Media Matters for America summary, May 11, 2007
 
Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 22:03:03 -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/propaganda_noise_machine?src=other">Propaganda/Noise Machine</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110011?src=other">Limbaugh's knee-jerk response to "Fort Dix Six": "[C]ould it be" Clinton's fault?</a></b><br />
On the May 9 broadcast of his nationally
syndicated radio show, discussing the alleged conspiracy to attack Fort Dix,
N.J., Rush Limbaugh baselessly speculated that the 1998-1999 resettlement
program for Kosovar refugees from the Balkans could have brought several of the alleged conspirators to the United States: "The Clinton
administration may have brought these people -- we don&#39;t know if five of the
six were in part of this group, but oh, man!" In fact, only one of the
six individuals involved in the alleged Fort Dix plot was reportedly part of the Kosovo refugee program. Limbaugh has yet to
acknowledge that his speculation was wrong.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110011?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110008?src=other">O'Reilly claimed his producer's specious op-ed piece "destroyed" IU study</a></b><br />
On the May 10 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> claimed <i>Factor</i>
producer Ron Mitchell "has blown the lid off" an Indiana University
(IU) <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://journalism.indiana.edu/papers/oreilly.html">study</a> that found
O&#39;Reilly engages in name-calling in his "Talking
Points Memo" segments once every 6.8 seconds. Referring to
an <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-mitchell9may09,0,3143633.story?coll=la-opinion-center">op-ed</a> Mitchell
wrote that appeared on the <i>Los Angeles Times</i>
website, O&#39;Reilly told viewers that Mitchell "just destroyed"
the study, and criticized the <i>Times</i>
for posting Mitchell&#39;s
op-ed online and not publishing it in its
print edition. But as <i>Media Matters for America</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200705110001?f=h_top" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200705110001?f=h_top">documented</a>, Mitchell&#39;s op-ed
contains a significant falsehood. 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110008?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110010?src=other">Savage accused Rep. Hinchey of being "in cahoots with Al Qaeda"</a></b><br />
On the May 9 edition of his nationally syndicated radio
show, while reading from a May 9 <i>National
Review</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MjQ5NGUzOGUwNzhiMzU5NTRlNzA4MDY0YzA0YjQ5MTQ=">article</a>
on the six Muslim men arrested for plotting <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/us/09plot.html?ex=1336363200&amp;en=3b4af728b7c09abf&amp;ei=5090&amp;partner=rssuserland&amp;emc=rss">an attack</a> on the Fort Dix military base, <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/michaelsavage?src=other">Michael
Savage</a> called Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) a "rotten,
stinking, verminous congressman."
Then, purporting to address Hinchey, Savage said: "By the time I get through
with you, if you should call me to Congress, I&#39;ll have you in prison, because you&#39;re in
cahoots with Al Qaeda. You are enabling Al Qaeda," adding, "You are
a threat to our national
security, as are all the other left-wingers who have signed that edict against -- that fatwa against
Michael Savage, and [conservative
radio host] <a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/rushlimbaugh?src=other">Rush Limbaugh</a>,
and the others who want
to disseminate the truth." 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110010?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110005?src=other"><em>Wash. Post</em>'s Kurtz reprinted right-wing attacks on Sebelius, omitted contrary evidence</a></b><br />
In his "Media Notes" column, Howard
Kurtz uncritically reprinted responses by conservative bloggers to Kansas Gov.
Kathleen Sebelius' (D) assertion that the Kansas National Guard was not
able to respond quickly to the Greensburg
tornado because much of its equipment is deployed in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
Kurtz did not cite statistics reported in a <em>New
York Times</em> article that support Sebelius' claim -- an article
he had previously mentioned -- much less try to sort out the merits of the
competing claims.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110005?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></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/200705120001?src=other">Gregory, Byron York repeated myth of Giuliani as 9-11 hero, omitting criticism</a></b><br />
On the May 11 edition of NBC&#39;s <i>Today</i>, NBC News chief White House
correspondent David Gregory said of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani
and Republican presidential candidate: "To many, 9-11 made Giuliani a hero." Later in the same
segment, Gregory aired a clip of <i>National
Review</i> White House correspondent Byron York asserting that Giuliani
might "convince" conservative voters who oppose his
abortion positions "to still vote for him because he&#39;s so strong
on issues of national security." Neither Gregory nor those quoted in his report took note of the
serious questions surrounding Giuliani&#39;s record on the issues of terrorism and national
security, which <i>Media Matters for America</i>
<a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200704040013?src=other">has</a> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200703300002?src=other">repeatedly</a> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200702020007?src=other">documented</a>.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705120001?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110007?src=other">Touting Giuliani, Morris claimed Fort Dix plot a "narrow escape"</a></b><br />
In their May 10 nationally syndicated <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,271374,00.html">column</a> -- titled
"Fort Dix Terror Plot will Lift Rudy Giuliani&#39;s Approval Rating" --
Dick Morris and Eileen McGann wrote that after U.S. officials arrested six men
