Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Media Matters Daily Summary 06-30-08

Fox's Henneberg deceptively cropped Clark interview while claiming Clark "seemed to attack McCain's military service"
On Fox News' The Strategy Room, Molly Henneberg asserted that Wesley Clark "seemed to attack [Sen. John] McCain's military service," and aired a video clip of Clark saying on CBS' Face the Nation, "I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president." But Henneberg did not report or in any way indicate that, in making that comment, Clark was responding to Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer's statement that, unlike McCain, Sen. Barack Obama has not "ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down." Read More

Time's Carney is latest media figure to cite National Journal ranking of Obama without noting rankings' subjectivity
Time's James Carney wrote: "As any Republican will tell you, the National Journal ranked [Sen. Barack] Obama the most liberal member of the Senate." But Carney did not note that the National Journal's rankings are based on subjective criteria. Read More

CNN's American Morning deceptively cropped Clark interview
CNN's American Morning deceptively cropped Wesley Clark's Face the Nation interview, airing a video of Clark saying of Sen. John McCain, "That large squadron in the Air -- in the Navy that he commanded, it wasn't a wartime squadron. He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall," after which Clark was immediately shown saying: "I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president." But CNN edited out the portion of the exchange indicating that, in making the latter statement, Clark was responding to host Bob Schieffer's statement that, unlike McCain, Sen. Barack Obama has not "ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down." Read More

MSNBC's Novotny falsely claimed Clark "blasted McCain's military record"
On the June 30 edition of MSNBC Live, anchor Monica Novotny falsely claimed that retired Gen. Wesley Clark "blasted [Sen. John] McCain's military record" during an appearance on the June 29 edition of CBS' Face the Nation. In fact, Clark did not "blast[]" McCain's military record. Rather, he praised McCain as "a hero" and stated, "I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war," but argued that McCain's military record does not make him qualified to be president. Read More

MSNBC's Brewer falsely claimed Bill Clinton "reportedly told" Telegraph that "Obama was going to, quote, 'have to kiss my you-know-what' "
On MSNBC Live, Contessa Brewer falsely claimed that former President Bill Clinton "reportedly told London's The Telegraph paper that [Sen.] Barack Obama was going to, quote, 'have to kiss my you-know-what,' unquote, if he wanted the former president's help." In fact, the Telegraph article quoted an anonymous "senior Democrat who worked for Mr Clinton," who in turn cited another anonymous source: "One person told me that Bill said Obama would have to quote kiss my ass close quote, if he wants his support." Read More

Fox News' Shawn falsely claimed, "General Clark said that Mr. McCain does not serve in a wartime squadron"
On Fox News' Happening Now, co-host Eric Shawn falsely claimed that, during his interview on CBS' Face the Nation, "General [Wesley] Clark said that Mr. [John] McCain does [sic] not serve in a wartime squadron." In fact, after Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer stated that McCain "was a squadron commander of the largest squadron in the Navy," Clark said, "But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Air -- in the Navy that he commanded, it wasn't a wartime squadron," a reference not to McCain's wartime service in Vietnam, but rather to his time as commanding officer after the war. Read More

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