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    "label": "WHSF: Contested, 3-11",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "WHSF: Contested, 3-11",
    "description": "This file contains:\n\nFrom Colson to Haldeman RE: the creation of a media outlet for the White House and the staffers responsible for establishing it. 2 pgs. [Subject: White House Staff] [Memo], 8/2/1972\n\nCopy of the second page of a memo relating to national media bias and exposure for the Republican National Convention. Handwritten notes on original added by unknown. 1 pg. [Subject: Campaign] [Memo], no date",
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        "Richard M. Nixon's Returned Materials Collection",
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    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/98/1444/26144498/content/presidential-libraries/nixon/RN-RET/2546065/Contested-Box-3/Contested-03-11.pdf",
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    "ocrText": "Richard Nixon Presidential Library\nContested Materials Collection\nFolder List\nBox Number\nFolder Number\nDocument Date\nNo Date\nSubject\nDocument Type\nDocument Description\n3\n11\n8/2/1972\nWhite House Staff\nMemo\nFrom Colson to Haldeman RE: the creation\nof a media outlet for the White House and\nthe staffers responsible for establishing it. 2\npgs.\n3\n11\n>\nCampaign\nMemo\nCopy of the second page of a memo relating\nto national media bias and exposure for the\nRepublican National Convention.\nHandwritten notes on original added by\nunknown. 1 pg.\nMonday, October 04, 2010\nPage 1 of 1\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nWASHINGTON\nAugust 2, 1972\nMEMORANDUM FOR:\nH.R. HALDEMAN\nFROM:\nCHARLES COLSON\nSUBJECT:\nAttached memo on Media Bias\nThe attached is not entirely satisfactory to me as I am sure it\nwill not be to you.\nOne extenuating circumstance is the fact that we are, of course,\nlaying off of any public attacks on the media which policy has\nmade the Schurz operation less urgent than it was when it began.\nAs you will see from the enclosed the monitoring operation is going\nalong. Keogh has now worked a deal with AIM which means that\nwe will have a very good outlet for media attacks and Keogh plans\nto start the news letter operation as soon as he gets on board; that\nis, a bi-weekly accounting of media inaccuracies mailed in the form\nof a Kiplinger Letter to all editors and newscasters a Pulitzer\nPrize in reverse.\nThe biggest weakness is the organizational monitoring apparatus\naround the country. I started Shumway on this months ago. At\nfirst there was no activity and then it began to come in pitifully\nslow and very inadequate. At the last meeting when Strachan was\npresent, I urged Shumway to bring his regional media people into\nWashington for a full day so that they could be briefed on exactly\nwhat we want. As all of us have come to realize, Shumway was\nway over his head in that job. Al Abrahams took over last week.\nAl knows exactly how to do this and is a real doer. I now have\nsome degree of confidence that the thing will get rolling fast.\nEven though we haven't been properly structured, we have been some-\nwhat successful in nailing specific inaccuracies and as you look over\nthe last couple of months the job has been rather well done, notwith-\nstanding our internal confusion.\n-2-\nThe other explanatory circumstance is that I have had virtually\nno time to devote to this in the last four weeks and Clawson is\none of the most overworked people on the staff. Excuses don't\nmatter but those are the facts. I hope once Lord John is on his\nown that I will have a little more time for this effort.\n-2-\nHowever, I do know that the plan has not been implemented\nbecause of a lack of cooperation from the Committee for the\nRe-Election of the President.\nIn order to rectify this situation, I am meeting early next\nweek with Schurz and Al Abrams, and I am confident that we\nwill now receive the cooperation that the monitoring project\nmerits.\nWe have had better luck with the Republican National Committee,\nwhich is now supplying us with articles from all of the\nnewspapers in the key states on a daily basis. The RNC does\nnot have the capability to determine inaccuracies or bias,\nbut Schurz is getting the raw material and can make his own\njudgments.\nI am now meeting with Schurz on a daily basis and will pass\njudgment on the material he collects.\nUnder our new policy, if the inaccuracy has to do with\nnewspapers, magazines or other print media, I am personally\n\\\ncalling the editors, publishers and reporters and pointing\nout the errors or slanting of news. When the inaccuracy or\nbias falls within the electronic media, I am calling on\nJohn Scali to have him carry the ball in that area.\nSince our focus for the next three weeks will be on the\nRepublican National Convention and coverage thereof, I want\nyou to know that Schurz has monitored and measured the\nelectronic and print coverage of the Democratic National\nConvention down to the last column inch. We have these\nreports prepared and ready to compare with the coverage\nof our own Convention.\nThese comparisons will form the basis of contacts with\nmajor news media who give short shrift to their coverage\nof our Convention.\nSchurz has been working closely with Jim Keogh and has\nsupplied him with considerable materials for use in speeches\nand articles.\nSchurz is also working directly with the Accuracy in Media\nGroup along with Keogh. He has fed them the UPI photograph\nof the President appearing in the STAR on June 30, which was\na bad photograph and had a negative impact."
}