Media Matters for America summary, April 04, 2007
 
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 22:03:04 -0400


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<p>Here are today's news items from <i>Media Matters for America</i>, 
click on the title or 'read more' to read the entirety of each story.</p>
<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/2008_elections?src=other">2008 Elections</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040012?src=other">On MSNBC, <em>The Hill</em>'s Stoddard cited unnamed "discrepancies" from Obama's memoir</a></b><br />
On the April 3 <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17948862/">edition</a> of MSNBC&#39;s <i>Tucker</i>, A.B. Stoddard, associate editor of
<i>The Hill</i>, claimed that Sen.
Barack Obama&#39;s (D-IL) "big ticket is being authentic" and
suggested that "discrepancies from real life and his memoir" could
be "a problem" for Obama. Stoddard, however, offered no specific
"discrepancies," and ignored the fact that Obama acknowledged in
the introduction to his memoir, <i>Dreams from
My Father</i> (Three Rivers Press, 1995), that the book, like "any
autobiographical work,"
may contain "the temptation to color events in ways favorable to the
writer, the tendency to overestimate the interest one&#39;s experiences hold for
others, [or] selective lapses of memory."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040012?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040007?src=other">On MSNBC, Mowbray joined Limbaugh, Carlson in taking seriously Obama's remark about his ears</a></b><br />
Conservative columnist Joel Mowbray said that Sen.
Barack Obama made a "rookie mistake" by allegedly rebuking Maureen Dowd for writing that
Obama's "ears stick out." In fact, as the <em>Chicago Sun-Times</em>'
Lynn Sweet noted,
Obama was joking: Obama
"chided [Dowd] in a kidding way."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040007?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040013?src=other">Media figures still hyping Giuliani's performance on 9-11</a></b><br />
During
a discussion of Republican presidential candidates on the April 4 edition of <i>MSNBC News Live</i>, NBC political
correspondent <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.wnbc.com/meetthenewsteam/1169179/detail.html">Jay Dedapper</a> repeated a
common media label for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani: "America&#39;s
mayor." Dedapper asserted of Giuliani, "His -- his challenge here
is to really convince voters that he&#39;s more than the mayor of America
after 9-11, and that&#39;s basically what he talked about -- what he did as mayor
before 9-11." Also, on the April 3 edition of National Public
Radio&#39;s <i>All Things Considered</i>,
NPR national political corresponsdent Mara Liasson said of Giuliani: "He&#39;s been the
recent frontrunner in the polls, but his lead in the polls has been slipping,
maybe because he&#39;s been getting more scrutiny and Republican primary voters are
beginning to learn more about him, other than the fact that he was the hero
mayor of 9-11."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040013?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040004?src=other">McCain campaign hired "Jew-counter" Fred Malek - will <em>Politico</em> cite "McCain's Jewish problem"?</a></b><br />
On April 3, Sen. John McCain&#39;s
(R-AZ) 2008 presidential campaign <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/PressReleases/1e4165fd-e4a4-4aa5-9d9d-b71f878d549f.htm">announced</a> that it had hired
former Nixon staffer <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200507060001?src=other">Fred Malek</a>  as its national finance co-chairman. However,
as David Corn, Washington editor of <i>The
Nation</i>, noted in an April 3 <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?bid=3&amp;pid=181707">entry</a> on his Capital Games
weblog, the McCain campaign&#39;s press release "left out an
interesting piece of Malek&#39;s history: when he counted Jews for President
Richard Nixon." As Corn reported, Nixon suspected that a
"cabal" of Jews at the Bureau of Labor Statistics was skewing economic
figures to make the administration look bad and assigned Malek to report back on
how many Jews were employed at BLS. When former President George H.W. Bush
hired Malek as a top official at the Republican National Committee (RNC) in
1988, revelations in the press regarding Malek&#39;s work for Nixon
reportedly led him to resign. McCain&#39;s hiring of Malek would seem to warrant the same
disclosures from the media, but so far, only one news outlet other than <i>The Nation</i>
has reported it. 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040004?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/war_in_iraq?src=other">War in Iraq</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040014?src=other">ABC uncritically reported Bush's claim that Congress would be responsible for "denying troops the equipment they need"</a></b><br />
On the April 3 edition of ABC&#39;s <i>World News</i>, anchor Charles Gibson
uncritically reported President Bush&#39;s assertion that congressional
Democrats are "denying the troops the equipment they need to succeed,"
but failed to offer any Democratic response. In fact, as <i>Media Matters for America</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200704030002?src=other" title="blocked::http://mediamatters.org/items/200704030002">previously</a> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200704040001?src=other" title="blocked::http://mediamatters.org/items/200704040001">noted</a>, both the House and Senate have <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/AR2007032900344.html?nav=rss_politics" title="blocked::http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=other&http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/AR2007032900344.html?nav=rss_politics">passed</a> emergency
supplemental funding bills for the Iraq war and will meet in conference to
reconcile the two versions into one bill for the president&#39;s signature.
