CNN's Kyra Phillips promised to "dip in" to Bush appearance at Burns rally if he mentioned "Iraq, John Kerry, other big issues in the news"
On the November 2 edition of CNN Newsroom, while showing a live feed of President Bush's appearance at a campaign rally for Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) in his race for re-election against Democrat John Tester, anchor Kyra Phillips asserted that CNN would "monitor what the president says" and that the network would "dip in" to coverage of the rally it the president "starts talking about Iraq, [Sen.] John Kerry [D-MA], other big issues in the news." Media Matters for America has extensively documented (here, here, and here) CNN and other media outlets' insistence upon treating Kerry's "botched joke" as a "big issue in the news." Perhaps most notably, Media Matters documented that the November 1 edition of CNN's Your World Today devoted 16 minutes to live coverage of a press briefing by White House press secretary Tony Snow, focusing on the controversy over Kerry's recent remark about Iraq. When questions turned to President Bush's Iraq policy, however, CNN cut away from live coverage after two minutes. Read more
On MSNBC, Dornan accused Pelosi of making "a racist statement" to support abortion rights; no follow-up from Robach
During a discussion about negative campaign ads, on the 1 p.m. ET hour of the November 2 edition of MSNBC's special Decision 2006: Battleground America, conservative talk show host and former Rep. Bob Dornan (R-CA) accused House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) of making a "racist statement" in favor of abortion rights, when she purportedly asked him during a vote on the House floor: "[W]hat would you do if your daughter was raped by a black man?" Dornan's accusation, which was noted by the weblog Campus Progress, came during a discussion with radio host Joe Madison, who is an African-American. MSNBC anchor Amy Robach failed to challenge Dornan's accusation, stating only: "And now we end on the tone of -- certainly the way a lot of voters are viewing this election -- there is a lot of partisanship." Read more
Absent any evidence, CNN anchors and reporters asserted that Kerry remark will have major impact
CNN anchors and reporters stated or suggested without evidence that the controversy over Sen. John Kerry's remarks will have an impact on the midterm elections, despite the fact that Kerry is not running for office in the election. Read more
Blitzer let Reynolds baselessly take credit for Foley resignation
Wolf Blitzer failed to challenge Rep. Thomas Reynolds's claim that he forced then-Rep. Mark Foley's (R-FL) resignation after ABC News released sexually explicit Internet communications between Foley and underage, male congressional pages. In fact, House Speaker Dennis Hastert has denied that the House leadership was responsible for Foley's resignation, though he later claimed credit. Read more
Media ignored Bush's pledge to retain Rumsfeld while continuing to play up Kerry story
Despite the significance of President Bush's November 1 pronouncement that Donald Rumsfeld will remain defense secretary until the end of his presidency, multiple media outlets have devoted much greater attention to the controversy over Sen. John Kerry's "botched joke." Read more
NPR's Liasson revives GOP 2004 smear of "windsurfing flip-flopper" Kerry
Discussing the flap over a comment Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) made at a campaign event on October 30, National Public Radio political correspondent Mara Liasson characterized Kerry as a "windsurfing flip-flopper," reviving one of the Bush-Cheney campaign's most potent smears from 2004. Read more
"Hannity & Colmes exclusive" to feature "Swift Boat veterans' react[ion]" to Kerry comments
During the 8 a.m. ET hour of the November 2 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, a commercial ran for "a Hannity & Colmes exclusive," during which "the Swift Boat veterans react, sounding off about" Sen. John Kerry's (D-MA) recent remarks on Iraq. The segment, which will presumably feature the smear-mongering Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (now Swift Vets and POWs for Truth), will air, according to Fox News, on the November 2 edition of Hannity & Colmes. Read more
Blitzer failed to challenge Steele's conflicting statements about Iraq and Bush, blue "Steele Democrat" paraphernalia
During an interview with Michael Steele, CNN's Wolf Blitzer did not ask Steele to reconcile his conflicting positions on the war in Iraq. He also failed to challenge Steele's assertion that he is "not running away from President Bush" and that he has "never run away from" being a Republican, despite his having been exposed as the "candidate" who reportedly told The Washington Post that he "probably" did not want President Bush to campaign with him. Read more
