Monday, October 23, 2006

Media Matters Latest, October 23, 2006

Russert highlighted Barron's report that falsely claims consistent methodology in predicting GOP victory in midterms

On Meet the Press, Tim Russert cited a Barron's report that predicts Republicans will retain both the House and the Senate in the November midterms. Barron's predicted the outcome by determining "which candidate had the largest campaign war chest," adding, "We ignore the polls," and claimed that its "method" of predicting election outcomes in the past has "certainly" been reliable. Barron's gave no indication, however, that its method has changed in each of the last three election cycles and, in past elections, has included the use of polling data. Read more


On Fox News Sunday, Hume, Liasson misrepresented Fox News poll showing strong support for commencing withdrawal from Iraq

On the October 22 broadcast of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Fox News Washington managing editor Brit Hume and National Public Radio national political correspondent Mara Liasson, misrepresented the results of a recent Fox News poll by falsely suggesting it does not indicate that Americans support a major change in Iraq policy, when, in fact, 73 percent favor starting a withdrawal of U.S. troops. During a discussion with Hume and Liasson, Juan Williams, NPR senior national correspondent and Fox News contributor, stated that the Fox News poll indicates that "73 percent of Americans want a course change in Iraq." Hume responded that a "change in course doesn't necessarily mean ... a major change in strategy. It may mean a major adjustment in tactics in pursuit of the same policy." Read more


Stephanopoulos left unchallenged Bush's revisionist history on "stay the course," Woodward books

In his interview with President Bush, ABC's George Stephanopoulos did not challenge Bush on several statements that directly contradict previous statements and actions, including when Bush asserted that his administration has "never been stay the course" in Iraq. Read more


Softball questions abound in Time's interview with Cheney

Time magazine's October 18 interview with Vice President Dick Cheney, conducted by White House correspondents Mike Allen and James Carney, was marked by softball questions and almost no follow-ups to Cheney's various false claims. In fact, the number of questions Allen and Carney posed to the vice president about hunting equaled the number they asked about Iran and North Korea -- three for each topic. Read more

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