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A Final Weekend of Whoppers?

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700

FactCheck - By Lori Robertson - Mar. 19 (News Analysis) - With the House preparing for a final vote on the Senate health care legislation, with revisions, Sunday afternoon, we thought we’d give our readers a wrap-up of the top falsehoods of late. The debate over this bill has stretched on almost as long as a presidential campaign, and we suspect this weekend will be filled with politicians and third-party groups making their final — and faulty — pitches. There’s little doubt they’ll repeat wrong and misleading statements about premium costs, a government takeover, keeping your plan, Medicare cuts and more. Keep reading for details.

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The Washington Post Lets Pete Peterson Write The News On The Deficit

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

OurFuture.org - By Roger Hickey - Jan. 01 (Investigative Report) - The [article published in the Wash Post], entitled "Support grows for tackling nation's debt," appeared to be one of those background news pieces common in newspapers like the Post. But article was written not by the newspaper’s reporters – and not by an objective wire service, like the Associated Press – but by a new organization called The Fiscal Times, whose founder and major backer, Peter G. Peterson, has a long-term ideological commitment to convincing Americans that “support is growing for tackling the nation’s debt.”

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In Iraq, Colbert shaves head, declares victory

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

airforcetimes.com - By By Kim Gamel - The Associated Press - Jun. 08 (News Report) - Celebrities have frequently traveled to Iraq to entertain the troops. But the series of half-hour shows — dubbed “Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando” — mark the first time anyone has broadcast a taped show from Iraq from a tour intended to entertain U.S. troops.

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McCain And Obama Criticize New Coal Plants — Right Wing Goes Insane

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Think Progress - By Brad Johnson - Nov. 02 (Special Report) - Both presidential candidates, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) have called for a mandatory cap on carbon emissions in the United States. Coal-fired power plants, which produce about 49 percent of U.S. electricity, account for 83 percent of power-sector emissions. Because of the global warming footprint, the cheapness of coal-fired electricity is illusory.

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Top Troubling Tropes of Campaign '08

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - Oct. 23 (News Analysis) - Not only do journalists organize the election story around the question--not terribly helpful to voters--of who's up and who's down, they largely base their evaluation of the race on shallow image-based narratives that the media construct themselves: Barack Obama is an "elitist" who might not "get the way we live" (Extra!, 7=8/08), while John McCain is a straight-talking "maverick" (Extra!, 5=6/08). Though these tropes are treated by establishment news outlets as self-evident, they usually fail to stand up to any kind of scrutiny.

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Deceiving Images

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Link TV - By Nicholas Lemann, George Lakoff, - Oct. 05 (Special Report) - (VIDEO 1 hour 24 mins.) This special panel features experts in the field of communication in a discussion about the escalating use of manipulative techniques in American political life. The panel is moderated by Nicholas Lemann, Columbia University dean of its Journalism School, and George Lakoff, UC Berkeley professor.

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Liddy guest Walid Shoebat falsely claimed that Obama is "definitely a Muslim"

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Media Matters - Sep. 12 (News Analysis) - On his radio show, G. Gordon Liddy hosted self-described former terrorist Walid Shoebat to advance the false claim that Sen. Barack Obama, whom Shoebat said would be "extremely dangerous" as president, is a Muslim. Liddy also did not challenge Shoebat's false claim that Hamas supports Obama.

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NECN video posted on Boston Globe website falsely suggests "lipstick" comment immediately followed Palin reference

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Media Matters - Sep. 12 (News Analysis) - In a New England Cable News video posted on the Boston Globe website, two comments by Sen. Barack Obama are spliced together, falsely suggesting that his comment that "[y]ou can put lipstick on a pig; it's still a pig" immediately followed a reference to Gov. Sarah Palin. In fact, the "lipstick" comment immediately followed Obama's comments about Sen. John McCain's policies and political tactics.

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Quinn & Rose's Rose, whose co-host referred to NOW as the "National Organization for Whores," called Obama a "sexist pig"

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Media Matters - Sep. 11 (News Analysis) - On the Quinn & Rose radio show, co-host Rose Tennent claimed that Sen. Barack Obama's remark regarding Sen. John McCain's policies, "[Y]ou can put lipstick on a pig; it's still a pig," was directed at Gov. Sarah Palin. After saying she was "offended" and "appalled" by Obama's remark, Tennent stated, "You know what, you're a pig, you're a chauvinist pig is what you are, Barack." On previous shows, Tennent's co-host Jim Quinn introduced a segment about Sen. Hillary Clinton by playing the song "The Bitch Is Back" and referred to the National Organization for Women as the "National Organization for Whores."

