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.

Propaganda/Noise Machine

Savage accused "Nazi" Rep. Hinchey of seeking a "final solution for conservatives on talk radio"
On the May 2 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage attacked the "Nazi" supporters of the Media Ownership Reform Act (MORA), calling its author, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), the "chief National Socialist, or Nazi," and claiming that philanthropist George Soros is "[t]he man behind it all." MORA would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enforce its now-dormant "fairness doctrine," which required broadcasters covering issues of public importance to fairly present all sides of the debate. Savage asserted that MORA "would declare Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly 'Threats to National Security,' and remove us from the radio," and that this "is the exact rhetoric that Hitler used in his march to take over Germany." Savage then proclaimed that "the liberals like Maurice Hinchey want the final solution for conservatives on talk radio." Read more

To Parker, Dems' letter was "hissy fit" rather than rebuttal of Broder claim
In her May 4 nationally syndicated column, Kathleen Parker wrote that "50 Democratic senators felt compelled to respond" to Washington Post columnist David Broder's April 26 column, in which Broder, in Parker's words, "set off a firestorm" by calling Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) an "embarrassment." Parker asserted the Democrats' letter had "the unmistakable whiff of a powder room manifesto, otherwise known as a hissy fit," but made no mention of the specific factual claim Broder made in his column -- that there was a "long list of senators of both parties who are ready for" Reid's "springtime exhibitions of ineptitude to end." As Media Matters for America noted, the senators directly challenged Broder's charge: "[W]e believe Mr. Reid is an extraordinary leader who has effectively guided the new Democratic majority through these first few months with skill and aplomb." Read more

Having promised "update" of Feb. column predicting Bush "comeback," Broder did not mention it
During a May 4 washingtonpost.com online chat, Washington Post columnist David Broder told readers that his then-upcoming May 6 column would be his "best effort at an update" to his February 16 column in which he asserted that President Bush was "poised for a political comeback." In his May 6 column, titled "A War the Public Will End," Broder did not in any way address his assertion that Bush had been "poised for a comeback," much less note that the predicted comeback did not occur. Rather, in that column, Broder took the position that Bush has a short-term advantage over Democrats on Iraq because Bush "has a clear plan" for the war strategy, whereas "[t]he Democratic-controlled Congress ... lacks agreement on any such plan." Broder asserted that Bush's "high-risk policy" of "apply[ing] more military force in and around Baghdad in hopes of suppressing the sectarian violence and creating space for the Iraqi politicians to assemble a functioning government," had "no guarantee of success. But it is a clear strategy." Read more

Kurtz, AP differ on Matthews' objectivity, but both agree he doesn't favor Republicans
On CNN, Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz asked: "Republicans were willing to participate in an MSNBC debate with a guy [Chris Matthews] who used to work for Jimmy Carter and Tip O'Neill. Should Democrats be refusing to debate on Fox News?" Similarly, an Associated Press article implicitly contrasted Matthews, presented as not overtly partisan, with MSNBC colleague Keith Olbermann. Neither Kurtz nor the AP mentioned the numerous instances in which Matthews has showered praise on several of the Republican presidential hopefuls. Read more

2008 Elections

Newsweek's Thomas on "dispirited" McCain: "[I]t may be because he is not, at heart, a politician. He is a warrior"
In the cover story for the May 14 edition of Newsweek, assistant managing editor Evan Thomas wrote about Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) "dramatic profile in courage," noting that McCain "is not the front runner in fund-raising or in national polls. And he has seemed strangely dispirited along the way, more petulant than determined in last week's first Republican debate." According to Thomas: "That may be because he senses that his unflagging support for a highly unpopular war in Iraq could end his political career, but it may be because he is not, at heart, a politician. He is a warrior." Read more

Limbaugh suggested Obama needs Secret Service protection because of "Clinton Inc."
On the May 7 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh defended his "Barack, The Magic Negro" song -- a parody mocking 2008 Democratic presidential hopeful and Sen. Barack Obama (IL) -- and said, in response to reports about the controversy this parody has generated: "If I were to think about Barack Obama being in any trouble -- needing Secret Service -- I would look to Clinton Inc. before I looked at me. Try that, drive-by media. Get that out there." Read more

Ignoring missed votes, CNN's Watts said McCain fundraising suffered because he "had to go be a senator"
On the May 2 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, CNN political analyst J.C. Watts told host Wolf Blitzer that Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (AZ) "reported about $12.5 million raised in the first quarter; $11 million of that was raised in a month. And then he had to go be a senator and try to take care of some war things." Neither Watts nor Blitzer informed viewers that McCain has missed more votes than any other senator so far in 2007 -- excluding Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), who suffered a brain hemorrhage in December and has not yet returned to the Senate -- or that McCain has missed a number of votes pertaining to the war in Iraq. Read more

Race/Affirmative Action

Locked Out: The Lack of Gender and Ethnic Diversity on Cable News Continues
During the recent controversy over former radio and television host Don Imus' remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team, some cable-news viewers may have noticed something unusual: the presence of significantly more African-Americans. The nature of the controversy led the cable networks to seek comment from a far more diverse group of people than they ordinarily do, which begs the question: To the extent these cable programs included a more diverse guest lineup during the Imus controversy, why do they provide such diversity only when issues of race are in the news cycle? Do cable-news producers view the guests added to the lineup during the Imus controversy as qualified to talk only about issues of race, and not other issues of national and political significance? Read more

National Security/Foreign Policy

ABC, Fox News reported on Rice meeting with Syrian foreign minister without noting relentless criticism of Pelosi trip
Two major nightly news programs -- ABC's World News with Charles Gibson and Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume -- have reported on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's May 3 meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem without mentioning that the Bush administration and other Republicans lambasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad just weeks earlier, even though her delegation included a Republican member of Congress, and a Republican-led delegation had met with Assad two days earlier. Furthermore, both ABC and Fox News covered criticism of Pelosi for meeting with Assad in early April. Read more

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