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{{Short description|American conservative news magazine and website (1985–2008)}}
{{otheruses3|Insight}}
{{redirect|Insight (magazine)|the Seventh-day Adventist children's publication|Insight (Adventist magazine)}}
{{Infobox Newspaper |
{{Infobox newspaper
name = Insight|
image = ] | | image = ]
| format = {{hlist|Magazine/journal|Website}}
type = weekly <BR> ] |
format = ] | | type = ]
foundation = 1980s | | foundation = 1985
| ceased publication = 2004 (print)<br/>2008 (online)
owners = ] and the ]|
| owners = ]
political = conservative |
| political = ]
headquarters = 3600 New York Avenue NE <BR> Washington DC 20002 |
| headquarters = 3600 ] NE, ], U.S.
editor = ] |
| publisher = ]
website = |
| website =
circulation = |
| circulation =
| frequency = weekly
| ISSN = 1051-4880
| oclc = 42845787
}} }}


'''''Insight on the News''''', also called '''''Insight''''', was an American ] print and online ]. It was owned by ], an international media conglomerate founded by ] founder ], which at the time owned '']'', ], and several newspapers in Africa, Japan, South America, and. ''Insight''{{'}}s reporting sometimes resulted in journalistic controversy.<ref> ''Columbia Journalism Review'' 2007-01-27</ref><ref name="Kirkpatrick">{{cite news | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04E2DD143FF93AA15752C0A9619C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all | title=Feeding Frenzy For a Big Story, Even if It's False |work=NY Times | date=January 29, 2007 | first=David D.|last=Kirkpatrick |author-link=David D. Kirkpatrick| access-date = 2007-11-25}}</ref><ref name="Columbia Journalism Review">{{cite web |url=https://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php?c=newsworld |title=Resources: Who Owns What |access-date=2008-02-02 |date=2003-11-24 |work=The Columbia Journalism Review |archive-date=2012-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728094939/http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php?c=newsworld |url-status=dead }} "News World Communications is the media arm of Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church."</ref>
'''''Insight''''' (formerly ''Insight on the News'') is an American ] Internet magazine now edited by ] and owned by ], identified by Columbia Journalism Review as "the media arm of the Rev. ] Unification Church",<ref name=cjr1>{{
cite news
| first=Paul
| last=McLeary
| coauthors=
| title=CJR "Insightmag, A Must-Read - A lesson in how easy it is — even for publications with no history of credibility — to start a scandal." | date=]
| publisher=
| url =http://www.cjr.org/politics/insightmag_a_mustread.php
| work =Colombia Journalism Review
| pages =
| accessdate = 2008-02-03
| language = }}</ref> which also owns '']'' and '']''.


==Background== ==History==
''Insight'' was founded in 1985, three years after the founding of '']''. Both publications were headquartered at 3600 ] NE, in ] The magazine was subsidized annually with $40 million from News World, which by 2002 had shrunk to about $4 million.<ref name="anns">{{cite news|author1=Annys Shin|title=News World Layoffs to Idle 86 Workers|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/2004/05/03/news-world-layoffs-to-idle-86-workers/e65cc104-8e36-442f-953c-4c1450dfbe96/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=May 3, 2004}}</ref>
''Insight'' was founded in the 1980s as a print weekly called ''Insight on the News'', and was known for its frequently discredited reports about alleged scandals in the administration of ] ].{{Fact|date=February 2008}} Originally, the magazine circulated midway in frequency between sister publications ''The Washington Times'' (a daily newspaper) and the monthly '']'' magazine. Investigative journalist ] wrote about the rise of these publications:
:"By the 1980s, the likes of South Korean theocrat Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Australian media mogul ] were pouring billions of dollars into a rapidly expanding right-wing media. From these investments came a plethora of well-financed think tanks, year-round attack groups, and a vertically integrated conservative news media – from books, magazines and newspapers to radio, TV and eventually the Internet. Right-wing activists flocked to Washington and New York for good-paying jobs as journalists and pundits."<ref></ref>