It is Bush who would stop funding to the troops if he carries out <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/03/senate.funds/index.html" title="blocked::http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=other&http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/03/senate.funds/index.html">his threat</a> to veto the
final version. Further, while reporting Bush&#39;s suggestion that
"wrangling" between the White House and Congress over the funding
bill is "denying the troops" equipment -- suggesting that the
absence of a signed bill has already affected the troops -- Gibson ignored a
March 28 Congressional Research Service (CRS) <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://websrvr80il.audiovideoweb.com/il80web20037/ThinkProgress/2007/CRSMemo%203-28-07_.pdf" title="blocked::http://websrvr80il.audiovideoweb.com/il80web20037/ThinkProgress/2007/CRSMemo 3-28-07_.pdf">memo</a> stating that the
Army is currently able to finance the war through most of July. 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040014?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040015?src=other"><em>Wash. Post</em>, Fox's Baier uncritically reported Bush's attack on Dems that it's been "57 days" without receiving a war-funding bill</a></b><br />
<em>Washington Post</em>
staff writer Peter Baker and Fox
News' Bret Baier uncritically quoted President Bush's claim that "it
has now been 57 days" since Bush
asked Congress for more money to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
However, neither noted that in 2005
and 2006, the Republican-controlled Congress took significantly
longer than 57 days to act on Bush's funding requests for Iraq and Afghanistan.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040015?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040008?src=other">CNN &amp; ABC's Beck: Iraq war "was always about getting to Iran" -- WMDs just "a bonus"</a></b><br />
On the April 3 <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0704/03/gb.01.html">edition</a> of his CNN Headline News show, <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/glennbeck?src=other">Glenn Beck</a> claimed
the war in Iraq
"was never about Saddam Hussein or weapons of mass destruction. I mean,
that was a bonus. It was always about getting to Iran, the head of the snake and the
center of evil in the modern world." 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040008?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040001?src=other">NBC's Williams: Iraq spending bill would be "vote" by Dems "to leave American soldiers high and dry"</a></b><br />
On the
April 3 edition of NBC&#39;s <i>Nightly News</i>,
anchor Brian Williams asked NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert if President
Bush, in threatening to veto an emergency Iraq war supplemental bill that would
contain a timeline for troop withdrawal, was making "a calculated bet
... that Democrats aren&#39;t really going to vote to leave American
soldiers high and dry in the middle of the fight." Russert replied that
Bush "[a]bsolutely" was making such a "calculated bet"
because "[h]e believes in the end he will get the funding" for the
war.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040001?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/propaganda_noise_machine?src=other">Propaganda/Noise Machine</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040005?src=other">Beck continues attacks on ABC colleague O'Donnell</a></b><br />
On the April 3 broadcast of his
nationally syndicated radio show, <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/glennbeck?src=other">Glenn Beck</a> renewed his
attacks on ABC colleague Rosie O&#39;Donnell, asserting that the difference
between her and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who like O&#39;Donnell is a
lesbian, "is about 400 pounds." Later, the executive producer and
head writer of Beck&#39;s radio show, Steve Burguiere, whom Beck calls
"Stu" on the air, claimed that O&#39;Donnell looked like she
wanted to "bit[e] off the head, and probably the torso, of [ABC&#39;s <i>The View</i> co-host] Elisabeth Hasselbeck
everyday." Burguiere later said, "I was saying she was eating
her co-host," to which Beck replied, "Ah, there&#39;s not a lot
of meat there. But maybe she&#39;s vegan. Maybe she&#39;s vegan. You know,
