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Mark E. Halperin (born January 11, 1965), a political analyst at ABC News.

Contents 1 Personal 2 Career 3 Controversies 3.1 2004 Memo 3.2 2006 Claim That Media Outlets Favor Democrats 4 Bibliography 5 External links 6 References

Halperin was born in Bethesda, Maryland, and is a graduate of Walt Whitman High School (1983), and of Harvard University. With brothers David and Gary, he is son of Morton Halperin.

In 1988, Halperin started out as a desk assistant for ABC News and a researcher for World News Tonight. He then worked in the investigative unit of World News Tonight and as a general assignment reporter in Washington. In 1992, he worked full-time as an off-air producer covering Bill Clinton. In 1994, Halperin became a producer with ABC's Special Events unit in New York and later an editorial producer. In 1997, he was named the Political Director for ABC News. As director, Halperin appeared frequently as a correspondent and political analyst for ABC News television and radio programs. He also the founded and edited The Note, which appears daily on ABCNews.com. In October of 2006, Halperin, along with John F. Harris, released their the book, The Way to Win: Clinton, Bush, Rove, and How to Take the White House in 2008. In March 2007, Halperin stepped down from Political Director to become a political analyst for ABC News. It was announced that Halperin's deputy and NY1 Alum David Chalian would replace him as Political Director for ABC News.

In October 2004, in the midst of the U.S. presidential election, Halperin sent a meme to ABC News staff -- made public by Matt Drudge^{[citation needed]} -- directing them not to "reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable." He justified this stance by claiming that both John Kerry and George W. Bush used "distortion" in their campaign, but that Kerry's distortions were not "central to his efforts to win." This was interpreted by many conservatives as an instruction to favor Kerry in ABC News coverage [1], while others felt it was an accurate assessment of the campaign at that point. [2]

In October, 2006, Halperin appeared on several conservative talk shows to claim that "Old Media" organizations like ABC News favor Democrats. [3] He told conservative commentator Sean Hannity that the last two weeks before the November 2006 midterm elections provided ABC News with "a chance... to prove to conservatives that we understand their grievances." [4]

Some liberals interpreted this as a promise to deliberately skew content in an effort to appease conservative critics. [5] [6] [7]

• Mark Halperin and John F. Harris, The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008, Random House, October 2006, ISBN 1400064473

• ABC News: Mark Halperin