Talk:ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy/Temp/SandboxVersion2

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Criticism of Videos

Some of Giles and O'Keefe's work has been criticized for not providing adequate context, or for presenting inaccurate information. Describing the video ensemble as a "politically motivated piece", Alexandra Fenwick of the Columbia Journalism Review commented that there were elements of the ACORN reporting that were commendable, but in parallel with political use of other un-vetted video footage on the internet, Giles and O'Keefe's work might be more appropriately called political activism rather than true journalism. The videos were also criticised by MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell, who suggested it was entrapment with hidden cameras, while Brian Kettenring, deputy director of national operations for ACORN, said that the tapes were illegally recorded and are examples of "gotcha" journalism. When Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes cleared ACORN employees of criminal wrongdoing on March 1, 2010 after a five-month investigation, an law enforcement source said that while the video by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles seemed to show three ACORN workers advising a prostitute how to hide illicit money, an unedited version wasn't as clear cut. "They edited the tape to meet their agenda," the Daily News quoted the source as saying. ACORN lawyer Arthur Schwartz commented that ACORN was "gratified that the DA has concluded something we knew all along," and that O'Keefe and Giles had "used subterfuge to convince congress and the media to vilify an organization that didn't deserve it."

During a September 14 television appearance on FOX, O'Keefe was interviewed wearing a fut coat, sunglasses, and holding a cane. The host announced "...[O'Keefe] is dressed exactly in the same outfit that he wore to these ACORN offices up and down the eastern seaboard," followed by asking him "is that what you think a pimp looks like?" O'Keefe answered yes. Political journalist Mike Stark questioned the accuracy of O'Keefe's portrayal of his ACORN visits dressed as a pimp, noting that O'Keefe never actually wore the pimp outfit inside ACORN offices and on one occasion actually posed as a candidate for Congress. Stark went on to ask, "If they really wanted the truth out there, why do they need to edit these tapes in the first place? Why aren't the unedited videos already in the public domain?"

Washington Post staff writers Darryl Fears and Carol Leonnig wrote "Giles and O'Keefe have been criticized for accuracy problems. Their videos include the oft-repeated conservative claim that ACORN is expected to get up to $8.5 billion in government funds. But that's a bold exaggeration, as it includes $3 billion in stimulus funds set aside for revitalization efforts nationwide, and $5.5 billion in federal community development grants." The number assumed ACORN would apply for and win every project and grant in the country, and ACORN did not apply for any of the stimulus funds. Leonnig also observed that "the videos, in some cases, left out what I would call some exculpatory material... for example, in one, a San Bernadino employee at ACORN explains that there is no way ACORN would support what the couple were proposing..."

Brown's report released on April 1, 2010 found O'Keefe's videos to be "severely edited" and did not find evidence of criminal conduct on the part of ACORN employees, with the Attorney General commenting "things are not always as partisan zealots portray them through highly selective editing of reality."