Rather than challenge caller's reference to Obama as "the devil," Gibson talked about his first name
On the October 11 edition of Fox News Radio's The John Gibson Show, a caller said that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is "the devil," and purported to explain: "There's no way that anyone with the middle name 'Hussein' could rise to that level of power in the United States without being the devil, in my opinion." Rather than challenge the caller, host John Gibson expanded on the caller's reference to Obama's name, and said: "[B]y the way, do you know what the name 'Barack' means?" explaining: "It's the name of the mythical horse that carried the prophet Mohammed to heaven." The show's producer, known on-air as "Angry Rich," added:
"Front page Media Matters tomorrow, guaranteed," to which Gibson responded: "Yeah, I'll probably make Media Matters with that one. But it's true. It means 'Lightning,' I think, is what the word means." Read more
Wash. Post's Kornblut misrepresented earlier mischaracterization of Clinton torture comments
Responding to a reader's question about an article she co-wrote, The Washington Post's Anne E. Kornblut stated, "We asked Sen. [Hillary Rodham] Clinton what she would do, upon taking office, about special interrogation methods ... such as waterboarding or sexual humiliation. ... And her response was simply that she opposes torture, which of course is also the current policy." But according to a transcript of the interview, Clinton was not specifically asked about "waterboarding or sexual humiliation," and she did not refuse to say whether she would prohibit such measures. Indeed, she said that she would "draw a bright line and say 'No torture,' " and that she would "abide by the Geneva conventions, [and] abide by the laws we have passed." Read more
CNN's Costello claims "Springsteen-loving" white men now vote GOP, but doesn't note the Boss's own politics
In a CNN segment on a new book purporting to tell, in Wolf Blitzer's words, "exactly why white men are leaving the Democratic Party," correspondent Carol Costello asked, "[W]hat's a [Bruce] Springsteen-loving white man to do? Recent history says, 'Vote Republican.' " In fact -- as Costello herself noted at the conclusion of the segment -- Democrats "picked up 6 percent more white men" in the 2006 midterm election. Further, Springsteen himself campaigned for Democrat John Kerry for president in 2004 and recently said of the Bush administration:
"I think that we've seen things happen over the past six years that I don't think anybody ever thought they'd see in the United States."Read more
What to expect from Fox Business Network
The Fox Business Network will launch in 30 million homes on October 15. According to Multichannel News, Neil Cavuto, the managing editor and senior vice president of business news for Fox News Channel and host of Your World, will "oversee content and business coverage" on the new channel. Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corp., which owns Fox News, reportedly said that the Fox Business channel would be "more business friendly than CNBC." Fox News chairman and chief executive Roger Ailes said, according to The New York Times: "Many times I've seen things on CNBC where they are not as friendly to corporations and profits as they should be." TV Week recently reported that the anchor lineup of the Fox Business Network will include: Forbes on Fox host David Asman, Fox News business contributor Stuart Varney, Bulls & Bears host Brenda Buttner, Cashin' In host Terry Keenan, and business news correspondent Dagen McDowell. Read more
Vieira on Coulter: "Of course we are" part of the problem, "[w]e're perpetuating it"
Donny Deutsch appeared on NBC's Today to discuss Ann Coulter's comments on his show, in which she said "we" Christians "just want Jews to be perfected." Deutsch told Meredith Vieira that someone might ask, "Aren't we part of the problem?" Vieira responded: "Of course we are. We're perpetuating it." Read more
Wash. Post reported coalition's findings on seafood consumption without noting ties to industry
A Washington Post article reported on a public advisory announced by the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition that contradicted FDA recommendations concerning how much seafood pregnant and breast-feeding women should consume, but the article did not note that organizations affiliated with the coalition reportedly do not support the advisory, or that the coalition received financial backing from a self-described "advocacy organization
for the seafood industry." Read more
Schlussel smeared Soros, "believe[s]" Deutsch "was lying about his own religious status"
In a post on her website, Debbie Schlussel claimed that Media Matters is "anti-American, anti-Israel, and funded by [philanthropist] George Soros, a Jew who proudly worked for the Nazis rounding up Jews and sending them to their deaths." She also wrote, "I believe Donny Deutch [sic] was lying about his own religious status" in the interview, and that she "doubt[s] that" he is a "practicing Jew," because "his show is on live during the Jewish Sabbath, and keeping the Jewish Sabbath is the most important commandment for a religious Jew to keep."
Read more
NY Times again omitted Bush's 2000 pledge to "properly recognize[]" "genocidal campaign" against Armenians
An October 12 New York Times article about a House of Representatives resolution labeling the killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915-1923 as genocide reported that the Bush administration opposed the resolution. However, the article did not mention that as a presidential candidate in 2000, Bush sent a letter to the Armenian National Committee of America, in which, according to a press release on the organization's website, he wrote that "[t]he Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign that defies comprehension" and that if elected president, he "would ensure that our nation properly recognizes the tragic suffering of the Armenian people." An October 11 Times article also did not mention the letter.Read more
Liasson gave misleading report on NPR poll results, suggesting independents favor congressional Republicans
On the October 12 edition of National Public Radio's Morning Edition, while discussing a recent poll jointly conducted by both a Democratic and Republican polling firm for NPR, national political correspondent Mara Liasson attributed to the Republican pollster, Glen Bolger, the assertion that "[o]n the question of Congress, independents are siding with Republicans." However, in the comments following Liasson's attribution, Bolger made no such claim, nor does the poll itself support such a conclusion. Read more
Gibson defended his comments about race of school shooter, attacked "Soros-backed" Media Matters
On his radio show, John Gibson said: "Media Matters for America, a Soros-backed, Hillary Clinton-backed media hit-job website is after me today because of what I said last night, and they are calling me a racist for what I said about this [school shooting] at SuccessTech in Cleveland." In fact, the item documenting Gibson's comments did not characterize him or his comments as racist.
Also, philanthropist George Soros has never given money to Media Matters, either directly or through another organization, nor is Media Matters funded by or affiliated with any candidate or political party. Read more
Scarborough on "perfecting Jews" controversy: "I think Jesus had a different take than Ann Coulter"
On the October 12 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough responded to right-wing pundit Ann Coulter's comment on the October 8 edition of CNBC's The Big Idea that Christians "just want Jews to be perfected, as they say," as documented by Media Matters for America. Scarborough said, "I really don't think Ann had it right when she said that Christianity was about perfecting Jews. If you read the New Testament, actually, Christianity is about serving others." After playing a video clip of the exchange between Coulter and Deutsch, Scarborough said: Read more
Angle falsely claimed Dems' bill would be first to require a court order to intercept terrorism suspects' calls to U.S.
On Special Report, Jim Angle falsely claimed that proposed revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) would, for the first time, require the federal government to obtain a court order to intercept the communications of terrorism suspects abroad when they call the United States. Angle asserted that "even requiring warrants for terrorists calling the U.S. from abroad is a major departure, something the law has never required since it was passed some 30 years ago."
In fact, with few exceptions, FISA, as originally enacted in 1978, required the government to obtain a court order to conduct "electronic surveillance," which FISA defines in part as "the acquisition by an electronic, mechanical, or other surveillance device of the contents of any wire communication to or from a person in the United States, without the consent of any party thereto, if such acquisition occurs in the United States." It was only in August that Congress categorically excluded from the warrant requirement any "surveillance directed at a person reasonably believed to be located outside of the United States." That exclusion is due to expire in February 2008. Read more
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