May 12, 2012 12:34 am ET
Conservative Media Fail In Their Attempt To Dismiss Report About Romney Bullying Incident
Right-wing media have rushed to dismiss the Washington Post's report that Mitt Romney held down a high school classmate and cut his hair, claiming that "the source" for the story "wasn't actually there." In fact, the Post story relied on accounts from five separate sources, four of whom were named, and as the Post's ombudsman noted, their "accounts remain unchallenged." Romney himself said that he's "seen the reports" about the incident and that he's "not going to argue with that."
May 11, 2012 4:12 pm ET
Right-Wing Media Minimize Romney's Reported Bullying As "Foolish Games"
Right-wing media have responded to a Washington Post story detailing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's alleged bullying of a high school classmate by dismissing Romney's reported bullying as "foolish games" and possibly just an attempt to enforce his school's dress code. However, bullying has destructive consequences for victims, including heightened risks of depression and suicide.
May 11, 2012 2:07 pm ET
Ignoring Facts, Right-Wing Media Attack Same-Sex Parenting
In the wake of President Obama's endorsement of marriage equality, right-wing media have criticized same-sex marriage by arguing that the children of heterosexual marriages fare better "economically, educationally, and emotionally" than children of same-sex partnerships. However, studies have shown that the "adjustment, development, and psychological well-being of children is unrelated to parental sexual orientation."
May 10, 2012 5:40 pm ET
Right-Wing Media Attempt To Deflect Attention From Obama's Pro-Marriage Equality Stand
After President Obama's historic announcement that he is in favor of marriage equality, many in the right-wing media are refusing to debate the substance of same-sex marriage. Instead, they are casting about for ways to attack Obama's position on marriage that ignore the actual debate.
May 10, 2012 5:11 pm ET
Fox News Misrepresents EPA Climate Rule
Fox News reporter Doug McKelway falsely reported that EPA's proposed greenhouse gas rule requires coal plants to install carbon capture and storage technology and could shut down up to 25 percent of coal-fired power. In fact, the rule applies only to future coal plants, which few companies planned to build anyway due to competition from natural gas.
May 10, 2012 2:45 pm ET
Right-Wing Media Mock WH Adviser For Accurately Portraying Obesity As A National Security Threat
Right-wing media are attacking Sam Kass, White House assistant chef and senior policy adviser on healthy food initiatives, for calling rising obesity rates a national security threat. But military experts have noted that high obesity rates threaten military enrollment and readiness.
May 09, 2012 8:11 pm ET
Americans Disagree With Rush Limbaugh On Marriage Equality
Rush Limbaugh attacked President Obama today over his support for marriage equality, accusing Obama of leading a "war on traditional marriage" and the Catholic Church while accusing same-sex marriage supporters of wanting "to corrupt the institution." However, polls show that public support for same-sex marriage has been trending upwards over the past several years, including in the Catholic community.
May 09, 2012 7:15 pm ET
Obama For Marriage Equality, Right-Wing Media Against It
In an ABC News interview today, President Obama announced his support for marriage equality, saying, "I think same sex couples should be able to get married." Conservative media figures immediately accused Obama of declaring a "war on marriage" and the Catholic Church.
May 09, 2012 10:41 am ET
How ALEC Is Quietly Influencing Education Reform In Georgia
Georgia media have been silent as members of ALEC in Georgia's legislature have successfully pushed through a version of ALEC's Charter Schools Act, which would create a state-controlled board with the power to establish and fund charter schools over local opposition. A Media Matters analysis found that while Georgia media have frequently written about the bills, they have completely overlooked ALEC's influence in the debate.
May 08, 2012 5:46 pm ET
Black Helicopters Alert: Morris Warns Obama Is Pushing For "One World Government"
Fox News contributor Dick Morris told Sean Hannity that "one world government" is "happening." His evidence consists of false statements about a series of treaties, some of which enjoy bipartisan support, are important for U.S. national security, and protect children from exploitation.
