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. Memo to the media: Fox News is now the Opposition Party Fox News has changed the rules. Now the press needs to change the way it covers Fox News. Read More Fox News accuses Obama of delaying troop deployment to win Nobel Peace Prize Fox News personalities have reacted to President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize by accusing Obama of -- in the words of Fox News contributor Dick Morris -- "delaying the decision to commit troops to Afghanistan" in order to "win this prize." Responding to initial reports that Obama was awarded the peace prize, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade said he was "wondering" whether the Nobel charter "has anything to do with the delay of the deployment of 40,000 troops in Afghanistan," adding, "If you add forces to a war, you can't win." Read More After repeatedly smearing people with falsehoods, Beck claims "the things that we are saying ... are true" Attacking White House communications director Anita Dunn for saying that Fox News is "undertaking a war against Barack Obama and the White House" and suggesting the network is not a "legitimate news organization," Glenn Beck asserted of his attacks against Obama administration officials, "[T]he things that we are saying have been checked out; they are true." In fact, Beck has repeatedly made false statements in his witch hunt against Obama administration officials, such as calling Van Jones "a convicted felon" and claiming that Cass Sunstein "believes that everyone must be an organ donor." Read More Fox's news programs echo its "opinion" shows: Smears, doctored videos, GOP talking points Fox News has responded to White House criticisms of its network by claiming that while its "editorial" programs are filled with "vibrant opinion," its news hours are straight and objective. However, Fox News' purportedly straight news programs echo its "editorial" programs: Media Matters for America has compiled a non-exhaustive list -- from this year alone -- documenting how Fox's news programming features smears, falsehoods, doctored and deceptive editing, and GOP talking points. Read More Limbaugh's "color-blind" history of racially charged comments On October 12, Rush Limbaugh responded to accusations that he is "insensitive" and has a "blind spot" about race by claiming that he is "colorblind," "treat[s] everybody equally" and that he "doesn't see [President Obama] as black," but rather as "president of the United States." In fact, Limbaugh has an extensive history of making racially charged remarks about minorities and routinely race-baits while criticizing Obama and his policies, such as saying that Obama is a "reverse racist" and that his economic policies amount to "reparations." Read More Fox News runs with faulty industry-funded "study" of Baucus bill Fox News has seized upon a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) for America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), which concluded that under the Senate Finance Committee health care reform bill, "by 2019 the cost of single coverage is expected to increase by $1,500 more than it would under the current system and the cost of family coverage is expected to increase by $4,000 more than it would under the current system," in some cases reporting the study's conclusions as fact. However, health care experts have noted that, in the words of health care economist Len Nichols, "Aside from the obvious conflict of interest associated with a report funded by the very industry it analyzes, PWC's basic analytic assumptions -- by their own admission -- are at variance with the bill and the opinions of most analysts." Read More Beck continues long history of invoking Nazis by comparing Fox to the Jews during the Holocaust During the October 13 edition of his radio show, Glenn Beck likened the Obama administration's treatment of Fox News to Nazi persecution of Jews, telling other media outlets: "When they're done with Fox, and you decide to speak out on something," it would be like "[t]he old, 'first they came for the Jews, and I wasn't Jewish.' " Beck has a long history of invoking the Holocaust, the Nazi Party, and Adolf Hitler to smear the Obama administration, other progressive individuals and organizations, and the media; indeed, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) previously criticized Beck for comparing Al Gore's efforts to raise awareness of global warming to the Holocaust. Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.