In 1991, the magazine was one of the first publications to use the word "]".<ref name="Routledge">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic studies p. 218, Routledge 2003|year=2003|publisher=Routledge}}</ref> In 1997 ''Insight'' reported that the administration of President Bill Clinton gave political donors rights to be buried in ]. This charge was widely repeated on talk radio and other conservative outlets; but was later denied by the ], which has charge over the cemetery. Media and political pressure led to the body of ], a former ] to ], to be exhumed at Arlington and ]red at another location.<ref> ] November 21, 1997 "The current issue of Insight magazine, which is owned by the conservative Washington Times, says in a thinly sourced article, 'Clinton and Co. may have "sold" not only burial plots for recently deceased but also future rights.'"</ref><ref></ref><ref></ref>
In ], News World Communications discontinued publication of the print magazine and hired ] to run ''Insight'' as a stand-alone ]. Under Kuhner, ''Insight'' eschews bylines, in what Kuhner describes as an effort to "encourage contributions from reporters who do not want to reveal their names". About ''Insight's'' policy, Kuhner has said:<ref>{{cite news | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04E2DD143FF93AA15752C0A9619C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all | title=Feeding Frenzy For a Big Story, Even if It's False | publisher=NY Times | date=January 29, 2007 | first=David D. | last=Kirkpatrick | accessdate = 2007-11-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.insightmag.com/Media/MediaManager/Kuhner_1.htm | title=Distortions and lies at The New York Times | publisher=''Insight'' | date=January 31, 2007 | first=Jeffrey T. | last=Kuhner | accessdate = 2007-11-25}}</ref>
:“Reporters in Washington know a whole lot of what is going on and feel themselves shackled and prevented from reporting what they know is going on. ''Insight'' is almost like an outlet, an escape valve where they can come out with this information.”


Conservative journalists who worked at ''Insight'' include Richard Starr, ] and ].<ref name="anns" /> Contributors included ], ], ], and ].
==Notable events==
===David Brock===
] worked as a reporter for the print version of ''Insight'' during the late 1980s. After leaving ''Insight'', Brock wrote "Blinded by the Right: Conscience of an Ex-Conservative", and now runs ], an organization that describes itself as "a web-based, not-for-profit, ] research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media."<ref name=mediamatters>{{
cite web
| url=http://mediamatters.org/about_us
| title=About Media Matters}}</ref><ref>{{
cite web
| url=http://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_q=brock&num=10&btnG=Search+Scholar&as_epq=blinded+by+the+right&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_occt=any&as_s&lrauthors=&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&as_allsubj=some&as_subj=soc&hl=en=
| title=Google Scholar publications relating to "Blinded by the Right"}}</ref>


In 1998, ] reported that ''Insight'' "created a stir" when ], who had filed a ] lawsuit against President Clinton, was the magazine's guest at the annual ] dinner where Clinton spoke.<ref> ] April 25, 1998 "A guest of Insight magazine, Jones entered the dining room holding the hands of the security guards who guided her to the table."</ref>
===Arlington National Cemetery===
In 1997 ''Insight'' reported that the administration of President Bill Clinton gave political donors rights to be buried in ]. This charge was widely repeated on talk radio and other conservative outlets; but was later denied by the ], which has charge over Arlington Cemetery.


In 1999, ''Insight'' criticized ], an ] report on possible ] predicted for the year 2000.<ref> </ref>{{Primary source inline|date=March 2022}}
Spurred on by the report, a subsequent flurry of media investigations turned up the burial of ], a former ] to ] at Arlington, which in turn sparked a congressional investigation. ] members of congress searched military records and found no evidence that Lawrence was ever in the ]. As a result Lawrence's body was ] in 1997 at taxpayer expense and brought to ]. ], an assistant secretary of state, had helped attain the rights to bury Lawrence at Arlington, and had written a letter to the White House praising Lawrence and saying that he deserved burial at the National Cemetery.<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref>


In 2001, ''Insight'' printed an article by Dan Smith which said that ] and an ethnically diverse population helped to protect the United States against ].<ref>"," 31 December 2001 {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120708022411/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_49_17/ai_81790777/pg_3 |date=8 July 2012 }}</ref> This article was reprinted as a chapter in the 2004 book ''Terrorism: Opposing Viewpoints''.<ref>Laura K. Egendorf editor, 2004, ''Terrorism: Opposing Viewpoints'', Greenhaven Press (Farmington Hills), hardcover ({{ISBN|0-7377-2246-0}} {{ISBN|0-7377-2247-9}} {{ISBN|0-7377-2246-0}}) and paperback ({{ISBN|0-7377-2247-9}})</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=March 2022}}
===Paula Jones===
In 1998 CNN reported that ''Insight'' "created a stir" when ], who had filed a ] lawsuit against President Clinton, was the magazine's guest at the annual ] dinner where Clinton spoke.<ref> ] April 25, 1998</ref>


