AP: 'Stephen King Fires Back After [NewsBusters] Blogger Attacks Remar
May 6th, 2008 8:10 PM
The battle between NewsBusters and horror novelist Stephen King went national Tuesday when the Associated Press picked up the story.For those that haven't been following this, on Monday, NewsBusters reported King's disgraceful comments -- made in front of a group of high school students at the Library of Congress in April -- about people who can't read having few options other than to enlist in…
AP Finally Mentions Kwame Kilpatrick's Democratic Affiliation
May 6th, 2008 1:22 PM
As readers of NewsBusters are no doubt aware, we've tracked how the media have regularly refused to acknowledge the political party affiliation of indicted Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D).Well, today, Associated Press reporter Julie Carr Smyth did acknowledge Kilpatrick is a Democrat, albeit in a roundabout sort of way in an article about Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann being the latest in a…
Another Day, Another Snapshot of Media Pumping Out Gas Price Hype
May 6th, 2008 11:06 AM
Three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and media hype about gasoline prices. On television that third item often takes place not just in your usual standup at a gas station interviewing outraged motorists. In Web-based media, however, the still shot is worth 1,000 barrels.We've noted how CNN.com has done it. Today, it's ABCNews.com with its front-page teaser headline "Oil: Another Day,…
The Truth In Sadr City
May 5th, 2008 3:12 PM
The AP article as headlined in the Houston Chronicle:"Militiamen ambush drives back US patrol in Sadr City"The story reports:"The U.S. Military said 28 militamen were killed as the U.S. patrol pulled back."Not exactly.Bill Roggio at The Long War Journal gives us the important details. The title of his article?"US troops kill 28 Mahdi fighters during Sadr City ambush"His story reports:
Once More Unto the Breach: More Biased AP Reporting in Iraq
May 5th, 2008 2:39 PM
It seems to matter little whether the location is Gaza or Baghdad. If there is a way to spin a story, Associated Press reporters will find it.Today, American forces called in an AC-130 for support when they came under fire in the Kazimiyah district of Baghdad.The Associated Press editorializes: The AC-130, a lethal tool used by the military since the Vietnam War, can slowly circle over a…
AP Reporter Selectively Notes Calls for Sex-Scandalized Ohio AG to Res
May 4th, 2008 9:49 AM
Why does it seem that, when a Democratic politician's career is on the line, Old Media reporters find a way to make it look like it's only Republicans who want to push him or her out the door? Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, who for a while was seen as the Buckeye State's version of New York's now-disgraced former governor Eliot Spitzer, is fighting for his political life. In a Friday press…
AP: ‘Conservative’ Christian's ‘Manifesto’ Has Few Conservativ
May 3rd, 2008 3:38 PM
On May 2, the Associated Press uncritically reported that an effort to clarify where "evangelicals" stand in the culture/political war in America is soon to be released. It is to be called "An Evangelical Manifesto" and is touted by the AP as a statement by "evangelicals" that "faith is now too political." That isn't all. The AP is claiming that it isn't just Christian leaders in general that are…
AP: Afghan Women Victims of 'Stern Social Codes;' Not Sharia
May 1st, 2008 10:30 PM
The AP's Alisa Tang wrote a horrifying account of the oppression and misogyny that women face in Afghanistan. The April 30 article bucks the post-9/11 trend of the media turning a blind eye to women's issues in Muslim countries. What's missing are two words—Islam and Sharia.The AP article was about a country that uses religion to oppress women but which didn't mention that religion or the system…
Texas Pol Caught Drunk Driving: Name That Party
May 1st, 2008 7:46 PM
Well, we've played "Name That Party" so often that it is getting to be old hat. How many times have we seen it where the MSM refuses to mention that a Democrat is the troubled politician in the news? We've also said many times that if only that criminal politician were a Republican, why we'd get the party mentioned ASAP. We say it and accept the claim as fact, but we don't often focus on examples…
AP Descends into Gloom over Growth of Second-Hand Goods Market
April 30th, 2008 10:35 AM
You have to wonder if the Associated Press felt the need to find an exceptionally gloomy story to write when it learned that the economy would probably show positive growth in the government's first-quarter GDP report. That report was released earlier today -- and came in at +0.6%. If so, this article by the AP's Anne D'Innocenzio (HT to a NewsBusters e-mailer) does the job: The for-sale…
AP Disgrace: 'Bruised Economy Grows by Only 0.6 Percent
April 30th, 2008 9:47 AM
The Associated Press's Jeannine Aversa really should change her writing focus, because economics is clearly not her specialty.After telling readers in March that "Dangerous cracks in the nation's job market" are "ominous signs that the country is falling toward a recession or has already toppled into one," Aversa had the gall to report Wednesday, "The bruised economy limped through the first…
Supply-Side Stunner: April US Receipts on Track for Record
April 29th, 2008 11:31 PM
Those of us, including myself, who thought that the supply-side boom in federal receipts had totally played out, as well as those who are concerned about the condition of the economy, have received a surprising bit of good news this month. Old Media, which doesn't seem interested in looking for, let alone finding, good news, is not reporting a very interesting development. With two business days…
LiveBlog: Bush Press Conference on the Economy
April 29th, 2008 10:31 AM
President Bush is holding a press conference on the U.S. economy. I'll be blogging the questions to the president below. Video of Bush/Raddatz clash here (audio available here).Video of Stolberg and Ryan on recession here (audio here)My bottom line analysis (11:25): The two R's of bias from this Rose Garden presser: Martha Raddatz on Syria and numerous reporters on the dreaded R-word, recession.…
Supreme Court 'Splintered,' But Only for the Conservative Decisions
April 29th, 2008 1:10 AM
The United States Supreme Court upheld Indiana's voter ID law today in a 6-3 decision. In an earlier post, Ken Shepherd pointed out that Associated Press reporter Mark Sherman framed the ruling as "splintered." While the four conservative Justices joined in the majority opinion, the decision itself was written by liberal Justice John Paul Stevens, and so Sherman's terminology is questionable at…