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, Steyn misrepresent Obama's comments on Hamas Sean Hannity and syndicated columnist Mark Steyn both misrepresented President Obama's comments on Hamas in his speech at Cairo University. Read More Fox's Napolitano mischaracterized NASA report to deny humans cause global warming Andrew Napolitano cited a DailyTech article headlined, "NASA Study Acknowledges Solar Cycle, Not Man, Responsible for Past Warming," to deny that humans are causing global warming. In fact, the article itself noted that NASA does not dispute that human activities are responsible for global warming. Read More What would Pat Buchanan have to say to get himself fired from MSNBC? In the weeks since President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, one question has consumed the news media, particularly conservatives in the media: Imagine what would happen if a white man had said the reverse of Sotomayor's famous (and famously distorted) "wise Latina" comment. Media commentators have insisted that such a white man would be denounced as a racist and run out of town on a rail. Read More Fox News falsely asserted Obama claimed "there is no more terrorism" Fox News on-screen text falsely asserted that, during his Cairo speech, President Obama claimed "there is no more terrorism," and Fox News analyst Ralph Peters accused him of "pretending" it "doesn't exist." In fact, Obama addressed at length the issue of "violent extremism" in his speech. Read More Hill falsely claims Employee Free Choice Act "robs workers" of secret ballot The Hill falsely asserted that the Employee Free Choice Act "robs workers of the right to a secret ballot." In fact, it is employers, not workers, who have the right to demand a secret ballot; the bill would strip employers of that right. Read More Hannity's new false talking point: Obama decided to "take over Fannie, take over Freddie" Sean Hannity falsely claimed or suggested that the Obama administration acted to "take over Fannie, take over Freddie." In fact, it was the Bush administration that made the decision to "take over" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Read More Politico disappears Bush from GM bailout history A Politico article quoted Republican criticism of President Obama's "decision to pour about $50 billion" into GM but did not note that $13.4 billion of those funds were authorized by the Bush administration. Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.