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. Hannity falsehood: Obama gave "go-ahead" for Iran nukes Sean Hannity falsely claimed that President Obama gave "pretty much the go-ahead ... that Iran can now pursue their nuclear ambitions," and asked, "We're gonna allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon?" In fact, Obama said Iran must comply with the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which bans it from acquiring nuclear weapons. Read More Gingrich misleads on "empathy" On Hannity, Newt Gingrich forwarded the false conservative talking point that President Obama said he would seek a justice who shows "empathy" rather than a commitment to follow the law. But Obama actually said his nominee will do both. Read More Special Report falsely suggests activism question deleted from questionnaire for Sotomayor A report by Shannon Bream falsely suggested that Sen. Patrick Leahy eliminated a question on judicial activism from the questionnaire for Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination. In fact, Leahy reportedly removed the question in 2007 pursuant to a bipartisan agreement. Read More Fox's Hemmer sugarcoats reasons for opposition to Sessions' judicial nomination While interviewing Sen. Jeff Sessions, Bill Hemmer minimized the reasons for the Senate's rejection of Sessions' 1986 federal district court nomination, saying that it resulted from "some criticism about some of your views regarding the NAACP." Read More Now the NY Times tells us: "[A]cademic studies" undermine cramdown critics The New York Times reported that "academic studies" undermined criticism of a provision that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to renegotiate primary mortgages. But during debate over the provision, the Times repeatedly reported criticism of the provision without noting that research undermined that criticism. Read More Media conservatives divided in reactions to Obama's Cairo address Some prominent media conservatives have harshly criticized President Obama's speech in Cairo, while others offered praise for Obama's address. Read More Media note Obama did not say "terrorism," but don't discuss why Numerous media figures followed a Politico article in noting that President Obama did not use the words "terror," "terrorism," "terrorist," or "war on terror" during his speech at Cairo University, suggesting the omission was notable, but did not discuss possible reasons why Obama chose other words. Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.