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, Newsday uncritically report Giuliani assertion that 2003 and 1997 abortion ban exceptions were substantively different
An April 25 Newsday article uncritically reported that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) "insisted his recent support for the Supreme Court decision upholding a ban on" the abortion procedure that critics call partial-birth abortion "was consistent with his past opposition because the law changed in 2003 to include more scientific language about protecting the life of the mother." Similarly, an April 25 Associated Press article uncritically reported that Giuliani said there was no "inconsistency" between "his long-standing support of abortion rights and his affirmation last week of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold a ban on what critics call partial-birth abortion," adding that Giuliani "said he opposed" such a ban "when it was discussed during the Clinton administration because he didn't feel it made an exception when a mother's life was in danger." The AP noted that "Giuliani supported" President Bill Clinton when Clinton vetoed a ban of the procedure. However, neither article noted that the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1997 that Clinton vetoed also included a similar "exception when a mother's life was in danger" or challenged Giuliani's reported assertion that the 2003 ban "include[d] more scientific language about protecting the life of the mother." Read more

Savage called Clinton's Rutgers speech "Hitler dialogue," added, "Goebbels would be proud of you"
On the April 23 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage played an audio clip of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) April 20 speech at Rutgers University in which Clinton commented on the April 18 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. In the clip, Clinton asked, "What message does it send when the Supreme Court decides that women's health doesn't matter?" In response, Savage stated: "That's rubbish. That's Hitler dialogue. [Joseph] Goebbels [information minister in Nazi Germany] would be proud of you, Hillary Clinton. I know [former Chinese communist leader] Mao Zedong would have been proud of you." Savage also referred to Clinton as a "liar" and a "sickening person," and added, "[T]his is life and death you are talking about. It's not about women's health." Read more

NPR allowed ex-McCain aide to claim that McCain's fundraising has lagged because he doesn't like it
On the April 25 broadcast of National Public Radio's Morning Edition, while discussing Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) official entry into the 2008 presidential race, host Steve Inskeep asked former McCain campaign manager Mike Murphy: "Does John McCain like doing all the things that you have to do to run for president?" Murphy replied: "He doesn't particularly like beating contributors out of money." Murphy said that this might be "one reason" McCain has had "some trouble" in his campaign, and added, "In some ways, I think that's a compliment to him." Read more

Fox News' Angle mischaracterized Sun-Times report, Obama land deal
On the April 24 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, chief Washington correspondent Jim Angle claimed that an April 23 Chicago Sun-Times article "alleged [Sen. Barack] Obama [D-IL] did legal work for [Chicago Democratic fundraiser Antoin] Rezko that enabled him [Rezko] to get $43 million in government funding to rehab 15 buildings." In fact, the Sun-Times reported that while Obama worked at the law firm that helped Rezko's company, Rezmar, secure the government funding, his role in the Rezmar deals is "unclear," and that Obama's campaign said Obama worked only five hours on Rezmar-related deals. "Senator Obama did not directly represent Mr. Rezko or his firms," according to an email from Obama's staff that the Sun-Times quoted. "He did represent on a very limited basis ventures in which Mr. Rezko's entities participated along with others." Read more

Limbaugh gave baseless interpretation of Clinton speech to claim she was "demeaning" blacks
On the April 23 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) made a "demeaning reference to the fact that [African-Americans are] janitors, or custodial workers, or cleaning people" during her April 20 speech at the National Action Network annual convention by saying the following: "The abuses that have gone on in the last six years -- I don't think we know the half of it yet. You know, when I walk into the Oval Office in January 2009, I'm afraid I'm going to lift up the rug and I'm going to see so much stuff under there! You know, what is it about us always having to clean up after people?" Read more

