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

Two Wash. Post articles falsely reported Republicans need "net gain" of one seat to control Senate
The Washington Post twice reported that Republicans need a "net gain" of just one seat in the 2008 elections to recapture control of the Senate. However, a "net gain" of one seat for Republicans would result in a 50-50 split. For the Post's assertion to be correct, a senator currently caucusing with the Democrats would have to defect or the GOP would have to keep the White House, neither of which was noted by the Post. Read more

WorldNetDaily's Kinsolving repeated false claim during White House press briefing that Castro endorsed Clinton and Obama
During a White House press briefing, Les Kinsolving falsely asserted that Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama received an "endorsement" in a column by Fidel Castro. However, at no point did Castro endorse Clinton or Obama; to the contrary, he attributed to Clinton and Obama a pro-democratic view that he called an "error," and he said of the two candidates, "They are not making politics: they are playing a game of cards on a Sunday afternoon."
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Wash. Post editorial noted Edwards donor's indictment, ignored report that Edwards was absolved of wrongdoing
A Washington Post editorial arguing for legally mandated full disclosure of campaign donation "bundlers" left out key facts about the two cases that it cited, Geoffrey Fieger and Norman Hsu. The editorial did not note that prosecutors have reportedly confirmed that John Edwards' campaign was unaware of alleged illegal contributions made by Fieger and absolved the campaign of any wrongdoing; similarly, the editorial failed to note that the Wall Street Journal article it cited offered no evidence implicating Hillary Clinton with regard to Hsu. Read more

Wash. Times suggested without evidence that Hsu illegally funneled donations to Dems
The Washington Times claimed that Norman Hsu "donated more than $1 million to senior Democrats, including the presidential campaigns of Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois." The article later claimed, providing no evidence, that "[s]ome of Mr. Hsu's donations were made through several people" -- which would presumably be a violation of federal law. In fact, Hsu himself has reportedly donated $255,000 to federal candidates since 2003," and has acted as a "bundler," soliciting friends and associates to make contributions to certain candidates with their own money, which, when added to Hsu's own donations, total more than $1 million. Bundling itself is not illegal, but as The New York Times noted, it is "illegal for a bundler to reimburse a contributor." Read more

NPR's Cornish reinforces myth of Thompson as Watergate hero
Reporting on Fred Thompson's Republican presidential campaign, National Public Radio's Audie Cornish cited the"renown[]" Thompson acquired for his role as Republican counsel on the Senate Watergate committee during Watergate, but her report did not mention Thompson's own admission that he provided crucial information to President Nixon's lawyer without authorization.
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War in Iraq

AP, Wash. Post reported Bush claim on troop withdrawals but not generals'
The Washington Post and the Associated Press uncritically reported Bush's statement that "General [David] Petraeus and Ambassador [Ryan] Crocker tell me if the kind of success we are now seeing continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces." But neither noted reports -- including by the AP -- that Petraeus and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have said that the number of U.S. troops in Iraq will have to decrease next year regardless of success. Read more

Media

Dallas Morning News' Slater falsely attributed to Media Matters description of Hewitt as "a Renaissance Man of the New Media universe"
In a September 1 Dallas Morning News column, Austin bureau chief Wayne Slater wrote that conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt "sees the freewheeling mix of radio and the Internet as a potent force that has undermined what he calls the creaky monopoly of liberal mainstream media," adding: "The liberal group Media Matters, no fan of Mr. Hewitt's politics, nonetheless dubbed him 'a Renaissance Man of the New Media universe.' " In fact, it was not Media Matters that described him as such, but rather Roger Aronoff, a media analyst for the conservative media "watchdog" group Accuracy in Media, in a September 15, 2005, column. Read more

Propaganda/Noise Machine

NY Times detected inconsistency between criticizing Bush and supporting troops
In a September 3 article about Rep. Tim Mahoney's (D-FL) position on the Iraq war, The New York Times asserted that Mahoney "and other moderates are trying to find a balance between criticizing the Bush administration and supporting the troops," suggesting that critics of President Bush or the administration's war policy do not also support the troops. Read more

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