Thursday, October 09, 2008

Media Matters Daily Summary 10-09-08

Media repeat Cindy McCain's attack on Obama troop-funding vote, ignore John McCain's troop-funding vote
The CBS Evening News, Fox News' The Live Desk, and the Politico's Jonathan Martin noted Cindy McCain's attack on Sen. Barack Obama that his "vote to not fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body." However, none of their reports pointed out that Sen. John McCain himself voted against legislation to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Read More

Media continue to repeat Cindy McCain's comment about troop funding without noting her husband's own vote

The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Morning Joe reported Cindy McCain's attack on Sen. Barack Obama that his "vote to not fund my son while he was serving sent a cold chill through my body." However, none of their reports noted that Sen. John McCain himself voted against legislation to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Read More

Savage: "I fear that Obama will stir up a race war ... in order to seize absolute power"
During the October 8 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage invited callers to discuss what they "fear the most if [Sen. Barack] Obama wins" the presidential election. After airing a clip of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Savage said: "I fear that Obama will stir up a race war. You want to ask me what I fear? I think Obama will empower the racists in this country and stir up a race war in order to seize absolute power." Savage later said: "I want you to call this show and tell me what you fear about Barack Hussein Obama as president." Read More

ABC's David Wright uncritically repeated Palin claim that Obama has been "palling around with terrorists"
During a report on ABC's Good Morning America, David Wright stated that Gov. Sarah Palin "accus[ed]" Sen. Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists," but did not note that The New York Times, in the article Palin cited in making that claim, reported that "the two men do not appear to have been close."
Read More

NY Times' Bumiller uncritically quoted McCain's distortion of Obama's remarks on subprime lending
The New York Times uncritically quoted Sen. John McCain saying of Sen. Barack Obama: "[A]s recently as September of last year he said that subprime loans had been, quote, a good idea." The article did not mention that McCain was distorting Obama's comments from a September 2007 speech, as several media outlets -- including the Times -- noted when McCain previously made the same accusation against Obama. Read More

MSNBC.com's First Read again falsely claimed McCain "did not vote" against troop funding
MSNBC.com's First Read again falsely claimed that Sen. John McCain "opposed, but did not vote," on a 2007 troop-funding appropriations bill. In fact, while McCain did not vote on a later version of the appropriations bill, he voted against the measure on March 29, 2007, and said at the time that he was opposing it, in part, because it "would establish a timeline" for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.
Read More

Ignoring its own reporting, NY Times did not point out falsehoods in Corsi's smear books on Obama, Kerry
The New York Times asserted that Jerome Corsi's recent book smearing Sen. Barack Obama "raises pointed questions about Mr. Obama's history of drug use, his 'extensive connections' to Islam and his relationships with Kenyan politicians, among other things -- allegations that Mr. Obama's campaign and others have widely disputed." However, the Times did not point out that The Obama Nation contains numerous falsehoods that have been widely discredited and denounced by the media. Read More

In sketch on Corsi's detention in Kenya, Liddy played audio of "jungle telegraph drums"
On his radio program, G. Gordon Liddy discussed the detention of Jerome Corsi in Kenya and aired a sketch in which he said: "We've used the satellite connection to Kenya, and we are now focusing in on the trial of Dr. Jerome Corsi. ... [H]e's being accused of impersonating a human being. My Zulu's not -- not as good as Obama's, but -- yeah, they're really upset with him. You can probably tell." Liddy then aired a clip apparently from the 1950 movie King Solomon's Mines, which featured characters speaking in Kinyarwanda (not Zulu), one of the official languages of Rwanda, and playing music on drums. Read More

Politico quoted from McCain campaign's Ayers ad without noting its distortions
The Politico's Andy Barr reported on Sen. John McCain's ad "on [Sen.] Barack Obama's relationship with 1960s radical William Ayers" without noting that it contains several distortions and misleading assertions. Barr failed to mention that, in contrast to the ad's claim, The New York Times reported that "the two men do not appear to have been close," or that prominent McCain supporters are also connected to the purportedly "radical 'education' foundation" the ad references. Read More

MSNBC's Witt falsely suggested Obama concealed Ayers event when referring to Ayers as "a guy who lives in my neighborhood"
MSNBC's Alex Witt falsely suggested that Sen. Barack Obama concealed the fact that William Ayers hosted an event for him when he referred to Ayers as "a guy who lives in my neighborhood" during an April Democratic primary debate. In fact, in those remarks, Obama was responding to a question about the "organizing meeting" that Ayers hosted for him, and did not deny that the event took place. Read More

O'Reilly falsely claimed Obama did not vote to condemn attacks on Petraeus and Kerry
On his radio show, Bill O'Reilly falsely stated that Sen. Barack Obama did not cast a vote on a Senate amendment denouncing both an ad by MoveOn.org that targeted Gen. David Petraeus and "Swift Boat" attacks on Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). In fact, Obama voted in favor of an amendment sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) that denounced the MoveOn.org ad and character attacks on Kerry, former Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA), and other veterans. Read More

Hannity vs. Hannity: Is he, or is he not, a "journalist"?
Sean Hannity defended the presence of Andy Martin on the October 5 edition of Hannity's America by saying, "I'm a journalist who interviews people who I disagree with all the time, that give their opinion. Fox has all points of view." But Hannity told the New York Daily News that he "doesn't call himself a journalist, but rather a talk show host." And in 2004, Hannity said: "I'm not a journalist. I am an outspoken, compassionate, thoughtful, independent-thinking conservative. ... Unlike these other guys that claim to be fair." Read More

No comments: