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. Quick Fact: Fox & Friends pushes tired myth that Fannie and Freddie caused economic crisis Fox & Friends advanced the false claim that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were "the original cause" of the economic crisis. In fact, as economist Dean Baker has stated, holding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac responsible for the financial disaster is "absurd on its face." Read More Fox & Friends celebrates Earth Day by pushing "Climategate" falsehoods After wishing viewers a "Happy Earth Day," Fox & Friends hosts devoted a segment to pushing falsehoods about "Climategate" and alleging that other news networks "ignored" the story. However, despite falsely claiming the emails show that climate scientists "manipulated data," Fox & Friends did not report that several official inquiries into the scientists' conduct found that they did not manipulate data. Read More Fox News' Islam problem Fox News' recent rush to defend Rev. Franklin Graham, who described Islam as a "wicked" and "evil" religion, including hosting him on Fox & Friends, is just the latest example of Fox News' relentless crusade against Muslims. The network has a history of making controversial assertions about Muslims -- often by baselessly branding them as "terrorists" or "terrorist sympathizers" -- calling for profiling, or equating Islam and all of its adherents with radical extremists who claim to act in its name. Read More With a grain of salt: Right-wing media claim government is coming for your shaker Following reports that the FDA is considering regulating the amount of salt in processed foods, media conservatives have falsely claimed that the Obama administration is "seizing our salt shakers." In fact, the FDA review has nothing to do with consumers' use of table salt and instead invovles examining warnings about high sodium content in processed foods and restaurant meals, the sources of 77 percent of sodium intake. Read More Rove, Fox News morph uncontroversial proposal into government spying on "everybody's checking accounts" Karl Rove and Fox News have pushed the conspiracy theory that an Office of Financial Research created by the Senate financial reform bill would "peer into" everybody's checking accounts, credit cards, and financial transactions. However, the OFR would simply collect and analyze data about potential risks to the financial system, and the proposal has been endorsed by Republican Sen. Bob Corker, as well as numerous economics and finance experts, including six Nobel laureates in economics. Read More Quick Fact: Special Report repeats tired myth that Fannie and Freddie caused economic crisis Special Report repeatedly claimed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac caused the economic crisis. In fact, as economist Dean Baker has stated, holding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac responsible for the financial disaster is "absurd on its face." Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.