In 2002, ''Insight'' printed a story ''The Washington Times'' reporter Steve Miller writing that ] were doing well economically. This story was reprinted in the 2005 book ''Race Relations: Opposing Viewpoints''.<ref>'']'', James D. Torr editor, 2005, Greenhaven Press (Farmington Hills) ({{ISBN|0-7377-2955-4}}) and paperback ({{ISBN|0-7377-2956-2}})</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=March 2022}}
===CIA leak scandal===
On Febuary 5, 2004, ''Insight'' teamed up with ] sister company ] to publish the first anonymously sourced reports from "Federal Law Enforcement officials" of "hard evidence" against Vice President ] staffers ] and ] as the guilty parties in "]". Hannah subsequently testified, and Libby was convicted. Questions about who the "Federal Law Enforcement officials" were, and what "hard evidence" might have existed at the time of the scoop have fueled wide speculation that Libby was chosen as a "fall guy" <ref name=google1></ref> to take the rap for higher-ups in the Bush Administration, with speculation focused primarily on Cheney.{{Fact|date=February 2008}} Some journalists and bloggers commented that if a media outlet were needed to set up Libby for the fall, ''Insight'' would have been a logical first choice.<ref>{{cite news | first=Richard | last=Sale | coauthors= | title=Cheney's Staff Focus of Probe | date=] | publisher=] | url =http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0205-12.htm | work =Insight Magazine and United Press International | pages = | accessdate = 2008-02-04 | language = Straussian }}</ref><ref name=google2></ref>


In 2003, ''Insight'' misquoted President ] as saying during the ]: "Congressmen who willfully take action during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs, and should be arrested, exiled or hanged." By 2008, this statement was being widely repeated, although Lincoln never said or wrote it.<ref>Sawyer, Gary. '']'', August 11, 2008. :"But Lincoln never said or wrote any such thing. The problem comes from a 2003 article by J. Michael Waller in ''Insight Magazine''. Waller admits that Lincoln never made that statement and that the quote appears in the magazine, with quote marks around it, because of an editing error."</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/15/AR2007021501525_pf.html|title=Honest, It Wasn't Abe's Comment|date=2007|newspaper=]}}</ref>
===Anonymous 'smear' controversy in 2008 Presidential Campaign===


In 2004, ''Insight'' printed an article by Abdulwahah Alkebsi defending the role of ] in bringing ] to the ]. The story was reprinted as a chapter in the 2004 book: ''Islam: Opposing Viewpoints''.<ref>Dudley, William, (editor) 2004, ''Islam: Opposing Viewpoints'', ] (]) ({{ISBN|0-7377-2238-X}}) and paperback ({{ISBN|0-7377-2239-8}}).</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=March 2022}}
*{{see also|Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008#Fabrications concerning Obama's religious background}}


In 2004, News World Communications discontinued publication of the print magazine<ref name="anns"/> and hired ] to run ''Insight'' as a stand-alone ]. Under Kuhner, ''Insight'' did not identify its reporters, in what Kuhner described as an effort to encourage contributions from sources who "do not want to reveal their names". Kuhner said about this: “Reporters in Washington know a whole lot of what is going on and feel themselves shackled and prevented from reporting what they know is going on. ''Insight'' is almost like an outlet, an escape valve where they can come out with this information.”<ref name="Kirkpatrick" />
In January 2007, ''Insight'' published anonymously sourced allegations that presidential candidate ]'s campaign team planned to attack rival candidate Senator ] for concealing that he had been educated in an ] ] (a specifically religious "]") during his youth in ], contrary to his published account of being educated in a mixed-religion school<ref>{{
cite news
| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245582,00.html
| title=Obamas real school
| quote='during the five years that we would live with my stepfather in Indonesia, I was sent first to a neighborhood Catholic school and then to a predominately Muslim school.' That's from his book, 'The Audacity of Hope.'}}</ref>


