RADAR ALERT: "Media Matters" Censors Inconvenient Facts

In his latest Fox News debate, Marc Rudov stated that HHS and CDC statistics show women and men commit domestic violence equally. The website "MediaMatters for America" has responded by calling Marc's statement false. (See article and video here). Media Matters claims that the ratio is 62% to 38%.

Media Matters bases its claim on excerpts from a CDC handout about domestic violence (.pdf file), which cites as its source the CDC-funded 1996 National Violence Against Women Survey. The 1996 survey was conducted using a modified version of a research instrument known as the Conflict Tactics Scales. Dr. Murray Straus, the pre-eminent researcher on domestic violence is the inventor of the Conflict Tactics Scales. Straus has objected (.mp3 file) to the 1996 survey because the modifications made to the Conflict Tactics Scales would artificially suppress the percentage of male victims.

Unlike the 1996 National Violence Against Women Survey, the latest CDC scientific research shows much higher perpetration rates for women. In March 2007, the peer-reviewed scientific journal, "American Journal of Public Health" published a report by Centers for Disease Control researchers Whitaker, Haileyesus, Swahn, and Saltzman entitled "Differences in Frequency of Violence and Reported Injury Between Relationships With Reciprocal and Nonreciprocal Intimate Partner Violence". This study reports that women are the sole perpetrator in 70% of cases where the other partner was non-violent!

Murray Straus, co-founder of the Univ. of New Hampshire Family Research Laboratory, was the first leading scientist to call for federal domestic violence laws. Today, he also calls for women to stop abusing men, and for policy changes to effect reforms in violence policy to address this major, unaddressed national problem.

Dr. Straus scientifically explains (.pdf file) why Media Matters is wrong in "The Controversy Over Domestic Violence by Women". Straus reconciles the vast differences between the findings of crime-based studies such as the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and empirical studies based on the Conflict Tactical Scales (CTS). In a nutshell, studies based on crime data and women's advocacy surveys report what we expect: Men often win major spousal altercations and men are the ones arrested (without considering who initiated the altercation). CTS-based studies more accurately report the nature of family violence and who is causing it. Today, there are over 200 major studies reporting that women initiate at least half of domestic violence, and little credible scientific evidence to the contrary.

Apparently truth doesn't matter to Media Matters. Although their article invites reader comments, their editors must approve comments before they are posted. The editors apparently would rather shoot the messenger than listen to the message. Media Matters' editors approved a comment saying of Rudov, "like so many right-wing macho men, he probably has a little, itty-bitty pee-pee". Meanwhile comments that referred readers to the aforementioned American Journal of Public Health article and other credible sources of objective research were disallowed.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has read their "About Us" page where they proudly announce they systematically
monitor media outlets for news or commentary that is not accurate, reliable, or credible and that forwards the conservative agenda. Apparently falsehoods told by anyone else are just fine with them.

Since Media Matters has asked their readers to complain to Fox News, we urge you to send emails or letters emphasizing that Marc Rudov's statement was based on solid research:

1. Send an email to Neil Cavuto at cavuto-at-foxnews.com
2. Send letters, emails, or make calls to Fox News at:
   FOX News Channel
   1-888-369-4762
   Comments-at-foxnews.com
   1211 Avenue of the Americas
   New York, NY 10036
3. Copy Marc Rudov: http://mediamatters.org/rd?http://thenononsenseman.com/page10.html

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Date of RADAR Release: November 26, 2007

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R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting – is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women
working to improve the effectiveness of our nation's approach to solving domestic violence. http://www.mediaradar.org/.