Thursday, July 14, 2011

Media Matters Daily Summary 07-14-11

Hannity Cites Myth That The Stimulus Failed To Bash Obama Over Debt Negotiations
Criticizing President Obama over debt negotiations, Sean Hannity invoked the discredited myth that the stimulus failed and worsened the recession. In fact, independent experts agree that the stimulus bill significantly raised employment and increased GDP by several percentage points. Read More

REPORT: How CNN, MSNBC, And Fox Are Covering News Corp. Hacking Scandal
News Corp.'s long-simmering phone-hacking scandal has reignited, throwing its global media empire into turmoil. As allegations of hacking into private citizens' voicemail increase, media and tabloid practices have been called into question. With a large and influential presence in the United States, News Corp. and its subsidiaries (including Fox News) should be under intense scrutiny in the American press. A Media Matters analysis has found great disparity in the amount of coverage given to the scandal by CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. Read More

Fox Cherry-Picks Poll To Bash Obama On Debt Ceiling
Fox recently attacked President Obama's response to a CBS poll that found 69 percent of the public thinks the debt ceiling should not be raised. However, Fox did not mention that the poll also found that 72 percent of the public believe it is "at least somewhat likely that the economy will take a severe downturn if the [debt] ceiling is not raised"; furthermore, economic experts agree that there could be severe consequences if the debt ceiling is not raised. Read More

Right-Wing Media Praised GOP For Walking Out On Default Crisis Talks, Now Attack Obama
Following reports that President Obama and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) had a "blow up" while negotiating solutions to the default crisis, in which Cantor accused Obama of "abruptly walking out" of the talks, right-wing media have attacked Obama as a "petulant child" for allegedly doing so. However, in June, right-wing media praised Cantor and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) for walking out of default crisis negotiations led by Vice President Joe Biden. Read More

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