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. Baier, Garrett add Obama climate remarks to Fox-manufactured "apology tour" Following a trend by other Fox News figures, Bret Baier and Major Garrett claimed that President Obama "apologized" for the U.S. role in global warming. But in the remarks they aired, Obama did not apologize, and in other comments, he noted that "no one nation is responsible for climate change." Read More Hannity distorts article to smear administration on stimulus money distribution Fox News' Sean Hannity and CNN's Kiran Chetry cited a USA Today article to claim or speculate that political favoritism played a role in the distribution of funds from the recovery act. However, the article itself stated, "Investigators who track the stimulus are skeptical that political considerations could be at work." Read More Ignoring denial, Fox & Friends suggests link between gov't contract, Hoyer donation Fox & Friends suggested that donations to Rep. Steny Hoyer played a role in the awarding of a government contract to a Maryland company, but Hoyer's office has denied any involvement, which Fox & Friends did not note. Read More "Busted?" Fox News still running with Obama G8 photo story day after Van Susteren debunked it A day after Fox News host Greta Van Susteren debunked the "lying picture that's going around the Web" of President Obama purportedly "checking out" a young woman at a G8 photo shoot, Fox News continued to promote the insinuation that Obama had done so. Read More Following Free Republic, Drudge's lead, media run with Obama photo that doesn't show what they claim Following the lead of Free Republic and the Drudge Report, media outlets highlighted a photo of President Obama from the G-8, in some cases with provocative, needling, or scolding commentary that is not supported by video of the event. Read More Mika Brzezinski's "real Americans" elitism Even after landslide victories for the Democrats in the 2008 and 2006 elections (not to mention the fact that a Democrat has won the popular vote in four of the past five presidential elections), MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski still insists that "real Americans" are conservative. Brzezinski says the fact that she is (nominally) progressive and works in New York makes her claim more credible. In fact, it may explain why she is so wrong. She claims to identify elitism, but she actually displays it. Read More Hannity and O'Reilly conveniently ignore accusations that CIA misled Congress Though Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity and their guests criticized Nancy Pelosi for alleging that the CIA gave her false information, they have yet to note the report by several Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee that CIA director Leon Panetta disclosed to them that the CIA withheld information from Congress for years during the Bush administration. Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.