Monday, May 18, 2009

Media Matters Daily Summary 05-18-05

Politico misrepresents Gallup poll as finding majority "are anti-abortion"
Politico reported that "a new Gallup poll found that ... the majority of Americans are anti-abortion." In fact, 51 percent of respondents to the poll identified themselves as "pro- life" -- not "anti-abortion," and 76 percent said abortion should be legal at least under certain circumstances. Read More

Yet again, media figures respond to a Pelosi controversy with attacks on her looks
Commenting on the controversy surrounding what Nancy Pelosi was told about the use of harsh interrogation techniques, numerous media figures have resorted to attacking Pelosi's looks, for example, by characterizing her as being incapable of "human facial expression," referring to her "fashionable" "Botox shots," and calling her a "hag." Read More

Tucker Carlson falsely accuses Obama of avoiding word "abortion" during ND commencement
Tucker Carlson falsely asserted that President Obama was "afraid to use the word" "abortion" during his May 17 commencement address at Notre Dame. In fact, Obama used the word several times during the speech. Read More

Wash. Times headlines "jeers" for Obama's commencement address, but not for Bush's
The Washington Times headlined its article on President Obama's May 17 commencement address "Notre Dame cheers, jeers Obama." The headlines of Times stories on commencement addresses by President Bush did not similarly highlight protesters at those events. Read More

Acosta credits Liz Cheney with having "shot down" torture allegation, when in fact she dodged key question
CNN's Jim Acosta reported that Liz Cheney "shot down" the claim that harsh interrogations conducted in 2002 were aimed at "discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and Al Qaeda," but ignored that Cheney changed the subject when asked about an allegation that, in 2003, her father's office suggested an Iraqi detainee be waterboarded to obtain evidence of an Iraq-Al Qaeda link. Read More

Newspapers ignore reports on Cheney office's push for Al Qaeda-Iraq link
None of five major national newspapers has reported on a Daily Beast article reporting that Vice President Dick Cheney's office "suggested waterboarding an Iraqi prisoner, a former intelligence official for Saddam Hussein, who was suspected to have knowledge of a Saddam-al Qaeda connection." Read More

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