In 2007, ''Insight'' reported on an undercover investigation of the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, located in ], a suburb of ], by the group Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE).<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.mappingsharia.us/Insight-Magazine-Mapping-Sharia-Project-Uncovers-Jihadists-near-DC-article-438-67.htm | title=Insight Magazine Mapping Sharia Project Uncovers Jihadists near DC}}</ref> ''Insight's'' story was denounced by the ] (CAIR).<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20070614/pl_usnw/cair__washington_times_promotes_hate_group_that_would_outlaw_islam | title=Washington Times Promotes Hate Group That Would Outlaw Islam}}</ref>
''Insight'' quoted its unnamed sources as saying "The idea is to show Obama as deceptive."<ref>{{
cite news
| url=https://www.insightmag.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=7FD9C68AF0F844919BF0684F279BF505&nm=Subscriptions&type=Subscribe&mod=Subscribe&tier=1&id=C04C0465913949F49AA81CA9002986F4 | title=Last word: What ''Insight'' reported and what it did not (subscription required)
| publisher=Insight
| date=February 1, 2007
| first=
| last=
| accessdate = 2007-11-25}}</ref>
The sources are described as "close to the background check, which has not yet been released... conducted by researchers connected to Senator Clinton."


In May 2008, ''Insight'' ended publication and wrote to its readers: "The kind of cutting edge behind-the-scenes political intelligence you have come to rely upon from Insight will now be available from its sister publication, ''The Washington Times''."
Despite the story being unproven, according to The ] "Hosts of morning television programs and an evening commentator on the Fox News Network nevertheless devoted extensive discussion to the Clinton-Obama article, as did Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk radio hosts". This led to criticism of their ].<ref>{{
cite news
| first=David D
| last=Kirkpatrick
| title=Feeding Frenzy for a Big Story, Even If It's False
| date=] ]
| url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04E2DD143FF93AA15752C0A9619C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
| work=New York Times
| accessdate=2007-09-30}}</ref><ref name=cjr1 />
Fox later admitted to error in reporting "information from a publication whose accuracy we didn’t know."<ref>{{
cite web
| url=http://www.cjr.org/politics/insightmag_a_mustread.php
| title=www.cjr.org}}</ref><ref>{{
cite news
| url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2007/01/obama.html
| title=Obama's Grudge Factor
| publisher=]
| date=January 31, 2007
| first=
| last=
| accessdate = 2007-01-31}}</ref>


==2008 presidential campaign==
=====CNN report and media criticism of the article=====
On January 17, 2007, ''Insight'' published a story which claimed that someone on the campaign staff of American presidential candidate Senator ] had leaked a report to one of ''Insight's'' reporters which said that Senator ] had "spent at least four years in a so-called madrassa, or Muslim seminary, in ]"<ref name="Wapo 11-29-07">{{cite news|last=Bacon Jr|first=Perry|title=Foes Use Obama's Muslim Ties to Fuel Rumors About Him|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/28/AR2007112802757_2.html|date=November 29, 2007|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Jeffrey T. Kuhner, who wrote the story, claimed that the source said that the Clinton campaign was "preparing an accusation that her rival Senator Barack Obama had covered up a brief period he had spent in an Islamic religious school in Indonesia when he was six." Clinton denied the allegations. When interviewed by '']'', Kuhner refused to name the person said to be the reporter's source to ''The New York Times''. <ref name="International Herald Tribune">{{cite news | title=Anatomy of an anonymous political smear | date=2007-01-29 | url =http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/29/news/rumor.php | work =International Herald Tribune | access-date = 2008-02-18 }}</ref>
Soon after the initial coverage, ] reporter ] visited the school that Obama had attended, ], and found that in its current state, each child received two hours of religious instruction per week in his or her own faith,<ref>{{
cite news
| url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-070325obama-islam-story,0,7180545.story
| title=www.chicagotribune.com}}</ref>
and was told, "This is a public school. We don't focus on religion." The CNN story also quoted a spokesperson for Clinton, who dismissed the allegation as "an obvious right-wing hit job on both candidates".<ref>{{
cite news
| url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/22/obama.madrassa/index.html
| title=CNN debunks false report about Obama
| publisher=]
| date=January 22, 2007
| first=
| last=
| accessdate = 2007-01-26}}</ref>