May 08, 2012 12:53 pm ET
What Buffett Really Said About The Buffett Rule
Right-wing media claimed that Warren Buffett "blast[ed]" the Buffett rule and that he "isn't totally in favor" of it, citing a CNBC interview in which Buffett said the rule is a "small improvement" that "doesn't cure all revenue problems." But during that interview, Buffett said that he's "fine" with the rule as introduced by Senate Democrats and that it "encompasses the principles that I believe in."
May 08, 2012 12:32 am ET
Fox's Bolling Is Oblivious To Positive Changes In Economy Under Obama
Fox's Eric Bolling said that "there isn't one" economic metric that has improved since President Obama took office. In fact, the economy stopped shrinking and started growing since Obama's inauguration, private-sector jobs and exports have increased, and employment turned from sharp declines to growth.
May 07, 2012 4:53 pm ET
Journal Miffed By Bipartisan Support For U.S. Wind Power
A Wall Street Journal editorial criticizes Republicans who support extending the federal Production Tax Credit, a key tax break supporting the U.S. wind power industry. The Journal suggests that wind energy will not become competitive with fossil fuels, but energy analysts say wind is approaching that point and that the expiration of the tax credit would slow or halt that progress.
May 07, 2012 2:29 pm ET
Fox's Flawed Solution To The Economy: What Would Reagan Do?
Fox has attacked the economic recovery under President Obama by claiming that if Obama just adopted the policies of former President Ronald Reagan, there would be a stronger recovery. But as economists have pointed out, the Reagan recession ended not because of Reagan's fiscal policies but because the Federal Reserve drastically cut interest rates. Because interest rates are already at zero, such a rate cut is not a possible option now.
May 07, 2012 2:04 pm ET
Fox Touts Failed Fiscal Austerity Measures
Fox's Stuart Varney claimed that the result of the French presidential election showed that French voters "want to go backwards" because they are saying "no more austerity." But experts have said that European austerity measures have not improved the economic situation and have warned against similar measures in the United States.
May 04, 2012 4:21 pm ET
Fox Promotes Deceptive Ad Accusing Obama Of Taking All The Bin Laden Credit
Fox News figures are promoting an ad produced by Veterans for a Strong America that deceptively edited statements by President Obama to portray him as taking all the credit for the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In fact, fuller context of the speeches that the ad excerpts makes clear that Obama did give credit to the troops for the bin Laden raid, a fact that Fox's own Megyn Kelly has noted.
May 04, 2012 2:30 pm ET
Contrary To Claims On Fox, Obama Has Repeatedly Thanked And Praised Troops Who Killed Bin Laden
Fox News figures celebrated the anniversary of the operation that killed Osama bin Laden by attacking President Obama for not giving the military personnel that carried out the mission "the credit that's due to them." But Obama has repeatedly praised and thanked the Navy SEALs and other military and intelligence individuals who participated in the mission.
May 04, 2012 1:55 pm ET
Unlike The Right-Wing Media, General Petraeus Thinks We Should Talk To The Taliban
Right-wing media are attacking the Obama administration for engaging in "direct discussions" with the Taliban over the future of Afghanistan. But General David Petraeus and other national security experts who have served in every administration since the presidency of Richard Nixon say that it is in America's interest to negotiate with the Taliban.
May 03, 2012 12:03 pm ET
PA Newspapers Miss Story On ALEC Defections
Pennsylvania's five largest newspapers have generally failed to cover the mounting defections of lawmakers and corporations from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a right-wing advocacy group whose membership and model legislation have had significant influence on Pennsylvania government.
May 02, 2012 5:27 pm ET
"Not A Fit Person" To Lead: Rupert Murdoch's Indifference To Unethical Behavior Infects Fox News
A British government panel investigating the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal has released a report concluding that Rupert Murdoch is "not a fit person" to lead a major company, citing his "willful blindness" to unethical behavior. At Fox News, which is a division of News Corp., this indifference has consistently manifested itself as an absence of journalistic ethics.
