Skip to main content
  • CNSNews.com
  • MRC TV
  • Biz & Media
  • Culture & Media
  • TimesWatch
  • Take Action!

Join Us @:
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon Kindle

Free email alerts!

NewsBusters logo
May 23, 2013
  • Home
  • Blogs
  • About
  • Forum
  • Take Action
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Search
  • RSS

Hot Topics

  • Obama Targets Fox News
  • IRS Targets Tea Party
  • Censoring the News
Home » Blogs » Warner Todd Huston's blog
  • MSNBC’s Chris Hayes Hypes ‘LGBT Injustice’ During Interview With 18-year Old Woman Charged With Sex With Minor
  • Network Evening Shows Don’t Name Islam in London Terror Attack
  • MSNBC’s Finney On IRS Scandal: ‘Why Didn't Romney Make More Of A Big Deal Of It?’
  • Obama Losing Chris Matthews? Host Rails Against 'Profiling' By IRS: It's Like Targeting Innocent Arabs
  • Jake Tapper Slams Obama Admin for Treatment of Fox News Reporter
  • NBC's Lauer Uses Oklahoma Tornado to Bash GOP Over Sandy Relief
  • New York Times: Obama Administration 'Threatening Fundamental Freedoms of the Press'
  • ABC’s Cokie Roberts Acknowledges Obama’s Contempt for the Press, Blasts 'Presidential Propaganda'

AP Links Assault on Reporter to Appearance in Bush Movie... BDS Strikes Again

By Warner Todd Huston | October 21, 2008 | 03:38

A  A

An Arkansas TV reporter that had a bit part in Oliver Stone's movie "W" was found beaten unconscious in her Little Rock home on October 20 and in its report on the crime the Associated Press seemed to decide that she was beaten merely because she had appeared in the movie though this impression the AP seems to have is not supported by the police. One wonders why the AP decided to spend almost half its story focusing on her movie role when reporting this crime? Is the AP trying to say her connection with George W. Bush got her attacked? It sure seems like the AP is seized by another bout of Bush Derangement Syndrome with its unnecessary emphasis on this reporter's film role.

The APs obsession with the victim's movie role was odd, indeed. Even in its first few lines the AP ties KATV anchor Ann Pressly to her movie work saying in its first sentence that she "had a small part in the Bush biopic 'W.'" The AP takes pains to point out that in the movie, Pressly "speaks favorably of President Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' event on an aircraft carrier shortly after the start of the Iraq war." The report speaks about how she won the role in the film and then adds this odd sentence:

Spokeswoman Kate Hubin for the film company Lionsgate confirmed Pressly's role but declined to comment further.

Why did we need to have Pressly's role "confirmed"? Why would the AP imagine that Lionsgate films had anything useful to add to a report on this crime?

In fact, despite all the attention the AP directed to the victim's movie role, there doesn't seem to be any immediate reason to suspect that her role in "W" had anything at all to do with the attack. The AP quotes a Little Rock police spokesman on a possible motive for the crime; robbery.

Davis said investigators are talking to Pressly's co-workers to determine whether she "has had any problems." Davis said Pressly's purse was gone and that robbery was among the possible motives being explored. Davis would not discuss specifics of what the investigation revealed.

So, why did the AP spend so much time on the movie role? Is it possible that the AP just wanted to find a way to make it all seem like Bush's fault?

Now, let's contrast the AP's treatment of the crime with the way the Arkansas Times reported the story. In its 12 paragraph story, the Ark. Times mentions Pressly's movie role precisely once and briefly at that.

Pressly has a small role in the current movie, "W," Oliver Stone's portrayal of George W. Bush. She played commentator Ann Coulter in the movie, much of it filmed in Shreveport.

That was it. The Ark. Times didn't see the movie role as that much of a factor at all and unless more details emerge, nor should anyone else.

Yet the AP went mad over her role in "W." What could have been the APs motivation?

Anyway, here's hoping that Miss Pressly gets well soon and can help the police to find her attacker whatever his motive.

**UPDATE**

Sadly, Miss Presly has died of her injuries. Condolences to her family and friends and may they catch her killer.

  • Crime
  • Culture/Society
  • Media Bias Debate
  • Ann Pressly
  • Oliver Stone
  • Wire Services/Media Companies
  • Associated Press
  • Journalistic Issues
  • Warner Todd Huston's blog
  • Login to post comments
  • Printer-friendly version
Stop Censoring The Gosnell Trial!
Stop Censoring The Gosnell Trial!

Editors' Picks

  • Deputy kills PBS NewsHour staffer (Washington Examiner)
  • Oklahoma disaster was tragic, but larger ones have occurred (USA Today)
  • Mainstream Media Scream: Today’s Savannah Guthrie questions GOP ‘overreach’ (Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner)
  • Desperate Carney complains asking about scandals like asking about birth certificate (RCP)
  • Look at NYT's partisan-hack rewrite of the IRS hearing (Draw and STRIKE!)
  • Study: Christians who tithe have better finances than those who don't (TGC)
  • The media are willing accomplices to Obama (PolitiChicks)
  • FBI has suspects in mind in Benghazi; Obama prefers to try them in court (AP)
Ann Coulter's picture
Ann Coulter
Ann Coulter Column: When Did We Vote to Become Mexico?
Chuck Norris's picture
Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris Column: Why Tim Tebow Is an Ultimate Clutch Player
Walter E. Williams's picture
Walter E. Williams
Walter E. Williams Column: Hating America
Michelle Malkin's picture
Michelle Malkin
Malkin Column: Obama's Emptiest Benghazi Talking Point
Ann Coulter's picture
Ann Coulter
Coulter Column: Sorry, Sen. Rubio, But Your Immigration Plan Is Still Problematic
More >

RSS FeedAmazon KindleFacebookTwitter

Stop Censoring The News!

Gosnell's Just the Tip of the Iceberg
more cartoons
  • Dennis Miller: 'Nixonian' Obama Will Need Teleprompter to Say 'I Am Not a Crook'
  • Leno: Obama Knows Nothing Because They Moved ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ to the White House
  • IRS Charged With Unfair Scrutiny of Pro-Life Groups' Prayer Events, Protest Signs
  • Ex-AccuWeather's Bastardi Slams 'Ambulance Chasing' by Global Warming Theory Activists
  • Goldberg: Scandal Reporting Needs to Focus on Hard News, Not Political Spin
More >
NewsBusters

Executive Editor
Matthew Sheffield

Editor at Large
Brent Baker

Senior Editors
Tim Graham
Rich Noyes

Managing Editor
Ken Shepherd

Associate Editor
Noel Sheppard

Contributing Editors
Tom Blumer
Geoffrey Dickens
Dan Gainor
David Limbaugh
Mithridate Ombud
Clay Waters
Scott Whitlock

Senior Contributor
Mark Finkelstein

Contributing Writers
Matthew Balan
Michael M. Bates
Erin R. Brown
Jack Coleman
Kyle Drennen
Douglas Ernst
P. J. Gladnick
Stephen Gutowski
Matt Hadro
D. S. Hube
Kathleen McKinley
Dave Pierre
Amy Ridenour
Julia A. Seymour
Terry Trippany
Rusty Weiss
Brad Wilmouth

Publisher
Brent Bozell

Site Design
Dialog New Media

 

  • Home
  • Blogs
  • About
  • Forum
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Search
  • Account
  • rss
  • CNSNews
  • MRC TV
  • Biz & Media
  • Culture & Media
  • Take Action!
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Amazon Kindle
  • Advertise
  • Jobs

Copyright © 2005-2013 NewsBusters.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use