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. Drudge falsely suggests U.S. has not previously accepted international aid for oil spill Linking to an Associated Press article on the State Department's recent announcement that it is accepting dozens of offers of international aid for the Gulf oil spill response, the Drudge Report falsely suggested that this is the first time the government has "accept[ed] international assistance for [the] spill." In fact, as FactCheck.org noted, offers had been previously accepted, and numerous foreign-flagged vessels are already involved in the oil spill response. Read More Wash. Times twists facts to bash Kagan, Sotomayor A Washington Times editorial rehashed false attacks on Elena Kagan and falsely claimed that Sotomayor's dissent in a recent case relating to gun laws shows that she "lied" in her confirmation hearing about her views on the Second Amendment. In fact, the dissent is not inconsistent with Sotomayor's testimony. Read More Media ran with now-retracted attack on IPCC in their assault on global warming science Numerous media outlets seized on a dubious January London Sunday Times report which claimed that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) 2007 statement on Amazon rain forests was "unsubstantiated" and without scientific basis in order to attack the IPCC's credibility and global warming science in general. However, The Sunday Times has now retracted that claim, noting, "In fact, the IPCC's Amazon statement is supported by peer-reviewed scientific evidence." Will these media outlets follow suit? Read More Beck misleads about Kagan's arguments on political books, pamphlets Glenn Beck falsely suggested that Elena Kagan, in arguing before the Supreme Court that the government could ban "certain political pamphlets," would have banned Thomas Paine's pamphlets. In fact, she was arguing the government's case that pamphlets by corporations and unions could be restricted, not those by individual citizens. Read More Fox hypes GOP activist's "explosive new allegations" against Obama DOJ Fox News is trumpeting completely unsubstantiated allegations made by GOP activist and former Justice Department attorney J. Christian Adams that the DOJ improperly dismissed voter-intimidation charges against members of the New Black Panther Party for political reasons. But Adams, a longtime Republican activist, relied on hearsay and charges made by others, rather than firsthand knowledge, in making his allegations. Read More Beck runs with debunked Phoenix kidnapping claim Glenn Beck falsely claimed that Phoenix experiences more kidnappings "than any other city in the world outside of Mexico City." In fact, PolitiFact.com has reported that this claim is "false", saying that "experts advise that such rankings can't be made based on available information." Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.