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

In "[s]eriously stunning" critique of Media Matters "debate 'don'ts,' " NBC's Chuck Todd left out all those referring to NBC's Russert
In a November 15 post on NBC News' First Read blog, NBC News political director Chuck Todd criticized Media Matters for America over a recent item headlined "Some debate 'don'ts' for CNN's Blitzer, Malveaux, Roberts, and Brown," which Media Matters posted in anticipation of the November 15 Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas. Todd described the item as "fascinating," writing, "Why was the list fascinating? Because of what Media Matters chose to bring up for [Sen. Barack] Obama [IL] and [former Sen. John] Edwards [NC] compared to its suggestions for how to address [Sen. Hillary Rodham] Clinton [NY]." Todd further wrote: "Their 'don'ts' read more like facetious attacks on Edwards and Obama -- right out of the oppo shop of either the RNC or, say, opponents of Edwards and Obama." Purportedly to illustrate his point, Todd listed seven of the first eight Media Matters "Don'ts" included in the item. The one he left out? The fourth entry, which "call[ed] out" Todd's colleague, NBC News Washington bureau chief and Meet the Press host Tim Russert. Read more

Broder's "difficult question" that "lingers ... unasked" about purported "dual presidency" was asked -- by his own paper
In his Washington Post column, discussing "the prospect of a dual presidency" -- if former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton return to the White House -- David Broder wrote that "the country must decide whether it is comfortable with such a sharing of the power and authority of the highest office in the land," adding that this is a "difficult question" that "lingers, even if unasked." But neither Clinton has said that a new Clinton White House would operate as "a dual presidency." Moreover, a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 60 percent of respondents said they "personally feel comfortable ... with the idea of Bill Clinton back in the White House, this time as first husband," in contrast with the 30 percent who said they feel "uncomfortable." Read more

On MSNBC, Politico's Hearn repeats media myth that only some voters are "values voters"
On MSNBC's Tucker, the Politico's Josephine Hearn stated that if Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee wins the Iowa caucuses, "I think that's very damaging to Mitt Romney, because they're both going after values voters. So they're both trolling in the same areas." Hearn's use of the label "values voters" to characterize the subset of voters being targeted by Huckabee and Romney advanced the myth that this group of voters is the only political constituency that votes its "values." Read more

Kurtz quoted McCain campaign email, but didn't note its false claim about "bitch" comment
In a November 14 online post to The Washington Post's "The Trail" feature, "a daily diary of Campaign 2008" -- which was reprinted in a slightly different form in the November 15 edition of the paper -- media critic Howard Kurtz reported that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), "who is drawing criticism for not challenging a South Carolina voter's vulgar reference to [Sen.] Hillary Clinton [D-NY], yesterday issued a letter accusing CNN of having 'stooped to an all-time low' in trumpeting the incident." The post was referring to McCain campaign manager Rick Davis' response to a report by CNN anchor Rick Sanchez on the November 13 edition of CNN's Out in the Open, during which Sanchez noted McCain's comments at a South Carolina campaign event to an audience member who asked, "How do we beat the bitch?" But while Kurtz quoted from Davis' email -- which, as Kurtz put it, "charged the 'Clinton News Network' with 'gratuitously attacking' McCain" -- he didn't note that Davis falsely claimed in the email that McCain "first responded by saying that he respected Senator Clinton, as he has said repeatedly throughout the campaign. Then, focusing on the question, he pointed to the new Rasmussen national poll showing that he is the only Republican candidate who can beat her in a general election." In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted, a video of the exchange posted on YouTube by the Veracifier blog shows that McCain's first response to the question was, "May I give the translation?"; then, "But that's an excellent question"; followed by his reference to the Rasmussen poll. Only after the Rasmussen reference did he say he had "respect" for Clinton. Read more