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Boston Globe ignored Swift backtrack from charge that Obama compared Palin to a pig

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Media Matters - Sep. 11 (News Analysis) - : The Boston Globe reported that former acting Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift "led the Republican charge" that Sen. Barack Obama's "lipstick" comment regarding Sen. John McCain's policies was "an echo of [Gov. Sarah] Palin's joke during her convention speech." But Swift did more than charge that Obama's statement was "an echo" of Palin's joke; she actually accused Obama of calling Palin a pig. Then the next day, she backtracked from that accusation. The Globe reported neither the direct accusation nor the backtrack.

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Limbaugh distorted NBC report to baselessly suggest audience chanted, "No more pit bull," in response to Obama's " 'lipstick on a pig' joke"

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Media Matters - Sep. 11 (News Analysis) - A September 9 post on the washingtonpost.com blog The Trail reported that, at an event in Dayton, Ohio, that day, "Killing time while waiting for Sen. Barack Obama to start a speech on education policy this morning, a clutch of students in the bleachers at Stebbins High School" chanted "No pit bull! No pit bull! No pit bull!" Obama appeared at separate events in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and Flint, Michigan, on September 8. Regardless of which campaign event Cowan was describing when he mentioned "an Obama rally we were at earlier today in Michigan," it was clearly one that occurred before Obama made his "lipstick" remarks.

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Hannity accuses Obama of "outright falsehood" in saying Fox News -- home of the "terrorist fist jab" smear -- has suggested he is Muslim

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Media Matters - Sep. 10 (News Analysis) - In fact, Fox News hosts -- one of whom asked if an affectionate gesture by the Obamas was "a terrorist fist jab" -- have repeatedly promoted false reports about Obama's religion, including the false report that Obama was educated in a madrassa.

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Conservative radio hosts seize on Obama comment to revive false rumors about his faith

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Media Matters - Sep. 10 (News Analysis) - Conservative talk radio hosts have recently seized on comments Sen. Barack Obama made during a September 7 appearance on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos in order to suggest that the comments prove Obama is really a Muslim, not a Christian.

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NY Post editorial falsely claims Obama "once insisted that U.S. forces invade Pakistan" and "opposes sanctions" against Iran

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Media Matters - Sep. 10 (News Analysis) - Obama has never said he would "invade Pakistan." Also, he has stated that he favors sanctions on Iran and introduced legislation to enable state and local governments to divest from Iran.

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Fox's Cameron: Obama "run[s] the risk of appearing a little bit arrogant" if he doesn't offer "lipstick on a pig" apology

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Media Matters - Sep. 10 (News Analysis) - Cameron made the comment even though he twice stated during the program that the McCain campaign's complaints about Obama's comment may amount to "crocodile tears."

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Journalists, their lying sources, and the anthrax investigation

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Salon - By Glenn Greenwald - Aug. 03 (News Analysis) - The death of government scientist Bruce Ivins has generated far more questions about the anthrax attacks than it has answered. I want to return to the role the establishment media played in obfuscating the anthrax investigation for so long and, at times, aiding in what was clearly the deliberate deceit on the part of Government sources. This is yet another case where the establishment media possesses -- yet steadfastly conceals -- some of the most critical facts about what the Government has done, and insists on protecting the wrongdoers. Obtaining these answers from these media outlets is as important as obtaining them from the Government.

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The "MyBarackObama" Experiment

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Taking Note - By Michael Cornfield - Jul. 01 (News Analysis) - ...a majority...worried about what other people are learning online, it means that they possess a modicum of skepticism, and may be amenable to adopting a best practice for dealing with rumors on a regular basis. That practice consists of using the net to consider, first, the source of a disputed and/or disturbing truth-claim (via Google); second, the prevalent pattern of interpretation (partisan/bipartisan, easily scanned for national news via Memeorandum), and, third, the best available evidence (a matter of recognizing authenticated documents). Truth claims anchored in viewable evidence and attributable to a source acknowledged as credible on a bipartisan basis stand a decent chance of being valid. That's a practice worth spreading.