she just likes to suck on the bone for a while." 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040005?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040016?src=other">Media continued reports of Pelosi "trip trouble," ignored Republican-led delegation</a></b><br />
On the April 3 edition of Fox News&#39; <i>Special Report</i>, host <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/brithume?src=other">Brit Hume</a>
reported that "[t]he White House tried to discourage" a trip by
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to Syria to meet with President Bashar Al-Assad
because the administration says "such a visit sends mixed signals to
countries in the region and to the Syrian government." But like <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200704020007?src=other">numerous</a> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200704030010?src=other">other</a> recent media reports on the
White House criticism of the Pelosi-led trip, Hume did not <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Syria-House-Visit.html?_r=2&amp;oref=slogin&amp;oref=slogin">mention</a> a
Republican-led delegation that met with Assad in Damascus on April 1. An April 3 report on CNN and
an April 4 report on ABC made similar
omissions. At the end of his report, Hume added:
"Democratic Senators John Kerry [MA] and Chris Dodd [CT] both today issued statements defending
Pelosi&#39;s trip. The senators had their own meeting with the Syrian president
this past December." But Hume failed to mention that in addition to
Kerry&#39;s and Dodd&#39;s meetings with Assad in December 2006, Sen. Arlen
Specter (R-PA) also <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200612190007?src=other" title="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06361/749189-82.stm">visited</a> the Syrian president later
that month.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040016?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040010?src=other">CNN's Malveaux said Pelosi has no "standing," asked if Syria trip is a "political stunt"</a></b><br />
On the April 3 edition of CNN&#39;s <i>The Situation Room</i>, guest host Suzanne
Malveaux repeatedly asserted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had no
"standing" and was not acting in an "official capacity"
when she <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/world/middleeast/03cnd-pelosi.html?ex=1333252800&amp;en=76d17d43700d0a61&amp;ei=5090&amp;partner=rssuserland&amp;emc=rss" title="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/world/middleeast/03cnd-pelosi.html?ex=1333252800&amp;en=76d17d43700d0a61&amp;ei=5090&amp;partner=rssuserland&amp;emc=rss">traveled to Syria</a> to meet with
President Bashar Assad and others, even though Democratic strategist Paul
Begala told Malveaux that "Pelosi has standing. She&#39;s the speaker of the
House," and Malveaux herself noted that Pelosi "will be the highest
level U.S.
official ever to meet with Assad." Additionally, Malveaux asked her
guests if Pelosi&#39;s trip was anything more than "political
theater" or a "political stunt," and characterized the trip
as a response to President Bush&#39;s "wishes," which follows CNN&#39;s pattern of portraying Democratic action as a reaction to the
president.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040010?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/race_affirmative_action?src=other">Race/Affirmative Action</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040009?src=other">KSFO's Rodgers: "Well, thank God you didn't offer [Al Sharpton] watermelon."</a></b><br />
On the April 4 broadcast of San Francisco radio station
KSFO&#39;s <i>Morning Show</i>, while
discussing the "rise" of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) as a presidential
candidate, co-host Melanie Morgan claimed, "You know, there&#39;s
nobody more disturbed than [Rev.] Al Sharpton" over Obama&#39;s
popularity. Morgan then referred to her July 6, 2006, <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,202573,00.html">appearance</a>
on Fox News&#39; <i>Hannity &amp; Colmes</i>,
during which she stated that she would "bomb Reverend Sharpton and others" who were engaging in
a "Troops Home Fast" protest "with bread." The protest
reportedly <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.people.com/people/article/0,26334,1210118,00.html">entailed</a>
"giving up food on designated days and encouraging others to fast."
