Reed Irvine, Founder of Accuracy in Media (AIM), Passes Away
By E&P Staff
Published: November 17, 2004 12:01 PM ET
NEW YORK Reed Irvine, a pioneering critic of the “liberal media," died on November 16, at the age of 82. He had been in ill health, after a stroke and other health setbacks, for months.
Irvine founded the watchdog group Accuracy in Media (AIM) in the late-1960s in Washignton, D.C.
Cliff Kincaid, editor of the group's twice-monthly AIM Report, wrote today that Irvine's passing “comes at a time when his war against the Big Media has achieved some notable successes. In the 35 years since he founded Accuracy in Media, the Big Media have lost much of their stature and do not seem so big anymore.”
Irvine was trained as an economist. He was known to attend annual meetings of major media companies and grilling top officials. In the late 1980s he started a campaign to “Can Dan” Rather.
Kincaid, who has worked for AIM for more than two decades, commented, “In order to cover journalists, Reed became a journalist, and he was much better at it than those who had been formally trained. He himself covered hearings, attended and held news conferences, and moving into his activist mode participated in protests. He did not hesitate to confront the rich and powerful in the media when he thought they were wrong.
“And while he was a staunch anti-communist with conservative beliefs and views on most issues, he did not let the conservative movement or its personalities off the hook when he found them failing to relentlessly pursue the truth.”
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