''Insight's'' story was reported on first by conservative ] and '']'', and then by ''The New York Times'' and other media.<ref name="International Herald Tribune"/> ] reporter ] visited ], a secular ] which Obama had attended for one year after attending a ] school for three, and found that each student received two hours of religious instruction per week in his or her own faith. He was told by Hardi Priyono, deputy headmaster of the school, "This is a public school. We don't focus on religion. In our daily lives, we try to respect religion, but we don't give preferential treatment."<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/22/obama.madrassa/index.html|title=CNN debunks false report about Obama|work=CNN|date=January 22, 2007|access-date=January 26, 2007}}</ref> Students at Besuki wore Western clothing, and the '']'' described the school as "so progressive that teachers wore miniskirts and all students were encouraged to celebrate ]".<ref name="CBS News August 19">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/09/politics/washingtonpost/main6379181.shtml |title=Indonesia Catholic School Promotes Ties to Obama |access-date=2010-08-19 |date=August 19, 2010 |first=Andrew |last=Higgins |work=CBS News |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101116024343/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/09/politics/washingtonpost/main6379181.shtml |archive-date=November 16, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="debunked">{{cite news|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-070325obama-islam-story-archive,0,3358809.story|title=Obama madrassa myth debunked|last=Barker|first=Kim|date=25 March 2007|work=]|access-date=4 September 2010}}</ref><ref name="wahabi">{{cite news |publisher=] |url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2007/dec/20/chain-email/obama-attended-an-indonesian-public-school/ |title=Obama attended an Indonesian public school |date=December 20, 2007 |access-date=March 8, 2010}}</ref> Interviews by ] of the ] found that students of all faiths have been welcome there since before Obama's attendance. Akmad Solichin, the vice principal of the school, told Pickler: “The allegations are completely baseless. Yes, most of our students are Muslim, but there are Christians as well. Everyone's welcome here ... it's a public school.”<ref>{{cite news|title=Obama challenges allegation about Islamic school |first=Nedra |last=Pickler |url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20070124-1317-obama-2008.html |work=San Diego Union-Tribune |date=2007-01-24 |access-date=2008-02-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517100058/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20070124-1317-obama-2008.html |archive-date=2008-05-17 }}</ref>
A critical ] story in '']'' said of ''Insight'' editor ] that "he still considered the article, which he said was meant to focus on the thinking of the Clinton campaign, to be 'solid as solid can be.'" Kuhner, however, declined to say whether he himself knew the identity of his unnamed reporter’s sources. The ''Times'' commented "perhaps only that reporter knows the origin of the article’s anonymous quotes and assertions. Its assertions about Mr. Obama resemble rumors passed on without evidence in e-mail messages..."<ref name="feed">{{
cite news
| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/us/politics/29media.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
| title=Feeding Frenzy for a Big Story, Even if It’s False
| publisher=New York Times
| date=29 January 2007
| first=
| last=
| accessdate = 2007-01-29}}</ref>


== See also ==
] used the ''Insight'' example as "A lesson in how easy it is — even for publications with no history of credibility — to start a scandal." After quoting ] recounting three other major ''Insight'' stories that have been discredited, the question was posed "after all this, why should we take seriously anything that this online rag has to say? Every news organization gets things wrong, but ''Insight'' seems to have developed a business model out of concocting fables."<ref name=cjr1 />
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


===SANE Project=== == References ==
In June of 2007, ''Insight'' reported on an undercover investigation of the ], located in ], a suburb of ], by the group ] (SANE). David Gaubatz, a spokesperson for the group, said:<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.mappingsharia.us/Insight-Magazine-Mapping-Sharia-Project-Uncovers-Jihadists-near-DC-article-438-67.htm | title=Insight Magazine Mapping Sharia Project Uncovers Jihadists near DC}}</ref>

:“The ultimate goal for those at Dar Al-Hijrah is to instill Sharia law in the U.S. and have America adhere to the Islamic faith. They want America to be an Islamic state.”

''Insight's'' story was denounced by the ] (CAIR).<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20070614/pl_usnw/cair__washington_times_promotes_hate_group_that_would_outlaw_islam | title=Washington Times Promotes Hate Group That Would Outlaw Islam}}</ref>

In February 2007 SANE had released a policy paper stating that the objective of SANE is to banish Islam from the US by making "adherence to Islam" ("defined as any act, including any written or oral declaration, in support of Shari’a or in furtherance of the imposition of Shari’a within any territory of the United States of America.") punishable by 20 years in prison.<ref></ref>

==References==
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{{Reflist|2}}
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
<references/></div>

==External links==
*


{{Unification Church}}
==See also==
{{Authority control}}
*


] ]
] ]
] ]
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Latest revision as of 03:26, 22 November 2024