On the <i>Morning Show</i>, Morgan told
co-host Lee Rodgers: "Do you remember when he was on that rolling fast
for peace with Cindy Sheehan ... and I went on television and offered him
... a loaf of bread? He did not like that, Lee. ... [H]e did not like that at all." Rodgers
replied: "Well, thank God you didn&#39;t offer him watermelon."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040009?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040011?src=other">Imus called women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos"</a></b><br />
On the April 4 edition of MSNBC&#39;s <i>Imus in the Morning</i>, host Don Imus
referred to the Rutgers
 University women&#39;s
basketball team, which is <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.scarletknights.com/basketball-women/roster/roster-alph.asp">comprised</a>
of eight African-American and two white players, as
"nappy-headed hos" immediately after the show&#39;s executive
producer, Bernard McGuirk, called the team "hard-core hos." Later,
former <i>Imus</i> sports announcer Sid
Rosenberg, who was filling in for sportscaster Chris Carlin, said: "The
more I look at Rutgers, they look exactly like
the [National Basketball
Association&#39;s] Toronto Raptors." 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040011?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/iran?src=other">Iran</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040002?src=other">Conservative media ridicule, smear captured British sailors</a></b><br />
On March 23, the Iranian government <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6484279.stm">captured</a> 15 British sailors and
marines in the Persian Gulf, alleging that
they had entered Iranian territorial waters. During their captivity, the detained sailors <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/world/middleeast/29cnd-sailor.html?ex=1332820800&amp;en=51c6a35595431af5&amp;ei=5088&amp;partner=rssnyt&amp;emc=rss">apparently</a> participated in the production of
various propaganda materials, leading several conservatives -- including <i>New York Post</i> columnist Ralph Peters,
National Review Online contributor John Derbyshire, CNN Headline News host <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/glennbeck?src=other">Glenn Beck</a>,
and syndicated radio host <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/michaelsavage?src=other">Michael
Savage</a> -- to mock and smear the captives.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040002?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/media?src=other">Media</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040006?src=other">O'Reilly quizzed body language expert on possible "sexual body language" from Couric during interview with Edwardses</a></b><br />
During his weekly "Body Language" segment on the
April 3 edition of Fox News&#39; <i>The
O&#39;Reilly Factor</i>, host <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/billoreilly?src=other">Bill O&#39;Reilly</a>
commented that body language expert Tonya Reiman had "surprised me" the previous week "by saying Ms. Couric used some sexual
body language." O&#39;Reilly
was referring to CBS News anchor Katie Couric&#39;s interview with former
Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and his wife, Elizabeth, about their decision to
continue his presidential campaign after learning that her cancer had recurred.
After playing a clip of Couric during that interview, O&#39;Reilly asked
about Couric&#39;s "little head flip," to which Reiman replied:
"Typically, though, when you see that head pull back like that what
you&#39;re trying to do is show off that you really care about your appearance. And
coupled with the smile she gives, it doesn&#39;t necessarily have to be sexual, but
it was definitely a look of satisfaction, a look of feeling good, so to
speak." O&#39;Reilly then prodded: "But in general -- because I
know a lot of women who do that with their hair -- that is a sexual gesture?"
Reiman added that "[i]t&#39;s
a gesture that shows, &#39;I&#39;m trying to impress you. I&#39;m trying to look my
best for you. I want you to notice that I take care of myself. You know, I&#39;m
pulling my hair back to make you notice me a little bit more.&#39; "
She concluded: "Any time you move, what you&#39;re doing is asking someone to
look at you."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200704040006?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>




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