War in Iraq

ABC's Tapper, Politico's Allen -- citing "juicy" issue for GOP -- didn't mention Pelosi's attempted meeting with Petraeus
In an April 24 ABCNews.com article, in what ABC characterized as "Breaking News," ABC News senior national correspondent Jake Tapper reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) "will not attend" an April 25 briefing on Capitol Hill with Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, but noted that a "Pelosi aide said the speaker on Tuesday requested a one-on-one meeting with Petraeus but that could not be worked out," and that Pelosi and Petraeus had spoken on the phone for 30 minutes. However, when Tapper reported on this matter on the April 25 broadcast of ABC's Good Morning America, he stated only that Pelosi "spoke to Petraeus on the phone for about half an hour yesterday and was briefed that way." Tapper made no mention of Pelosi's request for "a one-on-one meeting," as he had the previous day on the ABC News website. Read more

Fox's Gibson: U.S. invasion "unmasked" Iraqis as "knuckle-dragging savages from the 10th century"
On the April 23 broadcast of his Fox News Radio show, John Gibson argued that the Iraqi people -- whom he described as "knuckle-dragging savages from the 10th century" -- are at "fault" for the situation in Iraq. While discussing Iraq, Gibson said: "The one thing that drives me up the wall is [people] saying, 'Look at all the deaths you Americans have caused in Iraq.' No! 'Scuse me? We invaded the place, we knocked over Saddam, and then Iraqis began killing each other." Later in the show, Gibson agreed with a caller that the Coalition Provisional Authority's 2003 decision to purge the civil service of all former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party and disband the Iraqi army "was a mistake." Gibson then stated: "[B]ut who is doing this killing? Give me a break. These are Iraqis killing each other. So what did we do? If you're saying it's our fault that we unmasked them as knuckle-dragging savages from the 10th century -- fine! I'll take credit." Read more

Race/Affirmative Action

Wash. Times: "[H]as political correctness turned Robert E. Lee into a villain?"
An April 25 front-page Washington Times article by Robert Stacy McCain asked, "[H]as political correctness turned Robert E. Lee into a villain?" The article, headlined "Symposium to honor Lee, villain or 'the noblest ever'?" reported that six historians will debate the question at a "symposium commemorating the bicentennial of the Confederate commander's birth," which "[m]ore than 200 have registered to attend." McCain also quoted Brag Bowling, a "Richmond resident who helped organize" the symposium, saying, "Hostility to Confederate heritage 'has really gotten bad in the last decade.' " McCain has also written articles for the Times with the headlines, " 'Gentle ladies' of South keep Lee's legacy alive; Will mark Confederate leader's birthday" and "How the Democrats made loving Dixie a hate crime." Read more

Global Warming

Frontline's Hot Politics falsely claimed "Gore rarely mentioned global warming" during 2000 campaign
On April 24, the Public Broadcasting Service's Frontline aired Hot Politics, its new program with the Center for Investigative Reporting focusing on the politics of global warming, which falsely claimed that, during his 2000 presidential campaign, "candidate [Al] Gore rarely mentioned global warming or talked about mandatory carbon caps." In fact, Gore did mention the issue of global warming throughout his campaign -- including in his acceptance speech at the 2000 Democratic National Convention. The narrator then went on to document then-presidential candidate George W. Bush's September 2000 campaign promise to support mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions along with Bush's March 2001 reversal on the issue. Read more

Propaganda/Noise Machine

Hannity repeatedly attacked Reid as "a propaganda minister for our enemies"
On the April 24 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity attacked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) for his remark during an April 19 press conference that "the [Iraq] war is lost." Hannity said to former Republican vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp: "I think [Reid is] a propaganda minister for our enemies. He's emboldening our enemies, and he's taking away the morale of our troops. They're out there fighting that war, and he said it's lost." Kemp replied: "[T]here's got to be a penalty for saying dumb things," adding: "You know, talk is cheap. But once you say something, you can't buy it back." Neither Hannity nor Kemp noted Reid's subsequent statement during the press conference that "the war, at this stage, can only be won diplomatically, politically, and economically." As Media Matters for America has noted, numerous media outlets have similarly ignored this portion of Reid's remarks while highlighting his assertion that "the war is lost." Read more

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