The Pope and Politics
Argentine cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was chosen as the new pope this week. But coverage often glossed over the most intense political controversies about him.
AP: Chavez Wasted His Money on Healthcare When He Could Have Built Gigantic Skyscrapers
Chavez squandered his nation’s oil money on healthcare, education and nutrition when he could have been building the world’s tallest building.
AP Decides Your Husband or Wife Might Not Be
AP’s intention was presumably to remain neutral on the issue of marriage equality–but its initial policy did take a position, indicating that no matter what their state government says, AP was not going to consider legally married same-sex couples to be really married.
Where Are They Now? The Reporters Who Got Iraq So Wrong
Ten years ago today, Colin Powell made the Bush administration’s case for going to war against Iraq, and much of what he said was false. Most of the journalists who promoted his justifications for the war paid no price for their failures.
Phony Occupy Link to Weapons Cache
It’s bad enough to treat a unsubstantiated claim by a partisan news outlet, with a record of sensational misinformation on the same subject, as a relevant fact in a story. But how do you justify using this junk journalism as a chance to let a source give free rein to his fantasies of how Occupy might take a turn towards violence?
AP’s Iran Bomb Drawing Hoax
Crack open USA Today (11/28/12) and you saw this headline: Diagram Suggests Iran Working on Bomb The story was short–short enough for a careful reader to see that it in no way lived up to that alarmist headline. But the piece still tried really hard to frighten people. Here’s the lead: Iranian scientists have run […]
Precise Weapons Kill Civilians Too
As a general rule, it’d be better if media accounts of war did not stress the surgical precision of the weapons being used. It’s a fixture of U.S. reporting on U.S. wars, but the same rhetoric is used when U.S. allies are dropping bombs. According to Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen (11/19/12): Israel has gone […]
Syrian Civil War Strays Into…Syrian Territory
After Syrian mortar fire from Syria’s civil war reportedly strayed into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last weekend, some U.S. journalists seemed confused about the political geography of the region. For instance, CBS Evening News reported (11/12/12) reported: Syria’s civil war has now touched Israel. For the second straight day, a shell from Syria landed in […]
AP’s Mostly Factless Factcheck
One of the problems with media “factchecking” is the notion that all things must be “checked” equally. If you factcheck a Republican and find three whoppers, your fact check of a Democrat better work real hard to find a comparable level of spin or dishonesty. Which is exactly how Associated Press reporters Matt Apuzzo and […]
Factchecking the Minnows and Letting the Whales Swim Away
In an attempted factcheck of Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention, AP‘s Calvin Woodward (8/30/12) takes on Romney’s big laugh line: President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family. Woodward looked into it and found […]
Another ‘Palestinian Gandhi’ Ignored by U.S. Media
In recent years, corporate media pundits like Tom Friedman and Nicholas Kristof have expressed deep concern over what they claim is a lack of peaceful elements within the Palestinian resistance to the 44-year Israeli occupation. Where is the “Palestinian Gandhi” who could inspire the violent Arab masses to lay down their weapons and pursue a […]
Those Children Weren’t Civilians–Says Nobody
On Sunday, there were reports of a NATO airstrike in the eastern Paktia province of Afghanistan. The early reports said that a family of eight was killed, as the New York Times reported: The casualties took place in eastern Paktia province on Saturday night when the family’s home was hit by a bomb, said Rohullah […]
The New Campaign to ‘Silence’ Rush Limbaugh
Conservative talker Rush Limbaugh used to tell his listeners that the government was trying to silence him, based on a completely bogus tale about what the Fairness Doctrine would do. This time around, it’s an ad campaign by the liberal group Media Matters for America directed at some of the stations that air Limbaugh’s show. […]
Satellite Intelligence: Iran 2012, Iraq 2003
The big news today looks and sounds familiar. Here’s USA Today (3/8/12): Here’s what that Associated Press piece is reporting: VIENNA — Satellite images of an Iranian military facility appear to show trucks and earth-moving vehicles at the site, indicating an attempted cleanup of radioactive traces possibly left by tests of a nuclear-weapon trigger, diplomats […]
Occupy Oakland Crackdown: Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets…and Cats
Last night by many reports the police crackdown on the Occupy Oakland encampment was severe: Tear gas and flash-bang grenades were used to disperse a crowd trying to retake the park. Reading about the events in the nation’s capital, though, and you got a different impression. The Washington Post–no stranger to minimizing the Occupy protests–ran […]
Tax Facts About Millionaires–and Bill O’Reilly’s Threat
Yesterday’s AP “factcheck” (9/20/11) of Barack Obama’s speech about raising taxes on the super-wealthy cleverly debunked an argument that Obama didn’t make. No one is saying that all millionaires pay a lower rate than their secretaries–Warren Buffett drew attention because he said he did, and there are undoubtedly other multi-millionaires in the same boat. As […]
AP’s Mangled Tax Factcheck
Yesterday, Barack Obama made a speech outlining his deficit reduction plan—focusing attention on a variety of spending cuts and tax increases. The Associated Press, as is their habit, issued a “factcheck” piece by Stephen Ohlemacher that managed to bungle the issues involved, making it sound as if Obama was wrong about the taxes that wealthy […]
Iran Helping Iraqi Insurgents…Make That Al-Qaeda
“Iran arming Iraq insurgents”was last month’s story. Today’s papers are telling a different story; the new line being pushed by U.S. officials is that Iran is supporting Al-Qaeda. Today’s Washington Post: Iran Allows Money, Recruits to Reach Al-Qaeda, U.S. Says ‘Secret deal’ allegedly supports activities of terrorists in Pakistan In the New York Times: Treasury […]
What WaPo Won’t Tell You About CIA’s Yemen Drone Base
In a piece today, the Washington Post’s Greg Miller reports on a CIA base that will be used to conduct drone strikes in Yemen: The agency is building a desert airstrip so that it can begin flying armed drones over Yemen. The facility, which is scheduled to be completed in September, is designed to shield […]
U.S. Outraged Over Cuban Detention Practices
OnFebruary 5 theAssociated Press ran a story about a case in Cuba: Prosecutors are charging jailed U.S. contractor Alan Gross with “acts against the integrity and independence” of Cuba and requesting a 20-year prison term, state news media reported Friday, dimming hopes he would be allowed to go home soon. Further down, as one would […]