American conservative news magazine and website (1985–2008) "Insight (magazine)" redirects here. For the Seventh-day Adventist children's publication, see Insight (Adventist magazine).
Insight on the News
TypeNews magazine
Format
  • Magazine/journal
  • Website
Owner(s)News World Communications
PublisherNews World Communications
Founded1985
Political alignmentConservative
Ceased publication2004 (print)
2008 (online)
Headquarters3600 New York Avenue NE, Washington, D.C., U.S.
ISSN1051-4880
OCLC number42845787

Insight on the News, also called Insight, was an American conservative print and online news magazine. It was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate founded by Unification movement founder Sun Myung Moon, which at the time owned The Washington Times, United Press International, and several newspapers in Africa, Japan, South America, and. Insight's reporting sometimes resulted in journalistic controversy.

History

Insight was founded in 1985, three years after the founding of The Washington Times. Both publications were headquartered at 3600 New York Avenue NE, in Washington, D.C. The magazine was subsidized annually with $40 million from News World, which by 2002 had shrunk to about $4 million.

In 1991, the magazine was one of the first publications to use the word "Islamophobia". In 1997 Insight reported that the administration of President Bill Clinton gave political donors rights to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This charge was widely repeated on talk radio and other conservative outlets; but was later denied by the United States Army, which has charge over the cemetery. Media and political pressure led to the body of M. Larry Lawrence, a former United States Ambassador to Switzerland, to be exhumed at Arlington and reinterred at another location.

Conservative journalists who worked at Insight include Richard Starr, John Podhoretz and David Brock. Contributors included Arnold Beichman, Arnaud de Borchgrave, Frank Gaffney, and Lew Rockwell.

In 1998, CNN reported that Insight "created a stir" when Paula Jones, who had filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton, was the magazine's guest at the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner where Clinton spoke.

In 1999, Insight criticized Project Megiddo, an FBI report on possible right-wing terrorism predicted for the year 2000.

In 2001, Insight printed an article by Dan Smith which said that immigration and an ethnically diverse population helped to protect the United States against terrorism. This article was reprinted as a chapter in the 2004 book Terrorism: Opposing Viewpoints.

In 2002, Insight printed a story The Washington Times reporter Steve Miller writing that African Americans were doing well economically. This story was reprinted in the 2005 book Race Relations: Opposing Viewpoints.

In 2003, Insight misquoted President Abraham Lincoln as saying during the American Civil War: "Congressmen who willfully take action during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs, and should be arrested, exiled or hanged." By 2008, this statement was being widely repeated, although Lincoln never said or wrote it.

In 2004, Insight printed an article by Abdulwahah Alkebsi defending the role of Islam in bringing democracy to the Middle East. The story was reprinted as a chapter in the 2004 book: Islam: Opposing Viewpoints.

In 2004, News World Communications discontinued publication of the print magazine and hired Jeffrey T. Kuhner to run Insight as a stand-alone website. Under Kuhner, Insight did not identify its reporters, in what Kuhner described as an effort to encourage contributions from sources who "do not want to reveal their names". Kuhner said about this: “Reporters in Washington know a whole lot of what is going on and feel themselves shackled and prevented from reporting what they know is going on. Insight is almost like an outlet, an escape valve where they can come out with this information.”

In 2007, Insight reported on an undercover investigation of the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, located in Falls Church, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., by the group Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE). Insight's story was denounced by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

In May 2008, Insight ended publication and wrote to its readers: "The kind of cutting edge behind-the-scenes political intelligence you have come to rely upon from Insight will now be available from its sister publication, The Washington Times."

2008 presidential campaign

On January 17, 2007, Insight published a story which claimed that someone on the campaign staff of American presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton had leaked a report to one of Insight's reporters which said that Senator Barack Obama had "spent at least four years in a so-called madrassa, or Muslim seminary, in Indonesia" Jeffrey T. Kuhner, who wrote the story, claimed that the source said that the Clinton campaign was "preparing an accusation that her rival Senator Barack Obama had covered up a brief period he had spent in an Islamic religious school in Indonesia when he was six." Clinton denied the allegations. When interviewed by The New York Times, Kuhner refused to name the person said to be the reporter's source to The New York Times.

