Media Matters for America summary, August 29, 2007
 
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:03:04 -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/200708290014?src=other"><em>The  Hill</em>'s Stoddard on  Paws' donations: "[T]his is exactly the kind of thing that could  bring [Hillary Clinton] down"</a></b><br />
On <em>Tucker</em>, while discussing a <em>Wall 
Street Journal</em> article that suggested a major donor may have funneled illegal campaign 
contributions to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, A.B. Stoddard asserted that "this is exactly the kind of thing that could 
bring her down." However, as 
the <em>Journal</em> article 
itself reported: "[R]egulators and 
law-enforcement officials said they have seen a spike recently in the number of 
cases of individuals and companies illegally reimbursing others for campaign 
donations. Those cases don't necessarily implicate the candidates, who sometimes 
don't even appear to be aware of such payments executed on their behalf."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290014?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290015?src=other">Blitzer omitted  context of Clinton remarks to ask: "Why not give the  military a chance to see if they can finish the  job?"</a></b><br />
In an interview with Sen. Chuck Schumer, CNN's Wolf Blitzer omitted the context 
from Sen. Hillary Clinton's remarks that "[w]e've begun to change tactics in 
Iraq, and in some areas -- particularly in Al Anbar province -- it's working," 
to assert that "even some Democrats are now suggesting that maybe the military 
part of the troop buildup, the so-called surge, is making some progress." But 
Clinton was 
attributing successes in Al Anbar to a change in tactics, not President Bush's 
so-called "surge" strategy.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290015?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290007?src=other">MSNBC's Hall  falsely claimed Clinton and Obama said Iraq surge is "working, so then why  not stay longer?"</a></b><br />
On MSNBC, anchor Tamron Hall claimed that Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama 
are "both saying that the new strategy" in Iraq "is working," and later asked 
VoteVets.org's Jon Soltz whether it would hurt anti-war organizations' message 
"when you hear from ... the two leading candidates for president ... saying 'Hey, 
things are working, so then why not stay longer?' " But neither Clinton nor 
Obama has said that 
President Bush's troop increase strategy is "working," and neither has advocated 
"stay[ing] longer."

<br />
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290007?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290012?src=other">Fox  graphics falsely asserted Castro "wants"  Clinton-Obama as "dream  team"</a></b><br />
During a <em>Fox &amp; Friends</em> 
segment discussing an August 28 column by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, on-screen 
text falsely asserted, 
"CASTRO'S DREAM TEAM: WANTS CLINTON AND OBAMA IN '08," referring to Democratic 
presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Also during the 
segment, an on-screen graphic 
depicted Castro, Clinton, and Obama enclosed in a red heart. In fact, at no 
point in his column did Castro endorse Clinton or Obama. Indeed, he attributed 
to Clinton and Obama a pro-democratic view that he called an "error," and he 
said of Clinton and Obama, "They are not making politics: they are playing a 
game of cards on a Sunday afternoon."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290012?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/lgbt_issues?src=other">LGBT Issues</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290010?src=other">Re-airing Abrams/Carlson segment, MSNBC left out part where Carlson admitted assault</a></b><br />
On August 29, MSNBC twice re-aired a segment from the August
28 edition of <i>Live with
Dan Abrams</i>, in which MSNBC host Tucker Carlson
asserted, "Having sex in a public men&#39;s room is outrageous.
It&#39;s also really common. I&#39;ve been bothered in men&#39;s
rooms." Carlson continued, "I got bothered in Georgetown
Park," in Washington, D.C.,
"when I was in high school." As <i>Media
Matters for America</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org//items/200708290003?f=h_latest">noted</a>, when Abrams asked how Carlson
responded to being "bothered," Carlson said: "I went back
with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the -- you know, and grabbed him,
and ... hit him against the stall with his head, actually." However,
while both August 29 re-airings did include Carlson&#39;s claim that he had
been "bothered in men&#39;s rooms," neither broadcast aired the
portion in which Carlson claimed that he "went back with someone"
and "hit him against the stall with his head." Both re-airings did
include a portion of the segment in which Carlson asserted, "I&#39;m
not anti-gay in the slightest."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290010?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290003?src=other">UPDATED: Carlson claimed that after incident in a public bathroom, he assaulted the man who "bothered" him</a></b><br />
On the August 28 edition of <i>MSBNC

Live</i>, hosted by MSNBC general

manager Dan Abrams, Tucker Carlson, host of MSNBC&#39;s <i>Tucker</i>, asserted, "Having sex in a

public men&#39;s room is outrageous. It&#39;s also really common.

