AP Does All it Can to Offset Good Retail Sales News
Yesterday, the Associated Press, in its ongoing campaign to make sure that readers get and stay downbeat about the economy, made sure that its story on January's retail sales had can't-miss gloom and doom in it: Retail sales posted a surprising rebound in January following a dismal December, although much of the strength reflected rising gasoline prices. Economists saw the increase as a temporary…
AP's Fournier, at Long Last, Lists Dem Groups Unhappy with the Clinton
After the Beltway primaries on Tuesday, the Associated Press's Ron Fournier compiled a different kind of Clinton Enemies List. No, not the people and groups Bill and Hillary consider to be their enemies. Instead, in "Chickens Come Home to Roost," Fournier listed the types of Democratic Convention superdelegates who have been unhappy with the Clintons for as many as 16 years: ..... they are not…
AFP Recycles Old Story to Impugn Progress in War on Terror
Agence France-Presse (AFP) the oldest news agency in the world and the largest French news agency, has been caught recycling two-year-old Congressional subcommittee testimony as current news. On Sunday, AFP released an article, "US Qaeda strategy fatally flawed; analysts," which opened:
UPI: Sour Economy Killing America's Horses
Well, now I've seen just about everything. UPI is trying to convince us that Bush's "sour economy" is killing horses all across the nation. Bad, bad, mean ol' Bush! Why does he hate the pretty horses so? I know it's hard to believe, but UPI is seriously trying to claim that the economy is killing the noble beasts in "Horses suffer as U.S. economy sours." ZIMMERMAN, Minn., Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The…
AFP Revises History of 2006 Israel-Lebanon War
In an article previewing the possible damage to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as a result of the Winograd Report into Israel's 34-day war with Hezbollah in the summer of 2006, AFP's Ron Bousso echoes a questionable claim about the 2006 Israeli War against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon: It is expected to focus on Olmert's controversial decision to order a massive ground offensive in south…
CNNMoney, AP Downplay Good Durable Goods Number
Where did the story about the "durable" goods report go? Y'know, the one that I found out about in this CNNMoney e-mail this morning.... Even with a search warrant, the word "durable" could not be found once the reader got past the CNNMoney index page earlier today (middle story, middle column in the graphic that follows):
NYT 'Somewhat' Wrong About Tuesday's Pre-Market Coverage
You wouldn't expect the New York Times (Times links usually require free registration) to refer to work by yours truly without getting it wrong, would you? Why, of course not. The portion of today's "Taking the Bears to Task" brief by Times reporter Dan Mitchell that refers to my Wednesday Pajamas Media column ("Is the Downbeat Business Press Right about the Economy?"; also here at BizzyBlog)…
AP Ignores Party Affiliation of Democrat Who Lied About Sex Under Oath
Remember ten years ago when staunch defenders of President Bill Clinton conceded that, yes, Bill Clinton lied under oath, but it was a lie about sex, and hence not an impeachable offense? [Speaking of which, January 27 will be the 10 year anniversary of Hillary Clinton's famous "vast right wing conspiracy" charge.]Well, now Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D) is facing mounting pressure to resign…
Ford's Buyouts: PC Wins, Workers Lose, Media Dozes
For personal and professional reasons, it gives me absolutely no pleasure to say that I saw this coming, and that it came sooner than I thought it would. Here's the news, assembled from wire reports by the Cincinnati Enquirer, in an article that should be entitled "Ford to Workers: Go Away" (bolds are mine throughout) -- Ford Motor Co. will offer buyout and early retirement packages to 54,000 U…
Old Media and This Week's Markets: Who Knows They're Up -- Quite a Bit
The tone of this week's reporting on the US stock markets would lead you to believe that even though Wednesday and Thursday were pretty good days, the markets are down for the week. That's completely wrong. The Dow is up 279 points (2.3%): How about the broader S&P 500? It's up almost 27 points (or 2.0%):