Insight's story was reported on first by conservative talk radio and Fox News Channel, and then by The New York Times and other media. CNN reporter John Vause visited State Elementary School Menteng 01, a secular public school which Obama had attended for one year after attending a Roman Catholic school for three, and found that each student received two hours of religious instruction per week in his or her own faith. He was told by Hardi Priyono, deputy headmaster of the school, "This is a public school. We don't focus on religion. In our daily lives, we try to respect religion, but we don't give preferential treatment." Students at Besuki wore Western clothing, and the Chicago Tribune described the school as "so progressive that teachers wore miniskirts and all students were encouraged to celebrate Christmas". Interviews by Nedra Pickler of the Associated Press found that students of all faiths have been welcome there since before Obama's attendance. Akmad Solichin, the vice principal of the school, told Pickler: “The allegations are completely baseless. Yes, most of our students are Muslim, but there are Christians as well. Everyone's welcome here ... it's a public school.”

See also

References

  1. Insightmag, a Must-Read Columbia Journalism Review 2007-01-27
  2. ^ Kirkpatrick, David D. (January 29, 2007). "Feeding Frenzy For a Big Story, Even if It's False". NY Times. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
  3. "Resources: Who Owns What". The Columbia Journalism Review. 2003-11-24. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2008-02-02. "News World Communications is the media arm of Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church."
  4. ^ Annys Shin (May 3, 2004). "News World Layoffs to Idle 86 Workers". The Washington Post.
  5. Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic studies p. 218, Routledge 2003. Routledge. 2003.
  6. Arlington Claims 'Just Not True' CNN November 21, 1997 "The current issue of Insight magazine, which is owned by the conservative Washington Times, says in a thinly sourced article, 'Clinton and Co. may have "sold" not only burial plots for recently deceased but also future rights.'"
  7. CNN, Arlington Controversy Stirs Again, Dec. 4, 1997
  8. CNN, Arlington Controversy Continues, Dec. 11, 1997
  9. Paula Jones Rubs Shoulders With Washington Elite At Dinner CNN April 25, 1998 "A guest of Insight magazine, Jones entered the dining room holding the hands of the security guards who guided her to the table."
  10. FBI Targets `Right Wing' - Project Megiddo lists possible threats in the millennium
  11. "Q: Is Multiculturalism a Threat to the National Security of the United States? NO: Our Diverse Population Is Useful Both for National Defense and As a Model for International Peace," 31 December 2001 Archived 8 July 2012 at archive.today
  12. Laura K. Egendorf editor, 2004, Terrorism: Opposing Viewpoints, Greenhaven Press (Farmington Hills), hardcover (ISBN 0-7377-2246-0 ISBN 0-7377-2247-9 ISBN 0-7377-2246-0) and paperback (ISBN 0-7377-2247-9)
  13. Race Relations: Opposing Viewpoints, James D. Torr editor, 2005, Greenhaven Press (Farmington Hills) (ISBN 0-7377-2955-4) and paperback (ISBN 0-7377-2956-2)
  14. Sawyer, Gary. "Candidates victims of disinformation." Herald & Review, August 11, 2008. :"But Lincoln never said or wrote any such thing. The problem comes from a 2003 article by J. Michael Waller in Insight Magazine. Waller admits that Lincoln never made that statement and that the quote appears in the magazine, with quote marks around it, because of an editing error."
  15. "Honest, It Wasn't Abe's Comment". The Washington Post. 2007.
  16. Dudley, William, (editor) 2004, Islam: Opposing Viewpoints, Greenhaven Press (Farmington Hills) (ISBN 0-7377-2238-X) and paperback (ISBN 0-7377-2239-8).
  17. "Insight Magazine Mapping Sharia Project Uncovers Jihadists near DC".
  18. "Washington Times Promotes Hate Group That Would Outlaw Islam".
  19. Bacon Jr, Perry (November 29, 2007). "Foes Use Obama's Muslim Ties to Fuel Rumors About Him". The Washington Post.
  20. ^ "Anatomy of an anonymous political smear". International Herald Tribune. 2007-01-29. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
  21. "CNN debunks false report about Obama". CNN. January 22, 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2007.
  22. Higgins, Andrew (August 19, 2010). "Indonesia Catholic School Promotes Ties to Obama". CBS News. Archived from the original on November 16, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  23. Barker, Kim (25 March 2007). "Obama madrassa myth debunked". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  24. "Obama attended an Indonesian public school". PolitiFact.com. December 20, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  25. Pickler, Nedra (2007-01-24). "Obama challenges allegation about Islamic school". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
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