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.

War in Iraq

Wash. Post report on "views from Iraq" failed to note poll indicating widespread dissatisfaction
Washington Post staff writer Joshua Partlow's September 12 article on the "views from Iraq," headlined "Perceptions of Progress Since Buildup Vary Widely," included quotes from only six Iraqis -- two senior Iraqi National government officials, one restaurant owner, one shop owner, a Sunni lawmaker, and a spokesperson for cleric Moqtada al-Sadr -- and failed to mention the findings of a recent BBC/ABC News/NHK survey of more than 2,212 Iraqis that indicates 78 percent believe things are going badly or very badly in the country, up 12 percent since February. Read more

CNN's Nguyen did not challenge Marine's repetition of widely disputed "follow us home" claim
On CNN Newsroom, Marine Sgt. Marco Martinez claimed that "if we were to pull out prematurely, the terrorists would follow us home, and it would be disastrous for both us and Iraq," a statement that anchor Betty Nguyen did not challenge. As Media Matters has repeatedly noted, this claim is contested by a wide range of U.S. intelligence officials, security experts, and military analysts. Read more

CNN's John King claimed "critics" say that strain on troops necessitates withdrawal -- but Petraeus said it too
CNN's John King reported that in his Iraq speech, President Bush would "say we can begin to bring troops home because of successes in Iraq." King earlier asserted that "critics say ... that the president is only doing this because he has to do it," since "the Pentagon doesn't have the troops to sustain the surge." In fact, it is not only "critics" who say this, but top officials at the Pentagon, including Gen. David Petraeus.
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CNN covers criticism of Boehner's "small price" comment
The September 14 edition of CNN's The Situation Room featured a report on House Minority Leader John Boehner's (R-OH) September 12 response to CNN host Wolf Blitzer's question regarding the "$2 billion a week or $3 billion a week" spent in Iraq and the "loss in blood, the Americans who are killed every month," in which Boehner said: "We need to continue our effort here 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." As Media Matters for America documented, CNN initially ignored the controversy surrounding Boehner's comments, but extensively covered Sen. John Kerry's (D-MA) October 30, 2006, "botched joke" regarding President Bush and the Iraq war. Read more

Wash. Post claimed "Bush reached out to Democrats" in Iraq address
A Washington Post article on President Bush's Iraq speech reported that "Bush reached out to Democrats last night." The article added that "[t]he president's call for critics to 'come together' behind his new approach appeared to fall on deaf ears among congressional Democrats." However, Bush's endorsement of Gen. David Petraeus' recommendation to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq is not a compromise or "reaching out to Democrats," but a bow to reality, as Petraeus himself testified. Read more

CNN's Sanchez: Anbar is a "success, enough to have the president fly in there last week"
CNN correspondent Rick Sanchez stated that President Bush identified Iraq's Anbar Province "as a place infested with Al Qaeda," causing him to "sen[d] in more troops." Sanchez added: "The result: success, enough to have the president fly in there last week." In fact, Bush never left the heavily fortified base during his secret visit there to see the changes he touted firsthand.
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Fox only broadcast network that did not air Democratic response to Bush speech
Following President Bush's address to the nation on Iraq, Fox was the only broadcast network not to air the Democratic response. Instead, Shepard Smith gave a short description of the response and stated: "Our coverage continues on the Fox News Channel on cable and satellite with the Democratic response and more. Right now, back to your local Fox programming." ABC, NBC, and CBS all aired the Democratic response.
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2008 Elections

Covering Bush address, Larry King didn't challenge Giuliani claim that Iraq mission is "no different now" than in 2003
On a special edition of CNN's Larry King Live specifically focused on reaction to President Bush's Iraq address, Larry King failed to challenge Rudy Giuliani's assertion that "our goal is in Iraq is no different now than it was at the very beginning. The goal of the mission in Iraq is to provide safety and security so we can have an ally in Iraq against the Islamic terrorists. And that was the mission that most of the Democrats agreed to in 2003." In fact, the Bush administration has frequently changed its "goal of the mission in Iraq," which at various times it has articulated as disarming Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, building democracy, and providing stability and security in the Middle East. Read more

Health Care

Stossel report again failed to identify conservative expert, did not report WHO rankings of health systems
Good Morning America aired a preview of John Stossel's "Whose Body is it Anyway? Sick in America," which contained an interview with one expert, David Gratzer, whom Stossel identified only as an author and "Canadian doctor." Stossel failed to note that Gratzer is a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute or that the World Health Organization ranks Canada and Great Britain -- whose nationalized health systems he criticized for their long waits -- ahead of the United States in its ranking of world health systems. At the end of Stossel's report, Diane Sawyer told him: "It is so hard to get perspective on this. Thank heaven you're doing it." Read more

Polling

The Hill cited flawed Rasmussen poll to assert "solid support for Petraeus plan"
An article in The Hill on a recommendation before Congress by Gen. David Petraeus to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq to pre-"surge" levels by the summer of 2008 asserted that, in President Bush's address to the nation laying out the plan, "his sell might not be so difficult," citing as evidence a Rasmussen Reports poll that "showed that 43 percent of Americans support the Petraeus plan while 38 percent oppose it." But the poll did not offer respondents other options to choose from -- including withdrawal of a greater number of troops than that recommended by Petraeus. Read more

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