Associated Press
AP, in Playing Defense for Blumenthal, Disses the New York Times (But
May 19th, 2010 12:22 PM
Earlier this morning, I was minding my own business, reading this unbylined Associated Press roundup of yesterday's elections, when I got to the report's final few paragraphs. They involved "other concerns" the two major parties have. After noting yesterday's resignation by Republican congressman Mark Souder, the report's final paragraph read as follows: Well, that's rich. I wonder how the…
Comedy Gold: In Story on Campbell Brown’s Departure, AP Report Cites
May 18th, 2010 10:22 PM
Give Campbell Brown credit. Unlike many of her colleagues, who from all appearances will have to be dragged kicking and screaming away from their microphones once their networks can no longer afford to subsidize their dwindling audiences, Brown recognizes that she's in a business that has to make money. Brown's evening CNN show has consistently failed to reach enough viewers to justify itself,…
Treatment of Souder Resignation Illustrates AP and NYT's Double Standa
May 18th, 2010 2:34 PM
Today, the Associated Press generally did what is supposed to do when reporting on scandal-plagued politicians. Here are the first five paragraphs of the AP's brief report on Indiana Congressman Mark Souder's resignation announcement (link is dynamic and will probably be updated; "where's the worst one we can find?" picture of Souder at top right is via AP): Here's the opening of the coverage…
Media Still Can’t Bring Themselves to Call Chandra Levy Suspect an I
May 16th, 2010 11:02 PM
You would think that in the midst of the liberal media's fight to rip Arizona's Immigration Law, that the phrase ‘illegal immigrant' would be fairly easy to use in an appropriate manner. Yet that is seemingly only the case when the phrase is used to cast common-sense immigration enforcement as discriminatory. But when it comes to a story that could shed light on why enforcement is a necessity…
Holder's 'Haven't Read It' Arizona Immigration Law Admission Gets Litt
May 15th, 2010 11:58 PM
This is one of those "you know the ending, but someone has to take note anyway" media bias posts. On Thursday, NewsBusters colleague Noel Sheppard revealed that Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder had told an oversight hearing of the House Judiciary Committee the following about his knowledge of Arizona's recently pass immigration law-enforcement measure: I have not had a chance to…
AP Report on Perceived Quality Notes Ford, Kia Strides, Toyota Decline
May 15th, 2010 9:21 AM
A few weeks ago (covered at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), the Associated Press tried to pass off a poll it had conducted with its partner GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media (inexplicably held for 40 days) as showing that "Americans (are) shifting to US cars." Actually looking at the poll's detailed results revealed that Americans are "shifting to US cars" made by Ford, and either shifting away or…
Reporting on Guv's Call for Eliminating Calif. 'Welfare-to-Work' Progr
May 15th, 2010 12:00 AM
Today was a same-old, same-old day in California.For the second year in a row, a state official has proposed eliminating the former Golden State's "welfare-to-work" program, which the rest of us know as "welfare," or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Last year, it was left to a spokesman for the state's Department of Finance to bring out the idea. This year, Governor Arnold…
Deficit Comes In Just Below CBO Estimate; Economists' Predictions Were
May 12th, 2010 4:19 PM
It doesn't seem like this exercise should be that tough. The government issues Daily Treasury Statements telling everybody what went in and out on a given business day. At the end of the month, the last Daily Treasury Statement has a record (admittedly jumbled and larded with lots of bureaucratic excess) of all receipts and disbursements for the month. The folks at the Congressional Budget…
Former Car Czar Rattner's Creative Term For Fibbing: 'Elasticized the
May 11th, 2010 9:43 PM
If a conservative or Republican uttered the nonsense to be revealed shortly, we'd justifiably never hear the end of it on the late-night comedy shows and elsewhere. As it is, former car czar Steve Rattner's "creative" term for fibbing has and probably will continue to get little coverage outside of Detroit.
Rattner's risible rendition of reality spewed forth before he spoke at a Federal…
Obama's 'Grocery Scanner' Moment (Except That It's Not Made Up) Mostly
May 10th, 2010 1:48 PM
Yesterday, in the midst of the commencement address he delivered at Hampton University, President Obama made a startling "admission" (readers will see why "admission" is in quotes shortly): And meanwhile, you're coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank that high on the truth meter…
Breaking: Obama Picks Elena Kagan for Supreme Court
May 10th, 2010 12:56 AM
From ABCNews.com reported moments ago:President Obama has selected Solicitor General Elena Kagan as his second nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the Associated Press.If her nomination is approved by the Senate, Kagen would fill the seat left open by the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens and become the fourth woman ever to sit on the nation's highest court.
AP Story on 'Poor Appear Harder Hit By Flooding In Tenn.' Disappears F
May 9th, 2010 11:59 PM
On Friday, in the course of a general complaint about the relative lack of coverage of the flooding in Nashville and much of Tennessee, the Associated Press received a deserved compliment for its coverage from Investors Business Daily, which correctly implied that AP can't make its subscribers publish its output. But IBD missed one item, and understandably so. On Wednesday, the AP ran an article…
IBD Editorial: Media’s ‘Bird Obsession’ Trumps Loss of Human Lif
May 9th, 2010 12:55 PM
The editorialists at Investors Business Daily are not pleased with the values on display in the relative importance given to three major stories: the deaths of 11 oil rig workers off the Gulf Coast, the oil spill that resulted from that rig's collapse, and the historic flooding in Tennessee that has taken at least 30 lives. Here's the newspaper's take: What does it say when 11 men who perish on…
CBO Estimate: $85 Billion April Deficit, Federal Receipts Still Fallin
May 8th, 2010 11:12 AM
If a genuine, sustained economic recovery is truly underway, why can't the government show us the money? This would appear to be a question the establishment press has no interest in answering. As seen in the graphic at the right (HT to an e-mailer), when the government's Monthly Treasury Statement is released next Wednesday, the anticipation is that it will show an April deficit of $85 billion…