Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Media Matters Daily Summary 06-02-10

NY Post's Crudele falsely accuses Census of using "statistical tricks" to boost employment figures
In two New York Post columns, John Crudele falsely accused the Census Bureau of using "statistical tricks" by "repeatedly hiring and firing workers without any apparent reason" in order "to artificially boost the nation's employment figures." In fact, in making this claim, Crudele distorted the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) method for gathering jobs figures, and the Census Bureau has flatly denied that it is "repeatedly hiring and firing workers." Read More

Right-wing media rush to blame Obama for Gaza flotilla incident
Following Israel's raid on a Palestinian aid flotilla that resulted in nine deaths, the right-wing media has strained to find ways to blame President Obama for the incident from criticizing his foreign policy to attempting to link him to the Gaza flotilla through Bill Ayers and Jodie Evans. Read More

O'Keefe cohort reruns year-old myth that Obama seized control of Census
Resurrecting a faux-controversy pushed by Republicans in early 2009, Shaughn Adeleye -- who worked with right-wing filmmaker James O'Keefe to covertly film census training sessions - claimed that President Obama "moved control of the census to directly report to the White House." In fact, the administration made it clear that the Census director would report to the commerce secretary. Read More

Right-wing media attack Holder for launching investigation into oil spill
Led by Fox News, right-wing media have attacked Attorney General Eric Holder over his announcement that the Justice Department has begun civil and criminal investigations into the Gulf oil spill. Their attacks echo previous criticism from Fox and right-wing media figures over SEC charges and congressional hearings into Goldman Sachs and hearings into a Toyota vehicle recall. Read More

CNN poll pushes falsehood that Kagan "barred military recruiters from campus"
A CNN/Opinion Research poll question falsely claimed that as Harvard Law Dean, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan "barred military recruiters from campus." In fact, Kagan did not bar military recruiters from campus, and Harvard Law students had access to military recruiters during her entire tenure as dean. Read More

Right-wing media distort U.S. position on Gaza flotilla incident
Right-wing media have claimed that the United States showed "hostility" and "lack of support" for Israel by joining a United Nations resolution condemning "acts" that led to deaths and injuries in Israel's raid on a Palestinian aid flotilla. But the U.S. reportedly negotiated to "pare down the language" of the resolution and has "avoided any hint of criticism of the Israeli action in its public statements." Read More

Conservatives: Obama isn't to blame for oil spill, but blame him anyway
In recent weeks, conservative media have declared that Obama isn't to blame for the response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill while simultaneously attacking his response to it. Read More

Warning to the media: Breitbart bites the hand that feeds him
After appearing on ABC's Good Morning America, Andrew Breitbart criticized host George Stephanopoulos, claiming that he had "sandbagged" Breitbart and fellow guest James O'Keefe, continuing a pattern of attacking hosts after appearing on their shows. Read More

Legal experts debunk Hannity's Sestak "crime" claims point-by-point
Over the past week, Sean Hannity and his guests have cited six different statutes that they claim were violated when the White House offered a position on a panel to Rep. Joe Sestak. Legal experts have repudiated the claim that any of those statutes apply to the offer. Read More

Glenn Beck doesn't "know why we're not having real conversations"
On his Fox News show, Glenn Beck proclaimed that he doesn't "know why we're not having real conversations" in America. During the same show, Beck compared the current state of our country to the biblical story of Moses and the films Star Wars and Robin Hood and cited a national division between supporters of Woodstock and the Apollo Project. Read More

Glenn Beck's long history of vicious personal attacks
Glenn Beck apologized for his attack on President Obama's daughter by stating that he hopes it represents his "bottom." But Beck's attack was hardly out of character, as he has frequently resorted to vicious personal attacks against his perceived enemies and their families. Read More

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