Here are today's news items from Media Matters for America, click on the title or 'read more' to read the entirety of each story.

2008 Elections

AP reported that "pretty" Edwards patronized spa "that caters mostly to women"
According to an April 17 Associated Press article, "Looking pretty is costing John Edwards' presidential campaign a lot of pennies." Citing campaign finance reports, the article reported that the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign committee "picked up the tab for two haircuts at $400 each by celebrity stylist Joseph Torrenueva," and that "Edwards also availed himself of $250 in services from a trendy salon and spa in Dubuque, Iowa, and $225 in services from the Pink Sapphire in Manchester, New Hampshire, which is described on its Web site as 'a unique boutique for the mind, body and face' that caters mostly to women." Read more

Reports by NY Times, others on Giuliani reaction to abortion decision did not mention apparent flip-flop
Several reports immediately following the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision upholding the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 noted Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani's statement applauding the decision, but did not note the apparent inconsistency between his April 18 statement and the position he took in 2000 against the "partial-birth abortion" ban passed by Congress in 1997. Reports by Fox News and the Associated Press and posts on the political weblogs of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal all noted Giuliani's statement praising the court's decision while omitting reference to his previously expressed opposition to the ban. Read more

Gun Control/Second Amendment

CNN's Schneider, Politico, and Time's Tumulty misled on gun-control politics
Anticipating a public debate over gun control in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, CNN's Bill Schneider, The Politico, and Time's Karen Tumulty all presented misleading reports about the political and public-opinion implications of gun control. Read more

Crime and Justice Issues

Boortz, others blame VA Tech victims for not fighting back
In the April 18 edition of his daily program notes, called Nealz Nuze and posted on his website, nationally syndicated radio host Neal Boortz asked: "How far have we advanced in the wussification of America?" Boortz was responding to criticism of comments he made on the April 17 broadcast of his radio show regarding the mass shooting at Virginia Tech. During that broadcast, Boortz asked: "How the hell do 25 students allow themselves to be lined up against the wall in a classroom and picked off one by one? How does that happen, when they could have rushed the gunman, the shooter, and most of them would have survived?" In his April 18 program notes, Boortz added: "It seems that standing in terror waiting for your turn to be executed was the right thing to do, and any questions as to why 25 students didn't try to rush and overpower Cho Seung-Hui are just examples of right wing maniacal bias. Surrender -- comply -- adjust. The doctrine of the left. ... Even the suggestion that young adults should actually engage in an act of self defense brings howls of protest." Read more

Public Broadcasting

Weekly Standard's Sonny Bunch ignored OIG report finding wrongdoing by Tomlinson
In his April 17 column, Weekly Standard assistant editor Sonny Bunch suggested that Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, the former chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), was "forced out" because his "efforts to create a ... less reflexively liberal system" were "rewarded by attacks in the New York Times and elsewhere." In fact, as Media Matters for America documented, Tomlinson stepped down as chairman when his term ended in September 2005 and subsequently left the CPB board of directors on November 3, 2005 -- a move CPB characterized as a mutual decision -- after CPB inspector general (IG) Kenneth Konz presented the board with the preliminary findings of his office's investigation into alleged legal and ethical violations by Tomlinson. Read more

War in Iraq

Echoing GOP attacks, AP, CNN's Roberts suggested Dem bill would "cut off" funds, strand troops
An April 18 Associated Press article by Anne Flaherty on the standoff between congressional Democrats and President Bush over supplemental funding for the Iraq war reported that Democrats "remain divided" on whether to "cut off money" for the war, which, the article said, would "risk leaving troops in the lurch." The suggestion that legislation advocated by some in Congress "risk[s] leaving troops in the lurch" echoes recent comments from President Bush. But while some members of Congress support plans to eliminate funding for operations in Iraq, none has advocated abandoning U.S. troops now in the field. Indeed, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), who has sponsored a bill to end funding for combat operations after March 31, 2008, recently took issue with a similar claim made by CNN anchor John Roberts. On the April 15 edition of CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, Roberts said that "it's very difficult to make an argument to cut off the funds in the middle of a war" for "the troops in the field." Feingold noted that his bill provides funding for troops and only "prohibit[s] funds for continued military operations after" March 2008. And, as Media Matters for America has noted, both Democratic-led houses of Congress have passed legislation providing funding to support the troops in Iraq, while Bush has promised to veto that funding if it doesn't meet his conditions. Read more

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