AP Badly Misquotes Labor Dept. on 'Discouraged Workers
March 7th, 2008 3:23 PM
For years, NewsBusters and the Business & Media Institute have regularly complained about the abysmal financial coverage offered by the mainstream press while accusing media of consistently painting a negative -- and oftentimes fallacious! -- picture of the economy.On Friday, a perfect example of such was illustrated by the Associated Press whose article about the February unemployment data…
AP Highlights Fewer Jobs, Ignores Steep Drop in Unemployed
March 7th, 2008 11:17 AM
Here's is the core information the Associated Press's Jeannine Aversa had to work with today in the Employment Situation Report released by the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): The "Dec.-Feb. change" column was added by me, but is easily calculated from the data in the BLS report. What Aversa did with this info, and my comments, are after the jump. (see also Noel Sheppard's post…
AP: Improved Retail Sales in February Only a 'Reprieve
March 6th, 2008 11:14 PM
When January's retail sales failed to meet expectations, Old Media made sure we knew about how "disappointing" the result was. But today, February's result, which beat expectations by about as much or more than January's trailed them, was described as a mere "reprieve." Associated Press reporter Anne D'Innocenzio's January coverage began as follows: Stores Post Disappointing January Sales Here…
AP Ignores Muslim Convert Status, Taliban Links of Convicted Terrorist
March 5th, 2008 6:32 PM
Former Navy signalman Hassan Abu-Jihaad was convicted today on charges "of leaking information about the movements and vulnerabilities of ships in his battle group to suspected terrorism supporters" in spring 2001, months before 9/11. These secrets were sent via e-mail to a pro-Taliban Web site. But in reporting the story, MSNBC.com ran an Associated Press story that failed to note Abu-Jihaad is…
CBS/AP Fail to Call FARC Narco-terrorists Terrorists
March 3rd, 2008 2:07 PM
Leftist Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez is threatening neighboring Colombia with war after that country successfully killed via airstrike FARC terrorists in a camp in Ecuador. Yet in reporting the story, CBSNews.com and the AP downplayed the terroristic nature of the leftist rebel movement.The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has been on a Comprehensive List of Terrorists and Groups…
AP Writer Miscasts Housing Measurements to Hype Home-Value 'Crisis
March 3rd, 2008 10:48 AM
On Wednesday, Associated Press Business Writer J.W. Elphinstone used a curious definition of "narrow" to emphasize the importance of a home-price measurement index that only looks at the country's largest metro areas, while minimizing the significance of one that catalogs virtually the entire USA -- all apparently done to create an overwrought portrayal of home values as being "in freefall."…
FNC's Rove Highlights Obama's Flip-Flop on Iraq Troop Withdrawal
March 2nd, 2008 7:21 PM
On Thursday's The O'Reilly Factor, FNC analyst Karl Rove quoted an AP story by Christopher Wills from September 18, 2004, which had reported not only that Barack Obama had previously been open to a U.S. troop increase in Iraq when he was running for Senate, but had warned against a premature troop withdrawal as a "slap in the face to the troops fighting there" which could make Iraq "an…
AP Beginning New Crack Down on Blog Critics? Shuts Down Blog With Lega
February 29th, 2008 9:55 PM
Well, here is what might be a landmark case for the blogosphere, for the Internet, and for the future of our new media, citizen journalism. The AP has just sent a cease and desist letter to Brian C. Ledbetter telling him to stop using their copyrighted images on his website, snappedshot.com. Snappedshot.com is a site predicated on criticism of photo-journalism. In pursuit of his criticism, Mr.…
AP's Snow Wants You to Know: Cuban Communism Is 'Unshaken
February 25th, 2008 11:10 PM
In a report yesterday from Cuba, Anita Snow of the Associated Press, with the help of the headline writers at ABC, seemed intent on telling any Yanqui imperialists or hard-liners in Miami's Little Havana who might have any ideas of doing something rash during the transition of power from Fidel Castro to his brother Raul to forget about trying anything (HT Rush Limbaugh; story #4 at link; link…
AP Article on States' Budget Woes Ignores Spending Excesses
February 25th, 2008 4:25 PM
Old Media coverage of government budget difficulties usually focuses on the here and now, and all the "tough decisions" that have to be made. Seldom is there ever an examination of how a state or local government entity got into its current fix. Scratch just a little bit beneath the surface, though, and you'll almost inevitably find that an annoying habit of overspending during the good times…
AP’s Nedra Pickler Has Obama’s Back
February 24th, 2008 11:51 AM
It now appears, as predicted by yours truly two weeks ago today, that Hillary Clinton will not be our next president, and that Barack Obama is going to be Democratic Party's presidential nominee.
This means that it must be time for Old Media to start playing robust defense on his behalf.
AP Forgets to Mention Identity Thief Also Illegal Alien
February 23rd, 2008 10:37 PM
I hate to say it, but for a news service that is supposed to thrive on the facts, the Associated Press sure seems to leave out an awful lot of them in their wire stories. We've seen dozens of examples of that when they conveniently forget to mention the political party affiliation when a public servant caught up in crime or scandal and happens to be a Democrat. We have also seen the AP somehow…