CNN's Koppel: Moderates among GOP chairs, but prospective Dem committee chairs "extremely to the left of their party"
In reporting on "the most liberal politicians in America" who are "set to rocket to the top positions in Congress" should Democrats take control of the House and Senate after the midterm elections, CNN's Andrea Koppel claimed that some Republican leaders "have more moderate voting records" but that "the Democrats that they're looking for these chairmanships are all extremely to the left of their party." Read more
Snow fully prepared to answer question from Fox's Baier about then-largely unreported Kerry remark on Iraq
When Fox News' Brett Baier Tony Snow to comment on Sen. John Kerry's remarks on Iraq a day earlier, Snow "was clearly ready" to respond and attack, even providing a "fuller quote" of Kerry's statement -- although the comment had, at the time, appeared in only local media and on conservative radio shows and weblogs. This raises the question of whether Snow and Baier coordinated to push Kerry's comments into the national media. Read more
In interview with Rove, ABC's Compton focused almost exclusively on Kerry commentsIn an interview
with White House senior adviser Karl Rove posted November 1 on ABCNews.com, ABC News correspondent Ann Compton followed a recent pattern in the media by asking Rove three questions about Sen. John Kerry's (D-MA) "botched joke" about Bush and Iraq, but asking none about other contemporaneous topics of greater significance. Read more
CNN's Zahn failed to ask Coulter about refusal to cooperate in felony investigation, reportedly bumped Air America host
CNN reportedly canceled a scheduled appearance by Air America Radio's Sam Seder, who claimed that he was to debate Ann Coulter on The Situation Room, but that Coulter "refused to appear with me," because, Seder said, "she was afraid ... I might mention," her reported "refus[al] to cooperate in an investigation into whether she voted in the wrong precinct." Co-host Paula Zahn did not ask Coulter about the AP report. Read more
Wash. Times editorial falsely suggested Pelosi would cut Iraq-war funding
A November 2 Washington Times editorial suggested that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi would eliminate "funding for military operations in Iraq," citing Pelosi's October 2003 vote "against the $87 billion supplemental appropriation to fund the war effort." Pelosi supported an alternate funding proposal that she claimed "did more for our troops and was fiscally responsible." Read more
Despite heavily covering Kerry's "botched joke," media largely ignored Boehner's comments that "the generals on the ground," not Rumsfeld, are to "blame for what's happening in Iraq"
While expressing his support for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld during a November 1 interview on CNN's The Situation Room, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) told host Wolf Blitzer: "[L]et's not blame what's happening in Iraq on Rumsfeld" because "the fact is, the generals on the ground are in charge." Shortly thereafter, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (NV) issued a statement demanding an apology from Boehner for "blaming our troops for failures in Iraq," rather than casting blame on "the Bush Administration's failed policy" and the Republican leadership that "have rubberstamped" it. On the November 2 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, Boehner refused to apologize, stating, "[N]ice try, Harry." Yet despite devoting significant attention to Republicans' demands that Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) apologize for his "botched joke," the print media, network news, and cable news outlets have largely ignored Boehner's remarks and Reid's demand for an apology. Exceptions include The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 (11/1), the 7 p.m. E.T. hour of The Situation Room (11/1), and American Morning (11/2), which have noted Boehner's remarks made on the 4 p.m. ET hour of The Situation Room,and Reid's subsequent demand for an apology. Fox News' Fox & Friends also briefly referred to the remarks and Reid's statement during an interview with Boehner, but did not quote Boehner's comments. Read more
Blitzer failed to challenge Boehner on false claims about war, ethics
During an interview with Wolf Blitzer, House Majority Leader John Boehner falsely claimed that the Democratic plan to "pull out the troops" of Iraq is not "what the American people want." In fact, recent polling shows that a majority of Americans favor setting a timetable for withdrawal. In addition, Blitzer did not challenge Boehner's claim that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi is responsible for the failures of the House ethics committee. Read more
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