Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Media Matters Daily Summary 04-30-08

Politico's Simon cropped Wright quote, claiming he "made it legitimate" to use Obama's middle name
In writing that Rev. Jeremiah Wright "made it legitimate" to use Sen. Barack Obama's middle name, the Politico's Roger Simon selectively quoted Wright saying at an NAACP dinner, "Please run and tell my stuck-on-stupid friends that Arabic is a language; it's not a religion. Barack Hussein Obama. Barack Hussein Obama. Barack Hussein Obama." Simon omitted the portion of Wright's remarks that immediately followed the part he quoted, in which Wright appeared to criticize those who use Obama's middle name. Read More

Hannity "Worst Person" "runner-up" for failing to challenge suggestion that Obama has not "condemn[ed]" Ayers' actions
On Countdown, Keith Olbermann awarded Sean Hannity the "runner-up" in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for failing to challenge a guest's suggestion that Sen. Barack Obama has "not condemn[ed] the actions" of William Ayers. As Olbermann noted, "Hannity, of course, never pointed out to the victim that Obama did condemn them -- the words he used were 'deplore' and 'detestable.'" Read More

Politico uncritically described NRCC ad's reference to National Journal's flawed ranking of Obama
Reporting on advertising buys by the National Republican Congressional Committee "and GOP allies," the Politico's Josh Kraushaar cited an ad that refers to Sen. Barack Obama's "ranking by National Journal as having 'the most liberal voting record in the U.S. Senate.' " But Kraushaar did not mention that a respected, comprehensive vote study contradicts the National Journal's ratings, which were based on "99 key Senate votes" selected by Journal staff members. Read More

Reporting McCain's "divergent views" from House Republicans, NY Times ignored his flip-flop on immigration, possible campaign spending illegalities
The New York Times' Carl Hulse reported that congressional Republicans "worry just what a President McCain would portend for them come January, given their divergent views on big-ticket items like immigration, climate change and campaign spending." But Hulse did not note that McCain has moved to the right on immigration to align himself more closely with his party's base, nor did he mention that McCain may be violating campaign finance laws by surpassing spending limits under the public financing system for the primary period. Read More

Wash. Post and NY Times published more than 12 times as many articles mentioning Obama and Wright as they did mentioning McCain and Hagee
A Media Matters for America review found that since February 27, the date that televangelist John Hagee endorsed Sen. John McCain for president, The New York Times and The Washington Post combined have published more than 12 times as many articles mentioning Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. and Sen. Barack Obama as they have mentioning Hagee and McCain. Read More

CNN's Bash again airs clip of McCain falsely attacking Dems for health care proposals
On The Situation Room, Dana Bash uncritically aired a clip of Sen. John McCain saying of health care plans put forward by Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama: "This will accomplish one thing only. We will replace the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of the current system with the inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs of a government monopoly." In fact, neither Clinton nor Obama has proposed a "government monopoly" on insurance coverage; rather, both have called for individuals to choose their own insurance. Read More

AP noted McCain's sponsorship of comprehensive immigration bill, but not that he wouldn't vote for it now
The AP reported that "Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton supported a 2006 bill, sponsored by Republican candidate John McCain, that offered illegal immigrants legal status on conditions such as learning English." But the AP did not note that McCain has reversed his position on comprehensive immigration legislation and said in January that he would no longer support his own bill. Read More

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