Horowitz made baseless claim that Soros has poured $75 million into midterm elections
On Sean Hannity's radio show, David Horowitz attacked nonprofit organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and George Soros, baselessly claiming that Soros has "put $75 million into these congressional elections, and he's doing it behind the façade of -- public interest, tax-exempt, charitable organizations." Read more
Wash. Post editorial board, Lou Dobbs Tonight highlighted and criticized Reid land deal -- gave Hastert land deal a free pass
CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight and the Washington Post editorial board devoted significant attention to "serious questions" surrounding a land deal involving Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, but both treated with relative nonchalance reports that Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert made almost $2 million on the sale of land in Illinois after taking an active role in the passage of a transportation bill that included an earmark for a highway project near the property. Read more
Fox's Gibson falsely claimed Berger "admitted" Clinton North Korea policy was "wrong"
Fox News host John Gibson falsely claimed that former Clinton administration National Security Adviser Sandy Berger -- in a previous interview with Gibson -- "admitted that he and his cohorts were wrong" in reaching a 1994 agreement with North Korea known as the Agreed Framework. In fact, Berger praised the Agreed Framework, noting that "[n]o plutonium was made during the Clinton administration" and that the "agreement fell apart during Bush II." Read more
Savage on Media Matters: "They have a real jones on with me"
On the October 11 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage claimed that Media Matters for America has "an obsession with me, they have a real jones on with me." Savage read aloud from a Media Matters item documenting his assertion that former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is a "traitor" who "should be tried for treason, and when she's found guilty, she should be hung," and then said: "[O]ne thing for Media Matters, whether they're liberal or conservative, at least they got the quote right." He added: "I have no qualms with it, because when I read it this morning, I said, "You know what? I'm not ashamed of anything I said. I believe in every word I said." Read more
Beck used a slew of misleading figures to claim that "half of the real news is being intentionally withheld from you"
Glenn Beck touted a slew of misleading numbers to claim that "half of the real news is being intentionally withheld from you" because the media have "an agenda" and "it seems like the agenda thing is working right now." But Beck's evidence for this "agenda" included a series of false and misleading claims about the economy and the war in Iraq. Read more
CNN's Malveaux: Bush "lifeline" to Hastert followed Hastert's "taking responsibility" for Foley scandal
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux reported that President Bush "threw" Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) "a lifeline for the speakership" when Hastert "came out publicly, taking responsibility" for the scandal surrounding former Rep. Mark Foley, but she ignored recent comments by Hastert that undermine his assertion that he is "taking responsibility" for the scandal. Read more
In recent weeks, media outlets have misidentified as Democrats several Republicans facing scandal, poor poll numbers
Since the beginning of October, Fox News and the Associated Press have incorrectly identified former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) as a Democrat while reporting on the scandal surrounding allegations that he engaged in sexually explicit electronic communications with underage former congressional pages. Other media outlets have identified as Democrats former Rep. Daniel Crane (R-IL), who was censured by Congress in 1983 for having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old female page, and Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), during coverage of a poll showing Chafee trailing his Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse by 11 points. Whitehouse was also misidentified as a Republican. Most of these errors have since been corrected, though several news shows, including Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, have not made an explicit on-air or in-print correction. Read more
MSNBC's O'Donnell, Slager made false claims and suggestions to paint recent political scandals as bipartisan
MSNBC anchor Melissa Slager falsely claimed that one of the three House members who resigned this year because of ethical scandals was a Democrat; in fact, all three who resigned over the past year were Republicans. MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell presented a "scandal scorecard" noting that Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (NV) "is facing a Senate ethics probe," overstating the amount of profit Reid allegedly made in the deal and ignoring a transaction in which House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) reportedly made an even bigger profit on the sale of land near a highway project for which he reportedly included an earmark in a transportation bill. Read more
Blitzer let Rice push false justifications for Iraq war