I&#39;ve been bothered in men&#39;s rooms." Carlson continued,

"I&#39;ve been bothered in Georgetown

Park," in Washington, D.C.,

"when I was in high school." When Abrams asked how Carlson

responded to being "bothered," Carlson asserted, "I went back

with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the -- you know, and grabbed him,

and ... hit him against the stall with his head, actually." 
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290003?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/200708290011?src=other">CNN's Henry uncritically aired Bush's claim that "violence has sharply decreased in  Baghdad"</a></b><br />
In airing President Bush's assertion that "[s]ectarian violence has 
sharply decreased in Baghdad. The momentum is now on our side," CNN's Ed Henry gave 
no indication that he attempted to verify Bush's assertion. By contrast, recent articles by the 
Associated Press and McClatchy Newspapers have challenged claims about decreases 
in violence in Iraq.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290011?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290001?src=other">Despite hyping lower July death toll, network evening news programs silent on number of troop deaths this summer</a></b><br />
ABC's <em>World News</em>, <em>CBS</em> <em>Evening News</em>,
and NBC's <em>Nightly News</em>
reported that the death toll for U.S.
service members in Iraq
was down in July. But none of the programs noted at the time that U.S.
troop death numbers for July, while lower than previous months, meant that this
July was the deadliest July of the war. And none of the programs have reported the fact that the current number of troops killed in Iraq for the months of June, July,
and August makes the summer of 2007 the bloodiest summer of the war for
American soldiers.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290001?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/terrorism?src=other">Terrorism</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290006?src=other">Olbermann named  Fox's Gibson "Worst Person" for claiming Clinton "makes a deal with Al  Qaeda"</a></b><br />
MSNBC's Keith Olbermann named Fox 
News host John Gibson the "winner" of his "Worst Person in the World" segment 
for claiming that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton made "a deal with Al Qaeda" to "go 
easier" on terrorists if elected president.

<br />
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290006?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/nominations?src=other">Nominations</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290002?src=other">Sabato, Sanchez dismissed as "politics" likely Dem objections to  potential  Chertoff  nomination</a></b><br />
Discussing replacements for outgoing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Larry 
Sabato asserted that if President Bush nominates Michael Chertoff, 
"[u]ndoubtedly, the Democrats are going to revisit Katrina. They're going to use 
the nomination hearings ... to talk about something that happened two 
years ago in a completely different realm, but that's politics." Similarly, Republican 
strategist Leslie Sanchez, apparently referring to a potential Chertoff nomination, stated that the "Democrats 
have already announced this is going to be another piece of political theater," 
adding that they "want to rehash Katrina, different allegations, start more 
investigations."

<br />
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290002?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/200708290009?src=other"><em>NY  Times</em>'  Stolberg, MNSBC's Matthews cited Tony Perkins, GOP  conservatives as  espousing "ethics" and "values"</a></b><br />
<em>New York Times</em> reporter Sheryl 
Gay Stolberg repeated a common media 
practice of suggesting that the GOP's "social conservative wing" cares more 
about "ethics and family values" than others, and quoted Tony Perkins, the 
president of the Family Research Council, 
in support. Similarly, MSNBC's Chris 
Matthews asked Perkins about "conservative people like yourself, who are not 
politicians, but are men of the church, who believe in values, rather than 
election results." Neither noted 
Perkins' reported ties to both 
the white-supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC) and former Ku Klux 
Klan Grand Wizard David Duke.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200708290009?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>




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