Media Matters for America summary, September 13, 2007
 
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 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/war_in_iraq?src=other">War in Iraq</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130011?src=other">Couric highlighted Petraeus "plan to bring troops home," but not his acknowledgment that drawdown is necessary</a></b><br />
In an interview with Gen. David Petraeus, Katie
Couric noted that Petraeus has recommended reducing the number of U.S. troops serving in Iraq, but not his concession that a drawdown
of troops would be necessary to avoid further strain on the U.S. Armed Forces.

<br />
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130011?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130006?src=other"><em>NY  Times</em>  didn't challenge Boehner on details of briefing he received in  Baghdad</a></b><br />
A <em>New York Times </em>article<em> 
</em>about<em> </em>a visit to 
Iraq by a group of House Republicans 
quoted House Minority Leader John Boehner saying, "Clearly what's happened over 
the last three months has been real success." But the <em>Times</em> article provided no details about 
the briefing on which Boehner claimed to base his assertion, and a previous 
<em>Times</em> article about congressional 
delegations to Iraq described them as "highly choreographed affairs" and 
reported that "[t]he Congressional Iraq tours rarely include chats with ordinary 
Iraqis."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130006?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130005?src=other">CNN ignored  Boehner's "small price" comment after latching onto Kerry's "botched  joke"</a></b><br />
On 
<em>The Situation Room</em>, House Minority Leader John Boehner stated: "We need to continue 
our effort here [in Iraq] because, Wolf, long term, the investment that we're 
making today will be a small price if we're able to stop Al Qaeda here, if we're able to stabilize the 
Middle East, it's not only going to be a small 
price for the near future, but think about the future 
for our kids and their kids." CNN did not re-air Boehner's comments, or 
provide any discussion of the controversy that followed them. By contrast, CNN 
extensively covered Sen. John Kerry's October 30, 2006, statement -- which he later explained 
as a "botched joke" -- that, "Education, you know, if you make the most of it, 
you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can 
do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," and the controversy that 
followed.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130005?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/200709130010?src=other">Matthews  imagined committee  staffers "feast[ing] their eyes" on Clinton admin. docs</a></b><br />
On <em>Hardball</em>, Chris Matthews speculated about what a release of Clinton 
administration documents from the National Archives might reveal: 
"Let's see, the cattle-futures deal that got Hillary a $100,000 
windfall, her missing billing records 
from that Arkansas law firm, [former deputy White House counsel] 
Vince Foster -- lots of 
stuff for [Rep. 
Henry] Waxman's [D-CA] staffers and the 
Republican staffers on his subcommittee to feast their eyes on." In fact, in a letter to Rep. Tom 
Davis (R-VA), Waxman supported a request to the National Archives only for 
documents pertaining to "political presentations given to federal agencies by 
the Clinton White House Office of Political 
Affairs."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130010?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/200709130003?src=other">Matthews  gushes over Ingraham's  looks, book in which she writes about threat to power of  "shared American culture" from porous  borders</a></b><br />
On the September 12 edition of 
MSNBC&#39;s <i>Hardball</i>, host Chris 
Matthews prefaced a question to 
right-wing radio talk show host Laura Ingraham by saying, "[L]et me ask you about 
something I loved in your book." He then asked: "Nowadays, you&#39;re pointing out that parents 
don&#39;t seem to want to have kids. There&#39;s a cultural stirring against having more 
than one or two kids -- 
even zero population 
growth doesn&#39;t seem to happen in a lot of places -- and I found that interesting. Why do you 
think that&#39;s going on?"
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130003?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/200709130007?src=other"><em>Wash.  Post</em>, CNN ignored  McConnell's retraction on role of newly expanded FISA in German terror  arrests</a></b><br />
After reporting on National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell's claim that 
the recently approved law expanding the government's ability to eavesdrop on 
U.S. citizens contributed to 
arrests in Germany, <em>The Washington Post</em> and CNN have not 
subsequently reported that McConnell has since acknowledged that the newly 
passed law did not factor into the German arrests.
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130007?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<h1><a href="http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/electoral_reform?src=other">Electoral Reform</a></h1>
<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130009?src=other">California  Fox affiliate  misrepresented GOP's  electoral-vote  measure</a></b><br />
On KTTV,
Fox's Los Angeles affiliate, correspondent
John Schwada reported that "there are several new plans to further boost
the power of California
voters," referring to separate Republican and Democratic ballot
initiatives that would change the way the state's electoral votes are
awarded. But Schwada did not explain how the Republican initiative to award votes by congressional district would
"boost the power of California
voters." Under the state's current winner-take-all system, California currently awards 55 electoral votes to its
winner, far more than any other state. Under
the GOP plan, the state would give far fewer electoral votes to its winner. This, by definition, reduces the power of California voters.

<br />
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130009?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/200709130004?src=other"><em>Wash. Post</em> media critic Kurtz said Fox News is "entitled" to be a Bush "cheerleader" and "misinform[] our society"</a></b><br />
On <em>Glenn Beck</em>,
Howard Kurtz said that Keith Olbermann
has described Fox News as
a channel that
"poses as a news organization and puts out dangerous misinformation [and]
is a cheerleader for the Bush administration, that it is misinforming our
society." Kurtz added: "But you know what? They're entitled
to do that."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130004?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>

<p><b><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130008?src=other"><em>Wash. Post</em> ignored parts of Petraeus testimony to claim he "did not toe the White House line"</a></b><br />
A <em>Washington Post</em> article asserted that Gen. David Petraeus
"did not toe the White House line completely" during his recent
congressional testimony regarding progress in Iraq, citing as evidence an exchange
between Petraeus and Sen. John Warner in which Warner "[a]sked [Petraeus]
whether fighting in Iraq makes the United States safer, as Bush argues, [and]
he answered, 'I don't know.' The article did not report that
Petraeus backtracked later in his testimony, embracing the White House position
that the United States has
"very serious national interests in Iraq" and that "achieving
those interests has very serious implications for our safety and for our
security."
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200709130008?src=other" class="read">Read more</a></p>




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