As debates loom, will media learn from past coverage shortfalls?
As the media prepare to cover the debates, Media Matters has compiled several items from the 2004 presidential debates identifying patterns of misinformation in the media, at least one of which has already resurfaced this year. Read More
ABC's Stark uncritically aired Paulson's claim to "welcome" oversight, but his bill would make his decisions "non-reviewable"
During her ABC World News report on the Bush administration's $700 billion Wall Street proposal, Betsy Stark uncritically aired Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's claim that he "welcome[s]" oversight of the administration's plan, but did not note that a section of the bill states: "Decisions by the Secretary [of the Treasury] pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." Read More
Limbaugh: Ahmadinejad "echoing Barack Obama talking points"
On Fox News, Rush Limbaugh claimed that in a U.N. speech, Iran's President Ahmadinejad was "echoing [Sen.] Barack Obama talking points -- talking about how America is responsible for all the problems of the world, talking about how American defense spending is -- led to the crisis here." Limbaugh provided no evidence that Obama has said anything remotely similar to Ahmadinejad's remarks, which, according to a translation, included references to "Zionist murderers" and to the purported influence of "Zionists" on the "political decision-making centers of some European countries and the U.S." Read More
Minneapolis radio host Baker repeatedly called Obama "Nicolae Carpathia," the Antichrist character in the Left Behind series
Radio host Chris Baker repeatedly referred to Sen. Barack Obama as "Nicolae Carpathia," the Antichrist character in the Left Behind book series, including one instance in which he stated: "I'm getting really sick of being told that if I disagree with Barack Obammy, the Nicolae Carpathia candidate, that I'm a racist." Read More
Blankley baselessly claimed Franken helped write SNL parody of NY Times reporter suggesting Palin family incest
Tony Blankley baselessly asserted in his column that a Saturday Night Live sketch portraying a New York Times reporter who writes a story suggesting incest in the Palin family was "written with the assistance" of Al Franken. In fact, Franken reportedly had a role in the creation of a different SNL sketch. Read More
Hannity falsely claimed Raines is "a chief economic adviser" to Obama
Sean Hannity falsely asserted that former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines is "a chief economic adviser" to Sen. Barack Obama. A McCain campaign ad claims that Raines "advises" Obama -- a claim that Raines and the Obama campaign have denied -- but even that ad did not claim that Raines is a "chief" adviser. Read More
Kurtz article on campaign ads didn't note falsehoods and distortions in McCain ads
In a report on "ads" that the presidential campaigns paid to air few times, if at all, The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz did not note that at least two McCain campaign ads that Kurtz mentioned included outright falsehoods. Kurtz did not point out that an ad he mentioned included the false accusation that Obama "dismissed" Gov. Sarah Palin as "good-looking" or that a different ad he mentioned falsely accused Obama of calling Palin a "pig." Read More
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