Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Media Matters Daily Summary 04-20-11

Conservative Media Mark Oil Spill Anniversary By Attacking Drilling Regulation
In the days leading up to the anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, a disaster that killed 11 men and resulted in the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, conservative media figures have complained about federal oversight of drilling and have called for a swift increase in domestic oil production. This comes as news reports note that Congress has yet to enact reforms recommended by the National Oil Spill Commission, that the agency tasked with minimizing risks from offshore drilling lacks the resources to do so effectively, and that a design flaw in the blowout preventers has not been fixed. Read More

Fox News Goes Full Birther
Following Donald Trump's lead, Fox News figures have recently embraced or promoted aspects of the birther conspiracy theory by falsely claiming that President Obama has not produced his birth certificate, or by hosting birthers to hype their discredited theories unchallenged. Read More

Fox & Friends Utterly Distorts Oil Subsidies To Attack NPR And Planned Parenthood
Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy attacked House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for her comments about the U.S. government's large subsidies to oil companies, asking, "Why didn't she mention the big subsidies to NPR or Planned Parenthood?" In fact, NPR and Planned Parenthood--both nonprofits--receive miniscule amounts of federal money compared to the subsidies given to oil companies. Read More

Fox & Friends Grossly Misrepresents Obama's Town Hall Speech
During the April 20 broadcast of Fox & Friends, the co-hosts discussed President Obama's recent town hall speech, falsely accusing the president of blaming a 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse on "budget holdout[s]" and of linking Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) budget outline to homelessness, while also again falsely claiming that Obama "doesn't seem to want to cut" spending from the budget. Read More

Fox Uses White House Meeting On Immigration Reform To Insult Undocumented Immigrants And Border Security
On April 19, Fox News' supposedly "straight news" programs used a White House meeting on immigration reform to fearmonger about immigration, bash President Obama, and refer to undocumented immigrants as "illegals." Read More

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