Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Media Matters Daily Summary 09-02-08

Fox News' Garrett ignored McCain campaign attack ads on Obama during Gustav
On Special Report, Major Garrett stated that "Barack Obama made the decision not to attack [Sen. John] McCain and [President] Bush" and later claimed, "[J]ust a few hours ago in his hometown of Scranton, surrounded by friends and family, [Sen. Joe] Biden ripped into John McCain on energy, Iran, and Iraq, calling him wrong on all three. And the Republicans said that's a hard way for them to see how politics is being avoided in the light of Hurricane Gustav." But neither Garrett nor Brit Hume noted that McCain ran attack ads that day or that a campaign spokesman reportedly attacked Obama. Read More

ABC's Sawyer did not challenge McCain spokesman's claim that "Democratic-leaning blogs" dictated timing of Palin pregnancy disclosure
Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer did not challenge an assertion by McCain campaign senior adviser Nicolle Wallace that the "fervor with which the Democratic-leaning blogs and a few in the mainstream media pursued" questions about Gov. Sarah Palin's pregnancy " forced the Palin family ... maybe ahead of a schedule that worked best for the family, to make this news yesterday about their daughter." But contrary to Wallace's claim, according to The New York Times, the McCain campaign released the information about Palin's daughter's pregnancy on Labor Day because that was when the media were focused on Hurricane Gustav and because "the nation was busy with family and social activities." Read More

Cavuto failed to challenge false claim that "we didn't have any spillage whatsoever ... during Katrina"
On Your World, Neil Cavuto did not challenge Rep. Michelle Bachmann's false claim that "[w]e didn't have any spillage whatsoever from the oil rigs during Katrina." In fact, a report prepared for the federal government by an international consulting firm identified damage from Hurricane Katrina to 27 platforms and rigs that resulted in the spilling of approximately 2,843 barrels of petroleum products into the Gulf of Mexico. Read More

Hannity's memory lapse: "I don't remember Chelsea Clinton being attacked"
On Hannity & Colmes, Hannity said, in reference to Internet rumors about Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter, "[T]hey tried to make the attack that she has a young daughter, pregnant and engaged. Is that fair that they would attack that? I mean, I don't remember Chelsea Clinton being attacked. I don't remember Al Gore's children being attacked. I thought there was a general rule that children of candidates ought to be left alone." In fact, Chelsea Clinton was not "left alone" -- not by Sen. John McCain, and not by Rush Limbaugh. Read More

O'Donnell left unchallenged Bush Cabinet member's suggestion that Obama was responsible for rumors about Palins
On MSNBC Live, Norah O'Donnell did not challenge Transportation Secretary Mary Peters' claim that if Sen. Barack Obama really stood by his denunciation of any public discussion of Gov. Sarah Palin's children, "he would put a stop to everything that's going on in the liberal blogosphere." O'Donnell did not ask Peters how Obama "would put a stop" to what is being written by people unconnected to his campaign, nor did she note that commenters on McCain's own website have posted falsehoods and smears about Obama. Read More

Whitaker misidentified Lieberman as a "leading Democrat"
Discussing Sen. Joe Lieberman's (I-CT) scheduled appearance at the Republican National Convention during the September 2 edition of MSNBC Live, NBC News Washington bureau chief Mark Whitaker misidentified Lieberman as a "leading Democrat." NBC News foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell also called Lieberman a "pariah in his own party." In fact, after losing the 2006 Connecticut Democratic primary to challenger Ned Lamont, Lieberman re-launched his Senate campaign as an independent in August 2006 and went on to defeat Lamont in the general election. On January 12, 2007, Congressional Quarterly reported that "Lieberman has asked to be called an Independent Democrat," and that "if the compound modifier that the senator prefers was not going to take hold, then Lieberman's second choice is to be described as an Independent." Read More

Morris falsely suggested McCain is no different from Obama in percentage of time he votes with Bush
On The O'Reilly Factor, Dick Morris asserted that while Democrats say "things are terrible, Bush is awful, and McCain is more of same," "[t]hat statistic that 90 percent of the time they vote together? Ninety percent of the votes in the Senate are unanimous. Bush, Obama, and McCain probably vote together 90 percent of the time on resolutions congratulating the New York Giants and stuff." In fact, Congressional Quarterly has reported that Sen. John McCain has voted with President Bush 90 percent of the time, while Sen. Barack Obama has voted with Bush 40 percent of the time. Read More

Ignoring evidence to the contrary, NY Times' Brooks claims Palin made "mortal enem[y]" of Stevens
David Brooks wrote that Gov. Sarah Palin "made mortal enemies of the two people [Sen. John] McCain has always held up as the carriers of the pork-barrel disease: [Rep. Don] Young [R-AK] and [Sen. Ted] Stevens [R-AK]." Brooks' characterization of Palin and Stevens as "mortal enemies" is undermined by substantial evidence, including a joint Stevens-Palin press conference in July in which Stevens said he has "never known of any animosity between" them and Palin said she had "great respect" for Stevens, as well as Palin's previous service as co-director of a 527 organization bearing Stevens' name. Read More

Brokaw did not challenge GOP senator's false claim about Obama and taxes
During an interview with Sen. Richard Burr, Tom Brokaw did not challenge Burr's false claim that Sen. Barack Obama has proposed "increased taxes -- and that's taxes across the board on the American people without exception." Obama has in fact proposed raising taxes only on households earning more than $250,000, while also calling for tax cuts for low- and middle-income families. Read More

No comments: