faire TV". Media Transparency. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. "Teaching Tools for Economics from John Stossel". ABC News. 2007-04-29. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. Stossel, John (2006-10-04). "Hooray for DDTS Lifesaving". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. Stossel, John (2007-04-20). "The Global Warming Myth?". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. Stossel, John (2006-07-05). "A Convenient Lie". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. Johnson, Richard (July 13, 2007). "Warming War Has Foes on Fire". New York Post. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
  11. Stossel, John (2006-04-26). "Greed is good". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. Stossel, John (2006-08-30). "Schools need competition now". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. Stossel, John (2006-07-26). "Smearing Education Choice". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. Stossel, John (2006-08-16). "Does Government Stupidity Know Any Bounds". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. Sigall, Ed (2006-06-03). "John Stossel: Not Afraid to Tell the Truth". NewsMax. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. "Confessions of a Media Maverick: Exposing Hucksters, Cheats and Scam Artists". The Independent Institute Conference Center. 2004-01-30. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. "John Stossel - Libertarian". Advocates for Self-Government. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
  18. Gregory, Anthony (2005-01-11). "Real TV News". LewRockwell.com. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. "Libertarian". Republican Liberty Caucus. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  20. Skousen, Mark (2003-02-01). "A Year at FEE". Forecasts & Strategies. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. "What's FAIR?". Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  22. "Who We Are". Media Matters for America. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  23. "John Stossel". Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  24. "John Stossel". Media Transparency. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  25. "John Stossel". Media Matters for America. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  26. ^ "Give Me a Fake: Stossel Under Fire". Environmental Working Group. 2000-09-06. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. Rutenberg, Jim (2000-07-31). "Report on Organic Foods Is Challenged". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-09-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. Rutenberg, Jim (2000-08-14). "MEDIA; Apology Highlights ABC Reporter's Contrarian Image". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-09-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  29. McElroy, Wendy (2000-08-15). "Blaspheming Organic Food: The Persecution of John Stossel". LewRockwell.com. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. Stossel, John (2000-08-11). "20/20: Stossel Apology for Organic Food Report". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. http://www.ewg.org/files/tamperingwithtruth_letter.pdf Letter from parents to Mr. Stossel
  32. CNN Reliable Sources transcript from the airing of June 30, 2001, 18:30 ET
  33. http://www.ewg.org/node/19634
  34. "Stossel Tampers with the Facts". Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. 2001-07-17. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  35. Hart, Peter (2007-05). "In Denial on Climate Change". Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  36. Johnson, Gene C., Jr. (2007-08-02). "Price Strikes Back at ABC". Los Angeles Wave. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  37. Semuels, Alana (2007-07-25). "Preacher sues '20/20,' alleging defamation". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  38. http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1134
  39. Rose, Ted (March 2000) "Laissez-Faire TV: ABC's John Stossel is a man on a mission to teach Americans about the evils of government regulation and the rewards of free enterprise." Brill's Content
  40. Stossel, John (2007-09-13). "Sick Sob Stories". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  41. Pierce, Julie (2007-09-14). "Open Letter to ABC's John Stossel ... from Julie Pierce, American SiCKO". Michael Moore. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  42. Stossel, John (2007-09-25). "Stossel Responds to 'Sicko' Letter". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-09-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  43. http://mediamatters.org/items/200709160003
  44. Spencer, Miranda (May/June 1995) "Desperately Seeking Difference: ABC Finds Biology Is Destiny" Extra! (FAIR)
  45. http://archive.salon.com/media/feature/2000/02/25/stossel/
  46. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020107/dowie/3
  47. http://www.thegreatboycott.net/John_Stossel.html
  48. http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientprofile.php?recipientID=761
  49. Kaplan, Peter W. (1985-02-23). "TV NOTES;ABC REPORTER MAY SUE WRESTLER WHO HIT HIM". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-09-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  50. Johnson, Steven (2006-10-08). "Dr. D dominates PWHF dinner". Canoe. Retrieved 2007-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Further reading

  • John, Stossel (2007). Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel - Why Everything You Know is Wrong (Paperback ed.). Hyperion. ISBN 0-78689-393-1.
  • John, Stossel (2005). Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media... (Paperback ed.). Harper Paperbacks. ISBN 0-06-052915-6.

External links

Biographies of, and articles about, Stossel

Articles by Stossel

Stossel Supporters and Critics

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