Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Media Matters for America, August 14, 2007

NY Times fact-check of Clinton ad left out the facts


In an August 14 "Ad Campaign" analysis of the first television commercial produced by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) presidential campaign, New York Times reporter Patrick Healy asserted in a section titled "Accuracy" that President Bush "would certainly disagree with Mrs. Clinton's accusation that he does not pay attention to single mothers, veterans or people who lack health care." Healy continued: "She does not offer facts in the advertisement to verify her claim." But, while Healy noted that the Clinton campaign "has a trove of statistics to illustrate unmet needs of the uninsured and of veterans," he did not provide any of them in his article. Read more



One report Cameron saw that Clinton's pastels are a new campaign tactic was apparently his -- and it was false


During the August 12 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Fox News chief political correspondent Carl Cameron asserted that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) is conducting a "charm offensive" in which she "has gone out of her way to be more likable." He added: "We've seen stories about how she's brightening up the pastel colors and trying to put a little bit more of a smile on." However, the Daily Howler's Bob Somerby noted the next day: "Using Nexis, we can find zero 'stories' in the past three months about how Clinton is 'brightening up the pastel colors.' (We searched on 'Clinton AND pastel OR pastels.')" Indeed, Cameron may have been referring to his own report slightly more than three months ago, in which, as Media Matters for America documented, Cameron himself claimed Clinton was "wearing bright colors, smiling constantly, as if to deal with what polls say is a likability problem." Read more



Gibson and radio producer mocked Jon Stewart's "sobbing" remarks after 9-11, called him a "phony"

On his radio show, John Gibson and his executive producer mocked Jon Stewart for emotional remarks he made shortly after 9-11. While airing a clip of Stewart's remarks, Gibson mimicked Stewart and sarcastically interjected, "Oh, God, Jon. Just tell me it's not true," and, "Oh! That's
great. I'm -- God, I'm touched." Read more



Morgan made up military law, calling Soltz "a hypocrite and a liar"

Melanie Morgan called VoteVets.org chairman Jon Soltz "a hypocrite and a liar" for criticizing Army Sgt. David Aguina's appearance in uniform at a YearlyKos convention panel but using a picture of himself in uniform on the VoteVets.org website and engaging in political activism while serving in the Army Reserve, which Morgan called "a violation of the U.S. Military's Uniform Code of Military Justice." In fact, military law does not prohibit reservists from engaging in political activity, and it does not address the use of a photo of oneself in uniform for political purposes. Read more



On Hardball, Boyer claimed Webb "was not exactly a Daily Kos Democrat"

On Hardball, The New Yorker's Peter Boyer asserted that "Jim Webb was not exactly a Daily Kos Democrat in Virginia." In fact, Webb is a Daily Kos member who has a diary at the website. He has also repeatedly credited bloggers -- including Daily Kos -- and Internet support for his 2006 Senate election. Further, Webb was endorsed by Daily Kos and others as one of their "Netroots Candidates" during the 2006 election cycle. Read more

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