Journalists challenge media's campaign coverage, singling out Matthews
On the November 13 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews asserted that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) "armor of invincibility has been seriously pierced" and stated: "First, she fumbled her performance at that Philly debate, then her workers in Hillaryland came out and tried to blame the moderator. When critics brought up her flawed response on illegal aliens getting driver's licenses, Bill Clinton accused them of Swift-boating Hillary and went on to say the boys are ganging up on her -- the boys. And just this week, we find out her campaign is putting ringers out there at events to toss her softballs." Matthews later asked: "What's going on in the campaign where all this sort of rocky behavior?" Time magazine columnist Joe Klein responded, "I don't know that there's all this rocky behavior going on. I think that the narrative in the press has changed. A few weeks ago, there was the notion that she was invincible, which I always thought was nonsense. And now there's the notion that she stumbled, which may be equally nonsensical." Klein also said, "[I]f we're going to talk about the substance of the campaign, then, you know, then that's one thing. But these other issues, I think, are ways that we're trying to ... inject our own problems or our own desires ... into a process that most people aren't buying into." Read more

Hill article on McCain's response to "bitch" question ignored "excellent question" remark
In an article about a report from CNN's Out in the Open on Sen. John McCain's recent exchange with a supporter in Hilton Head, South Carolina, The Hill reported that McCain's "campaign laments that CNN portrayed the event as though McCain did not defend [Sen. Hillary] Clinton forcefully enough. The senator, in the short video clip, expressed his respect for the former first lady." But the article did not note that McCain described the question -- "How do we beat the bitch?" -- as "excellent." Read more

WorldNetDaily's Farah: "Many of us who crossed the Clintons ... feared for our lives as a result"
In a column discussing Kathleen Willey's new book, Joseph Farah -- founder and editor of the right-wing news website WorldNetDaily -- asserted: "Many of us who crossed the Clintons -- whether it was because of what we wrote or whether it was because we didn't yield to unwanted sexual attacks -- feared for our lives as a result of winding up on their 'enemies list.' " He also claimed that "there were real-world consequences to being on the Clintons' enemies list," such as "losing jobs," "threats and harassment," "invasion of privacy," "break-ins and dead pets and flat tires," and "audits from the Internal Revenue Service."
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Despite Blitzer's denial, Coulter, Cavuto claimed Blitzer "got[] a little talking-to" prior to Dem debate
On Fox News' Your World, echoing an anonymously sourced blurb posted on the Drudge Report, Ann Coulter stated, "Well, apparently, Wolf Blitzer has gotten a little talking-to. And, yes, I think he'll be serving tea and cookies before asking [Sen.] Hillary [Rodham Clinton] a question." Host Neil Cavuto agreed with Coulter's claim that Blitzer "has been given a talking-to" prior to the November 15 Democratic presidential debate. But Blitzer himself said, "No one has pressured me. No one has threatened me. No one is trying to intimidate me." Read more

AP falsely suggested Obama said his state Senate records do not "exist at all"
The Associated Press reported that Sen. Barack Obama "says he can't step up and produce his own records from his days in the Illinois state Senate. He says he hasn't got any." But Obama did not claim that the documents do not exist. In fact, the article quoted Obama saying: "I don't have -- I don't maintain -- a file of eight years of work in the state Senate because I didn't have the resources available to maintain those kinds of records."
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AP claimed Obama's "mining lobbyist ties" are "raising questions" but did not say with whom
Associated Press reporter Kathleen Hennessey wrote that Sen. Barack Obama "opposes a bill that would change the nation's 135-year-old mining law -- the same stance as mining industry executives who employ a Nevada-based lobbyist advising the presidential candidate," which Hennessey said is "raising questions." Despite the suggestion of impropriety, Hennessey offered no evidence or allegation of wrongdoing. Hennessey's article is the latest in a series of media reports on Obama that have suggested possible wrongdoing on his part, but, at the same time, failed to identify any allegations or evidence that he acted improperly.
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Budget

Media continue to ignore McCain's skipped vote while highlighting his attacks on Clinton
Several media outlets have reported on the latest ad released by Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign attacking Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton over her support for an earmark funding a Woodstock Festival museum, but these outlets have not noted that McCain skipped the vote on removing the earmark.
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Propaganda/Noise Machine

Savage: Media Matters "is a fascist front group"
On the November 14 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage referred to Media Matters for America as a "fascist front group." As Media Matters has documented, on the September 26 edition of his radio show, while discussing Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's controversial comments on his own radio show about his visit to Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem, Savage called Media Matters for America a "gay, fascist website." Savage has also labeled the organization a "hate group," a "group of gay Mafiaso," "the homosexual Mafia," and "a gay smear sheet." On the January 30 broadcast of his show, Savage called Media Matters a "little website" and claimed, "I'm not even going to read its name anymore." Read more

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