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

Touting O'Reilly on GMA, ABC's The Note omitted his false suggestion that Obama hasn't appeared on the show
Appearing on the October 29 broadcast of ABC's Good Morning America, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly claimed that he told Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (IL) "face to face" that "Tyra Banks [on whose syndicated talk show Obama appeared on October 1] ain't gonna get you elected, OK?" adding: "You gotta go on the Factor, you gotta go on GMA and answer the questions. What has he been doing for six months? I guess he's been at Club Med. I haven't seen him." In fact, co-host Robin Roberts interviewed Obama in New Orleans on the August 27 broadcast of Good Morning America, which co-host Diane Sawyer did not note. Read more

NRO contributor Smith "hard-pressed" to find U.S. service members who would say "it's not going well" in Iraq
In a post on the NRO military blog The Tank, W. Thomas Smith Jr. asserted that he had been to Iraq, spent "[d]ays -- sometimes weeks -- at a time" with units in action, and would be "hard-pressed to find one American Marine or soldier (or a Brit) who would say to me 'it's not going well.' " However, there are several examples of active-duty or retired service members expressing discontent with progress in Iraq through media outlets.
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Health Care

NPR's Simon falsely asserted that SCHIP began "under a Republican president"
Discussing President Bush's threat to veto a bill expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program, NPR Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon stated: "The president vetoed the last one, but lawmakers said they've made some important changes to the bill, which, as Senator [Mitch] McConnell often reminds interviewers, began as a program under a Republican president." In fact, in a September 27 statement, McConnell credited a Republican Congress -- not, as Simon said, a Republican president -- for the program, which was signed into law by President Clinton. Read more

Budget

Situation Room played up McCain attacks on Clinton over earmark, but didn't note his missed vote
CNN's The Situation Room has reported several times on Sen. John McCain's attacks on Sen. Hillary Clinton's support for a $1 million earmark for a museum at the site of the original 1969 Woodstock music festival. But in none of its reports did CNN note that, although McCain is listed as a co-sponsor of the amendment to remove the funding for the museum, he missed the vote on the earmark. Read more

Global Warming

Olbermann named Beck "runner-up" in "Worst Person" for claiming the "globe was the hottest" in 1934
During the October 26 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann named CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck the "runner-up" in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for claiming that "the globe was the hottest" in 1934 on the October 24 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, as Media Matters for America documented. According to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), 1934 was the hottest year on record for the United States, not the globe. The hottest year on Earth was actually 2005, according to a temperature analysis by the GISS. In fact, the GISS does not even rank 1934 among the globe's five warmest years. Read more

Natural Disasters

CNN's Henry uncritically reported Republicans' use of wildfire response to shift Katrina blame away from feds
CNN's Ed Henry uncritically reported that "local Republicans hammered the point that, unlike in Louisiana, California officials only relied on the feds for the secondary help," quoting Republican Rep. Brian Bilbray as saying, "I think that's how the system's actually designed, and it's worked great." But the House Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina found that Katrina was not a "normal" disaster, but a "catastrophic" one; thus, federal officials should have "clearly and forcefully instruct[ed] everyone involved with the federal response to be proactive, anticipate future requirements, develop plans to fulfill them, and execute those plans without waiting for formal requests from overwhelmed state and local response officials."
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AP uncritically repeated Giuliani allies' accusations of partisanship by firefighter unions
In an October 28 article about Republican presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's anti-terrorism credentials, the Associated Press reported that "[s]ome firefighter unions and family members of those killed [in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks] are campaigning against him, distributing an anti-Giuliani video and holding protests outside Giuliani events," later adding, "Giuliani allies say much of the criticism is political, pointing to the firefighters unions' endorsement of Democrats." But the AP did not note that the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 94 -- listed in the credits as having "cooperat[ed]" and "participat[ed]" in the production of the video criticizing Giuliani's 9-11 record -- endorsed President Bush in 2004, a fact that undermines Giuliani "allies' " accusations of partisanship. The IAFF itself, which produced the video, issued a press release in July, when the video was launched online, noting that the group has endorsed Republican candidates in other races. Read more

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