Wolf Blitzer failed to challenge Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's misleading statements about the Bush administration's justification for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq -- that there were "[t]oo many unanswered questions about [Saddam Hussein's] weapons of mass destruction program," despite the Bush administration's pre-war claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and that "[i]n the post-September 11 environment, [Iraq] was a threat that needed to be dealt with." Read more
ABC, USA Today ignored British army commander's call for troop withdrawal
While many other media outlets carried the story, ABC's World News and USA Today made no mention of a British army commander's October 12 claim that the presence of British troops in Iraq is fueling violence, and that British military forces should be withdrawn from the country. Read more
Wash. Post's VandeHei focused only on Dem attack ads, ignored prior reporting on GOP negative advertising
The Washington Post reported in an article by Jim VandeHei that "Democrats are targeting the personal lives of Republicans in numerous key House races as part of a campaign to capitalize on voter disgust" stemming from the scandal surrounding Rep. Mark Foley. But it made no mention of the numerous GOP-produced negative ads currently in circulation -- despite the fact that VandeHei co-wrote a Post article a month earlier about Republicans' pre-election strategy of "attacking Democratic House and Senate candidates over personal issues and local controversies." Read more
Hannity falsely claimed recent polls showing advantages for the Democrats "outpolled Democrats by 16 percentage points more than the Republicans"
On the October 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity falsely claimed that two recent polls showing that Democrats are favored by the public over Republicans on a variety of issues "outpolled Democrats by 16 percentage points more than the Republicans, so they're pretty skewed." Hannity, who made the comment during a discussion with conservative radio host Michael Reagan and Democratic strategist Bob Beckel, did not specify the polls to which he was referring, but earlier in the show, co-host Alan Colmes cited a Newsweek poll conducted October 5-6 showing that on "every single issue, Democrats outpoll Republicans." Contrary to Hannity's claim, in none of the major recent public opinion polls did the sample include "16 percentage points" more self-identified Democrats than Republicans, including the Newsweek poll, in which 33 percent of respondents identified themselves as Democrats while 29 percent identified themselves as Republicans; that poll showed that when respondents were asked whether they favored an unnamed Democrat or an unnamed Republican in the upcoming midterm elections, they favored the Democratic candidate 51 percent to 39 percent. Read more
Olbermann named Bozell, Hannity, Ingraham, Zelnick, and O'Reilly "Worst Persons in the World" for distorting remark by Ted Turner
On the October 12 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann announced a "five-way tie" for "Worst Person in the World," declaring that the award would be shared by "[Media Research Center president] Brent Bozell, [Fox News host] Sean Hannity, [nationally syndicated radio host] Laura Ingraham, [Boston University professor and former ABC News reporter] Bob Zelnick and whatever's left of [Fox News host] Bill O'Reilly." The five conservative commentators were given the award for distorting media mogul and philanthropist Ted Turner's explanation for why he "had a problem" with President Bush's statement that "you're with us or you're against us," in the context of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, as noted by Media Matters for America. Read more
O'Reilly: "[S]ecular-progressive judges" on the Supreme Court more likely if Pelosi becomes speaker of the House
On his radio program, Bill O'Reilly baselessly claimed that "secular-progressive judges on the [Supreme C]ourt" are "more likely to come about if Nancy Pelosi and her crew" control the U.S. House of Representatives. However, the constitutional process for the nomination and confirmation of Supreme Court justices does not involve the House of Representatives. Read more
O'Reilly denies "go[ing] after" Soros -- doesn't explain prior comment that "[t]hey ought to hang" him
On the October 12 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, guest and fellow Fox News host Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed he does "not go after" billionaire philanthropist George Soros. In fact, O'Reilly has repeatedly attacked Soros, as Media Matters for America has noted. O'Reilly has declared, among other things, that "[t]hey ought to hang this Soros guy." Most recently, O'Reilly compared Soros to Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and alleged that Soros, a Hungarian-born Jew who survived the Nazi occupation of Budapest, believes that "we're Nazis" because of U.S. policies on Iraq and torture. During his appearance on Your World, O'Reilly also claimed that "I was tough on [Defense Secretary Donald H.] Rumsfeld when I interviewed him," a characterization with which Cavuto agreed. Yet as Media Matters noted, O'Reilly was anything but "tough on Rumsfeld" -- he has used past interviews with Rumsfeld as an opportunity to attack Democrats and stoke a feud with CBS Late Show host David Letterman. Read more
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