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

LA Times article mischaracterized Pres. Clinton's letter about archives
In a November 11 Los Angeles Times article, staff writer Peter Nicholas reported that former President Bill Clinton "has given the National Archives guidelines on how" to determine whether to release certain documents from his presidency and that "[i]n a letter sent in 2002, Clinton said that archivists should feel free to open up material that could legally be concealed on the grounds that it involved federal appointments or communication between advisors." The article went on to assert that Clinton "then listed some exceptions" and that "[h]e said he did not want material released if it contained 'negative' or 'derogatory' information; if it centered on a 'sensitive policy, personal or political matter'; or if it involved 'communications directly between the president and the first lady.' " In fact, as Media Matters for America noted, President Clinton's letter did not say that "he did not want material released" but, rather, listed some communications as documents to be "considered for withholding" [emphasis added]. In a November 2 statement, William J. Clinton Records representative Bruce Lindsey said that rather than prohibiting the release of communications between Bill and Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton had merely designated such communications as part of a "subset" of presidential records "that should be reviewed prior to release." Moreover, Clinton's letter did not refer to "negative" or "derogatory" information in general, as the Times suggested; rather, it specifically stated that "negative or derogatory information about individuals involved in the appointment process, including their non-selection," should be "considered for withholding." Read more

AP reported RNC demand for Clinton email disclosure but ignored allegations of RNC's improper handling of email
The Associated Press reported that the Republican National Committee is "ask[ing] people to sign a petition to the Clintons asking them to release all the 78 million pages of records and 20 million e-mail messages at the [Clinton Presidential] library." But the article did not report that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has said that it "has reason to believe that many e-mails related to official government business may have been deleted from the RNC's servers."
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Matthews claimed "Clinton people ... trying to intimidate" Blitzer -- after Blitzer had denied it
MSNBC's Hardball host Chris Matthews began his November 13 show by asserting that "the Clinton people" are "trying to intimidate" CNN host Wolf Blitzer, who is scheduled to moderate a November 15 Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas. But less than an hour earlier, Blitzer had said on CNN's The Situation Room, "No one has pressured me. No one has threatened me. No one is trying to intimidate me. ... No one has even called me to try to pressure me or anything like that. ... I have not felt any pressure whatsoever." Later during the same edition of Hardball, Matthews referred to Blitzer's denial but misrepresented it. Read more

Washington Times repeated false claim that Bill Clinton criticized Democrats
A November 13 Washington Times article on former President Bill Clinton's recent campaign appearances in South Carolina reported, "While Mr. Clinton drew fire on both sides of the political aisle when he compared sharp criticism of his wife [Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)] by her opponents at a recent Democratic debate in Philadelphia to the 'swift-boating' attacks leveled by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth at 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, he was upbeat and less defensive yesterday, assuring the crowd that his wife was strong enough to take a political punch." But, as Media Matters for America documented, Bill Clinton did not "compare[] sharp criticism of his wife by her opponents" at the Democratic debate to "swift-boating." Rather, in a November 5 speech, he criticized Republican attacks on Democrats and the role the media play in contributing to such attacks. Read more

War in Iraq

CNN's Malveaux noted H.W. Bush's defense of son on Iraq, but not his assertion in 1990s that invasion would have been "disastrous"
In a report on CNN's Late Edition, Suzanne Malveaux reported that President George H.W. Bush recently came out "very forcefully defending" his son against critics of his decision to invade Iraq "because he feels that he does have some experience when it comes to dealing with Saddam Hussein, and he absolutely believes that the criticism against his son has just not been fair." But Malveaux did not mention that the former president declined to order an invasion of Iraq in 1991, saying that after coalition forces expelled Iraqi troops from Kuwait, "going into Baghdad" and "going to be an occupying power ... with no allies on our side ... would have been disastrous." Read more

ABC's The Note, NBC's First Read, Drudge Report, Politico's Mike Allen continue to highlight Politico's false assertion on Dem Iraq bills
Despite the Politico's correction of its claim that Democrats were "Zero for 40" on legislation "limiting President Bush's war policy" -- though the Politico did not acknowledge that it had made a mistake in the corrected article -- several in the media, including the Politico's own Mike Allen, Matt Drudge, and ABC's The Note, highlighted the false statistic without noting that it is inaccurate. Read more

Taxes

NY Times' Brooks: "Telling the truth is a skill" and "McCain is well-practiced"
In his New York Times column, David Brooks wrote that Sen. John McCain "led the charge against [convicted lobbyist] Jack Abramoff." In fact, as chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, McCain reportedly steered the Abramoff investigation away from examining any potential wrongdoing by his Republican colleagues. Brooks also asserted that "[w]hile others ignored the spending binge, McCain was among the fiscal hawks." But while McCain originally opposed the 2003 Bush tax cuts on fiscal policy grounds, he subsequently voted to extend them. Read more

Propaganda/Noise Machine

Wash. Post's Kurtz pointed out "liberal bloggers[']" criticism of Russert debate performance, but not Russert's faulty questions
Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz wrote that NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert "was ripped by liberal bloggers" after "he repeatedly pressed Hillary Clinton during a presidential debate." But Kurtz did not note that at least two of the questions Russert posed to Clinton included falsehoods. Read more

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