Media Matters Daily Summary 07-16-09

Following Limbaugh, Fox Nation falsely claims Durbin accused Alito, Roberts of "racism"
Echoing Rush Limbaugh's false characterization of remarks made by Sen. Dick Durbin, The Fox Nation featured a headline reading: "Durbin on White Male GOP Nominees: Racism Is 'In Their DNA'." Read More

Carlson misrepresented health care bill to claim that "real victim ... is the small business owner"
Gretchen Carlson misrepresented the health care reform bill to claim that if small business owners do not offer health insurance, they will face "an 8 percent penalty." In fact, only businesses with payroll exceeding $400,000 annually that fail to provide insurance would pay that penalty. Read More

NY Times again ignores conservatives' previous support for judicial empathy
The New York Times again reported Republican attacks over President Obama's "desire for justices with 'empathy,' " without noting that numerous conservatives have stressed the importance of personal experience and compassion in judicial nominees. Read More

Rove falsely claimed Obama didn't warn economy may get worse
Karl Rove falsely claimed that "[President] Obama never said if his stimulus were passed things might still get significantly worse." In fact, Obama said in January that the economy was likely to worsen even after the stimulus had been passed. Read More

The media's web of misinformation
Illustrating the media's enthusiastic promotion of the House Republicans' "Organizational Chart of the House Democrats' Health Plan," Media Matters for America offers this handy chart: Read More

I guess you could say she's been "sotomayored"
Long before the pundit-driven 24-hour news cycle began poisoning the media landscape, the 1987 confirmation hearings of Reagan Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork played out in front of a national television audience. Though CNN broadcast the hearings live, the network was not yet available in many American homes. ABC, CBS, and NBC also ran live coverage while C-SPAN aired evening rebroadcasts. Read More

CBS ignored evidence undermining "double whammy" small-biz attack
Katie Couric claimed that small-business owners "would pick up a big part of the tab" for Democrats' health care reform plan. But neither Couric nor correspondent Chip Reid noted evidence undermining that suggestion. Read More

IBD falsely claimed House health bill would "outlaw individual private coverage"
Investor's Business Daily falsely claimed that the House tri-committee health-care reform bill includes "a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal." Read More