Media Matters for America summary, August 24, 2007
 
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 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/2008_elections?src=other">2008 Elections</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240011?src=other">Fox News' Cavuto  cropped Clinton  quote to suggest she "knows ... Republicans are tougher on  terror"</a></b><br />
On <em>Your World</em>, Neil Cavuto 
brought up Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's comment that "[i]f certain things happen between now and the 
elections, particularly with respect to terrorism, that will automatically give 
the Republicans an advantage again," and asked radio talk-show host Ben Ferguson, "So, Ben, your take on this is that she knows in her heart 
of hearts Republicans are tougher on terror?" But Cavuto did not mention that Clinton criticized Republicans' 
handling of national security in the 
very same statement.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240011?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240004?src=other">Fox's Vogel misrepresented Democrats' CA ballot measures as "protect[ing] the current process"</a></b><br />
On <em>Special
Report</em>, correspondent Anita Vogel falsely claimed that ballot
initiatives proposed by Democrats on the
distribution of California's
electoral votes would "protect the current process." In fact, the initiatives would change the
"current process" if enacted by California and other states.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240004?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240007?src=other">O'Reilly asserted  "most journalists give money to Democrats" -- but study on subject refutes  him</a></b><br />
On 
<em>The O'Reilly Factor</em>, Bill 
O'Reilly stated: "[A]ll the money from the elites. We know that journalists -- most journalists 
give money to Democrats." However, 
the study O'Reilly was apparently referring to showed that of the small fraction of 
journalists who donated money at all to campaigns, more gave to Democrats than 
Republicans -- not that "most 
journalists give money to Democrats."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240007?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240008?src=other"><em>Union Leader</em> editorial falsely claimed Clinton said "troop surge in Iraq is working"</a></b><br />
A New
 Hampshire <em>Union Leader</em>
editorial falsely claimed that "Sen. Hillary Clinton said Gen. David Petraeus'
troop surge in Iraq
is working." In fact, Clinton
said that changed tactics -- "particularly in Al Anbar province" -- are "working," not the
"surge." The editorial added that Clinton
"previously (in March and again in May) noted the surge's successes"; while Clinton has previously
acknowledged progress in Al Anbar, that progress reportedly began months before
the "surge" did.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240008?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240005?src=other">Krauthammer falsely claimed that Clinton "concedes that the surge 'is working' "</a></b><br />
In his August 24
nationally syndicated <a href="http://mediamatters.org//rd?http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/23/AR2007082301833.html?hpid=opinionsbox1">column</a>, Charles
Krauthammer wrote: "When the Democratic presidential front-runner
concedes that the surge &#39;is working&#39; (albeit very late) against the
insurgency ... the
terms of the Iraq
debate become narrow and the policy question simple: What do we do right now --
continue the surge or cut it short and begin withdrawal?" Krauthammer
appeared to be referring to comments by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
during an August 20 speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) national convention. In fact, Clinton did not say in her speech that President Bush&#39;s
troop increase in Iraq
"is working," as <i>Media Matters
for America</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200708220008?f=h_latest" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200708220008?f=h_latest">has</a> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200708210008?f=h_top" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200708210008?f=h_top">noted</a>. Instead, Clinton
linked the improvements in Iraq&#39;s
Al Anbar Province to new "tactics," not Bush&#39;s troop escalation.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240005?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/global_warming?src=other">Global Warming</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240003?src=other">Hume  misrepresented study on the link between solar activity and global  warming</a></b><br />
Fox News' Brit Hume cited "new 
research by University of Washington mathematicians [that] shows a 
correlation between high solar activity and periods of global warming" as 
evidence to support his claim that "[global warming] skeptics are increasingly 
certain that the scare is vastly overblown." But an August 9 <em>New Scientist</em> article on the 
mathematicians' research warned that "[c]limate-change skeptics may seize on the 
findings as evidence that the sun's variability can explain global warming -- 
but [the report's co-author] mathematician Ka-Kit Tung says quite the contrary 
is true." The New Scientist reported that Tung says his finding, in the <em>New Scientist's </em>words, "adds to the 
evidence that mainstream climate models are right about the likely extent of 
future human-generated warming."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240003?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/200708240012?src=other">Media failed to  resolve question  of  which  members  of  Congress  Freedom's  Watch  ads  are  targeting</a></b><br />
In reports on a recent advertisement buy by Freedom's Watch in support of the Iraq 
war, media reports have 
failed to resolve the question of which members of Congress the ad buys are 
targeting, despite the apparent newsworthiness of the issue. For instance, 
<em>The Washington Post</em> suggested that the ad 
campaign 
is 
an 
attack 
on 
Democrats, 
a 
suggestion repeated 
by 
<em>Time</em>'s Karen Tumulty; other reports have not even mentioned the issue; while still others have asserted that the ads target both Democrats and Republicans. However, according to analyses by war opponents, the buys 
target mainly Republicans, a charge Freedom's Watch called "propaganda by our 
enemies."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240012?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/200708240010?src=other">Coulter:  "[I]f you attack the Clintons publicly, make sure all your friends  know that you are not planning suicide"</a></b><br />
Apparently referring to conservative allegations that the Clintons were somehow 
involved in the death of Vincent Foster, Ann Coulter asserted: "[I]f you attack 
the Clintons publicly, make sure all your friends know that you are not planning 
suicide, that you're not careless when you drive a car." However, numerous 
investigations have determined that Foster's death was a suicide.

<br />
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240010?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240009?src=other"><em>LA</em> <em>Times</em>' McGough guessed "President Gore" might have allowed warrantless wiretapping, but didn't note Gore's public criticisms</a></b><br />
In a column, <em>Los
Angeles Times</em> senior editorial writer Michael McGough asserted that "it is far from a
slam dunk ... that a
Gore administration wouldn't have done at least some of the things for which
Bush has been pilloried" and that Gore "might well
have followed suit after 9/11 with his own versions of the Patriot Act and the
Terrorist Surveillance Program." However, McGough did not mention Gore's strong criticism of the Bush administration's
warrantless domestic surveillance program or that Gore has called for the repeal of the
Patriot Act.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708240009?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>




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