alleged to have plotted an armed attack on the Fort Dix Army base in New
Jersey, "Americans realize the narrow escape they have had and understand
the importance of having a proven and tested anti-terror leader, as their
candidate in the November, 2008 elections." Morris and McGann claimed
that "after Fort
 Dix, the momentum is once
again going to shift," because former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) benefits
when the public is reminded of "the imminent threat of attack in
today&#39;s world." They wrote: 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110007?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110009?src=other"><em>Chicago Tribune </em>columnist fueled right-wing bloggers on false accusation against Obama</a></b><br />
Columnist Jim Mateja wrote that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) "has
more homework to do" and "should [hire] a fact-checker" because Obama stated that "Japanese cars [are]
now getting an average of 45 miles to the gallon." In fact, a report from the Pew
Center on Global Climate Change<em><em> </em></em>stated that the 2002 average fleet fuel
economy value in Japan
was 46.3 miles per gallon.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110009?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/immigration?src=other">Immigration</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110004?src=other">CBS contributor Dobbs defends false leprosy claim after confrontation by CBS' Stahl</a></b><br />
During a CBS News interview with correspondent Lesley Stahl,
which aired on the May 6 edition of CBS&#39; <i>60
Minutes</i>, CNN host and
CBS <i>Early Show</i> special
contributor Lou Dobbs defended CNN correspondent Christine
Romans&#39; citation  -- initially made on the April 14, 2005, <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0504/14/ldt.01.html" title="http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0504/14/ldt.01.html">edition</a> of
CNN&#39;s <i>Lou Dobbs Tonight</i> -- of the false claims that "there were about
900 cases of leprosy [in the United States] for 40 years," and that
"[t]here have been 7,000 in the past three years." The day after the <i>60 Minutes</i> interview, during the May 7 <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/07/ldt.01.html" title="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/07/ldt.01.html">edition</a>
of <i>Lou Dobbs Tonight</i>, Dobbs and
Romans again defended the claims, with Romans attributing them to the late
"Dr. Madeleine Cosman" (who did not have a medical degree but, rather, a <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/nyregion/19cosman.html?ex=1300424400&amp;en=75a1df0598ca0de5&amp;ei=5088&amp;partner=rssnyt&amp;emc=rss" title="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/nyregion/19cosman.html?ex=1300424400&amp;en=75a1df0598ca0de5&amp;ei=5088&amp;partner=rssnyt&amp;emc=rss">Ph.D. in English and comparative literature</a>). In fact, according to the <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.hrsa.gov/hansens/data/uscases1824.htm">National Hansen&#39;s
Disease Program</a> (NHDP) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),
there have been just 431 reported cases of Hansen&#39;s disease, or leprosy,
over the "past three years." The NHDP reported 8,490 cases of
Hansen&#39;s disease from 1966 to 2005,
as compared with Cosman&#39;s claim in a 2005 <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://colorado.mediamatters.org/rd?src=other&http://www.jpands.org/vol10no1/cosman.pdf" title="http://colorado.mediamatters.org/rd?src=other&http://www.jpands.org/vol10no1/cosman.pdf
blocked::http://www.jpands.org/vol10no1/cosman.pdf">article</a>
that "in 40 years ... 900 people were afflicted." Cosman appears to have derived her false
claim by misinterpreting a February 18, 2003, <i>New
York Times</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&amp;res=9406E0D81E3AF93BA25751C0A9659C8B63">article</a>.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110004?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/200705110006?src=other">NBC's Reid: Burden is on Senate to pass bill Bush can sign, not on Bush to sign bill Congress passes</a></b><br />
During the May 11 edition of <i>MSNBC Live</i>, NBC News congressional correspondent
Chip Reid described the Iraq war funding bill that the House <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&amp;storyID=2007-05-10T172446Z_01_N20398586_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-USA-FUNDING.xml&amp;pageNumber=0&amp;imageid=&amp;cap=&amp;sz=13&amp;WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2">passed</a> May 10 as
"very clearly veto bait," adding that in contrast to the House, the
Senate "has said" that it "need[s] to pass something here the president can sign because we don&#39;t want to be
accused of being the ones cutting off funding to troops in the field, while
they&#39;re in harm&#39;s way."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110006?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/200705110012?src=other">Olbermann "Worst Person" awards: O'Reilly for French "boycott" misinformation, PBS <em>NewsHour</em> for Melanie Morgan</a></b><br />
On the May 10 edition
of MSNBC&#39;s <i>Countdown</i>, host Keith
Olbermann named Fox News host
<a href="http://mediamatters.org//issues_topics/people/billoreilly?src=other">Bill O&#39;Reilly</a>
the "winner" in his nightly "Worst Person in the World"
segment for repeatedly misrepresenting the purported effects of his boycott of
France, which he called for in March 2003 because of France&#39;s opposition to the
Iraq war. As <i>Media Matters for America</i>
<a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200705090008?f=h_latest">documented</a>, on the
May 7 edition of <i>The O&#39;Reilly Factor</i>,
O&#39;Reilly declared that "<i>The Factor</i>
is lifting the boycott of France"
due to the recent <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/06/AR2007050600216.html">election</a> of
Nicolas Sarkozy as France&#39;s
next president.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200705110012?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>




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