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Jean Schmidt Refuses To Retract False Claim That China Is 'Drilling Off The Coast Of Florida'

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Think Progress - By Amanda Terkel - Jun. 17 (News Analysis) - Just yesterday, conservative pundit Mary Matalin made the claim both on CNN and CNN Headline News. A Fox News guest also repeated the lie yesterday on Neil Cavuto's show.

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Why Does the Michelle Obama Tape Rumor Match a 2006 Novel?

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

National Review - By Jim Geraghty - Jun. 06 (Special Report) - Why is a conservative blogger putting this much effort into dispelling a rumor that, on paper at least, would hurt Obama? Because those who prefer a president besides Obama should not go through the summer and fall convinced that a magic-bullet devastating tape is going to appear as an October surprise to save the day. Also, there are a lot of good reasons to vote against Barack Obama; but what people claim Michelle Obama says on a tape that no one can produce and no one has seen isn't one of them.

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How the military analyst program controlled news coverage: in the Pentagon's own words

Sat, 10 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Salon - By Glenn Greenwald - May. 10 (Special Report) - On the question of whether the Pentagon maintained an illegal covert domestic propaganda program -- and on the broader question of whether the American media's political coverage is largely shaped and controlled by the U.S. Government -- I don't believe it's possible to obtain more conclusive evidence than this: These are excepts from a memorandum sent on January 14, 2005 -- just before President Bush was to be inaugurated for his second term -- from Capt. Roxie T. Merritt, the Director of DoD Press Operations, to several top Pentagon officials, including Larry Di Rita, the top aide to Donald Rumsfeld

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Pentagon's Pundits: A Look at the Defense Department's Propaganda Program

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - Apr. 24 (Special Report) - The New York Times has revealed new details on how the Pentagon recruited more than seventy-five retired military officers to appear on TV outlets as so-called military analysts ahead of the Iraq war to portray Iraq as an urgent threat. The Times reported the Pentagon continues to use the analysts in a propaganda campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration's wartime performance. We speak with Col. Sam Gardiner (Ret.) and Peter Hart of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.

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NPR News: National Pentagon Radio?

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

TruthOut - By Norman Solomon - Mar. 28 (News Analysis) - NPR is my principal source of news, so I know (as its ombudsman does) that it makes mistakes. Criticism is a good thing, when done well. This particular critique is poorly done. It doesn't even provide the most basic thing: links to the two offending stories. Its conclusion, that "when it comes to politics and war, the range of perspectives on National Public Radio isn't any wider than what we encounter on the avowedly commercial networks" is unsupported by evidence. Here's a link to NPR's Iraq stories: http://www.npr.org/templates/topics/topic.php?topicId=1010 Which commercial network has a wider range? Stylistically, the article is painful to read, riddled as it is with cliches (further proof of the author's laziness) such as "to add insult to injury", which the author chose to lead his closing paragraph.

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Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Campaign Surrogates

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Salon - By Walter Shapiro - Mar. 28 (News Analysis) - In a high-minded alternate universe, the news media might briefly note the Carville and McPeak comments before returning to in-depth analyses of the economic theories undergirding the Obama and Clinton responses to the subprime mortgage crisis. But in a world of TV ratings, online traffic tallies and fast-vanishing newspaper circulation, trumped-up controversy (surprise) beats ponderous policy. According to a wide-ranging (and, at press time, unpublished) media-monitoring analysis by the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ), Carville and his Judas crack about Richardson were mentioned in 13 percent of all political campaign stories charted so far this week.

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NPR Underreports Iraq Deaths

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - Mar. 26 (News Analysis) - It's worth noting that 601,000 figure from Johns Hopkins study and the 151,000 number from WHO both only go up to June 2006, and therefore also leave out the worst of the violence. The most recent survey of Iraqi deaths is the poll conducted by Opinion Research Business, a top British polling firm, in August 2007, which found an estimated 1.2 million deaths by violence among Iraqi households. If NPR really wanted to inform its listeners about the range of credible estimates of Iraqi deaths, it would have included this survey--but instead left them with the impression that the highest plausible estimate was one-eighth as high.

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$300 Mllion from Chavez to FARC a Fake

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Campaign for America's Future - By Greg Palast - Mar. 07 (Special Report) - The US press snorted up this line about Chavez' $300 million to "terrorists" quicker than the young Bush inhaling Colombia's powdered export.

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