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

NY Times, Wash. Post chronicled Huckabee's rise in polls -- but not recent developments in DuMond case
In the last week, several news outlets have reported on recent developments in the case of Wayne DuMond, a convicted rapist sentenced to life in prison in 1984, who was paroled in 1997 after "[then-Arkansas Gov. Mike] Huckabee and a senior member of his staff exerted behind-the-scenes influence." While both The New York Times and The Washington Post have published articles discussing Huckabee's rise in the polls for the Republican presidential nomination, and several reporters at each newspaper have written blog posts citing Huckabee's role in the DuMond case as potentially politically damaging, neither newspaper has published a news article discussing recent developments about Huckabee's role in the case. Read more

AP report on Romney's "Faith in America" speech uncritically reported Romney's decrying "religious test" for office
A December 6 Associated Press article by reporter Glen Johnson uncritically reported Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's complaint that a "religious test" to become president was "prohibited in the Constitution," without noting that Romney himself has repeatedly stated that Americans want a person of faith to lead them. Read more

Slate's Kaus theorized racial motives for why "Hillaryland Hates Obama"
In a December 4 entry on his Slate.com blog, Mickey Kaus cited a CQPolitics.com blog entry by Mother Jones Washington bureau chief David Corn in writing that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) presidential campaign "[h]ates" Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). Kaus quoted Corn writing that Clinton staffers "don't need any prompting in private conversations to decry Obama as a dishonest poser," and went on to ask: "Is this just because Obama's presumptuous enough to deny her rightful nomination? Or is there another root-cause complaint that the citizens of Hillaryland can't voice because even though it's true it wouldn't help them: that Obama's an 'affirmative action baby' who's been promoted faster than his merits would ordinarily permit? If he weren't black he'd be [Sen.] Dick Durbin [D-IL]! (Or a more appealing but less experienced version of Dick Durbin)." Kaus continued: "That Hillary's cadres can't voice or even permit themselves to think about thinking this thought, of course, might tend to make them even madder," adding: "Of course, Hillary is not an affirmative action baby. She got her position the old fashioned way -- by marrying it." Read more

On Hannity & Colmes, Gingrich cited Morris column containing numerous falsehoods to illustrate Bill Clinton's "limited connection to factual accuracy"
On Hannity & Colmes, Newt Gingrich cited Dick Morris' "most recent column," which he called "just devastating on taking apart President Clinton's most recent 5-minute ad in favor of his wife," as evidence to support his claim that Bill Clinton is "fundamentally dishonest on a routine, regular basis." Gingrich was apparently referring to an August 9 Morris column in which he purported to offer "corrections" to Clinton's "syrupy five minute ad" for his wife's presidential campaign. But Morris' column contained several falsehoods, misrepresentations and claims that are contradicted by other sources. Read more

Despite his own interview with Rep. Ellison, Beck asked, "[W]hy are we going to a candidate and asking about religion?"
During the December 6 edition of ABC's Good Morning America, anchor Diane Sawyer hosted the Southern Baptist Convention's Rev. Richard Land and CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck to discuss voter attitudes toward Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith. In responding to Sawyer's question about whether Romney's speech, scheduled for later that day, titled "Faith in America," will, in Sawyer's words, "get it done," Beck, a Mormon, replied: "First of all, why are we going to a candidate and asking about religion? Who cares?" But Beck himself has challenged a politician "about religion." As Media Matters for America documented, on the November 14, 2006, edition of his CNN Headline News program, Beck said to then-Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), who, that year, became the first Muslim ever elected to Congress: "OK. No offense, and I know Muslims. I like Muslims. I've been to mosques. I really don't believe that Islam is a religion of evil. I -- you know, I think it's being hijacked, quite frankly. With that being said, you are a Democrat. You are saying, 'Let's cut and run.' And I have to tell you, I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.' " He added: "I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way." Read more

Iran

Wash. Post and NY Times ignored Hadley's claim and denial that Bush was told to "stand down" upon learning of Iran intel
The New York Times and The Washington Post have reported on the White House's statements regarding President Bush's knowledge of the new intelligence that Iran halted its nuclear program in late 2003 -- and the administration's subsequent "clarif[ication]" and "revis[ion]" of some of those statements -- but neither paper has noted National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley's inconsistent statements regarding whether intelligence officials told Bush to "stand down" upon learning the "new information" on Iran's nuclear weapons program. Read more

Propaganda/Noise Machine

O'Reilly "runner-up" in "Worst Person" for claim that he defeated "forces of darkness" in the "war" on Christmas
During the December 5 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann named Fox News' Bill O'Reilly the "runner-up" in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for, as Media Matters for America documented, claiming to have won the "war" on Christmas. Olbermann stated: "Our runner up, Bill-O, back to this war on Christmas that only he can see or hear. Telling a guest, quote, 'There's a very effective movement under way to wipe out in the public square all vestiges of Christmas. Stores were ordering employees not to say "Merry Christmas." If I had not done the campaign, then the forces of darkness would have won.' " Olbermann added: "Geez, Bill, you are the forces of darkness. This messiah stuff is bad enough, but the context is even worse. He was saying that to an obviously very sincere and very religious woman who is leading a push to de-emphasize commercialism at Christmas, and focus instead on the message attributed to Jesus, to care for our neighbors as ourselves." Olbermann then observed: "He told her she was trying to diminish what he'd done, and that she was naive and she was spending her time 'in the land of Oz!' " Read more

This mail was sent by Media Matters for America to 'news@energy-net.org'. Please visit us at http://mediamatters.org

You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.

To change your email subscription preferences, visit http://mediamatters.org/users/prefs.html

If you'd like to unsubscribe from all Media Matters for America emails, you can just click on http://mediamatters.org/users/unsub/_TFiSm6WIkiaci7iLu6ZtH8gu6JaPh8t_vLvpt4dfhY.

To contact us directly, reply to this mail or visit http://mediamatters.org/contact_us