Media Matters Daily Summary

Here are today's news items from Media Matters for America, click on the title or 'read more' to read the entirety of each story. NBC report on NY Times' five Pulitzers ignores military analysts report Brian Williams reported that "The New York Times led the way with five [Pulitzer Prizes], including awards for breaking news and international reporting" but did not note that the Times' David Barstow won for his reporting on the connection between numerous media military analysts and the Pentagon and defense industries. Read More Contradicting Bush Justice Dept., Angle equated waterboarding of terrorists, trainees Fox's Jim Angle stated that President Obama considers waterboarding "too harsh to use on terrorists," and contrasted this with its use in training some U.S. military members. However, a Bush Justice Department memo noted that individuals undergoing waterboarding for military training are "obviously in a very different situation from detainees undergoing interrogation." Read More Scarborough slowly walked back criticism of Obama's interaction with Chavez Since criticizing President Obama's smile and handshake with Hugo Chavez, Joe Scarborough has gradually walked back that criticism, ultimately saying, "I'm glad [Obama] smiled." Read More Fox's Angle did not disclose that "analyst" Holmstead is an energy lobbyist Jim Angle aired Jeffrey Holmstead's criticisms of possible Clean Air Act regulations of greenhouse gases without mentioning that Holmstead works as a lobbyist on behalf of energy companies. Read More Politico doesn't challenge comparison of Obama health care plan to UK and Canada Politico uncritically quoted Richard Scott's falsehoods about President Obama's health care plan, including his comparison between the public health insurance option supported by Obama and the health care systems in Canada and Great Britain. Read More Media quote Cheney on torture memos without noting his role in matter Media outlets have quoted Dick Cheney's criticism of President Obama for releasing previously classified Justice Department memos that had authorized the CIA's use of harsh interrogation techniques without noting Cheney's self-acknowleged role in authorizing the use of those interrogation techniques. Read More Lost in Hannity's "liberal translation": the full context of Axelrod's "unhealthy" comment Sean Hannity aired a clip of David Axelrod's Face the Nation appearance and claimed that Axelrod had "some interesting commentary about the tea parties." But Hannity did not provide the question to which Axelrod was responding, which was about both tea parties and secession. Read More Fox Nation advances dubious report that "Obama actually delayed pirate rescue" Following the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips from Somali pirates, The Fox Nation touted a dubious WorldNetDaily report -- nearly all of which echoes an anti-Obama chain email -- claiming that Obama "actually delayed [the] pirate rescue." Read More Wash. Times editorial misleadingly crops Summers' remarks on increasing cost-effectiveness to finance health coverage A Washington Times editorial misleadingly cropped Lawrence Summers' comments on funding universal health care to falsely suggest that Summers is advocating for cutting health care expenditures "by almost 30 percent" using "cost-effectiveness" regulations. Read More Conservative media's take on torture: A laughing matter Numerous conservative media figures have downplayed, mocked, and jeered the notion that the use on detainees of harsh interrogation techniques authorized by the recently released Justice Department memos constitutes torture. Read More CNBC hosts fail to challenge Pence's debunked cap-and-trade claim CNBC's Power Lunch hosts failed to challenge Mike Pence's debunked Republican claim that a cap-and-trade program would cause "the utility rates of every American household go up by more than $3,100 per year." Read More Kristol falsely suggested DNI Blair supports torture techniques On Special Report, Bill Kristol falsely suggested that Dennis Blair supports the harsh interrogation techniques outlined in Bush administration memos, while President Obama has "repudiated the use of them." In fact, Blair has made clear that he opposes their use. Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.