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. Attacking the victim, right-wing media brand Sherrod a Marxist Media conservatives, including Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, have continued the right wing's attacks on Shirley Sherrod, who was forced to resign from her position at the Department of Agriculture after Andrew Breitbart posted edited video of a speech she gave to falsely label her a racist. These conservatives have branded Sherrod a Marxist, Maoist, communist, and socialist. Read More Doocy's deception: "Fox News Channel" did not touch Sherrod story "until she had actually quit" Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy once again deceptively claimed that "Fox News Channel did not touch" the Shirley Sherrod story "until she had actually quit." In fact, Doocy's statement ignores that FoxNews.com published a story based on the deceptively edited video before Sherrod resigned; indeed, a subsequent FoxNews.com article reported that she resigned "shortly after FoxNews.com published its initial report on the video." Read More Timeline of Breitbart's Sherrod smear Media Matters has documented a timeline of Andrew Breitbart's smear of Shirley Sherrod, from Breitbart's initial posting of his deceptively edited clip of Sherrod -- which was amplified by Fox News and other right-wing media -- through the release of the full video of Sherrod's comments, which made clear the context of her remarks. Read More When will Fox & Friends apologize for attacking Sherrod? After Andrew Breitbart posted a deceptively cropped video and smeared Shirley Sherrod as a racist, Fox & Friends followed suit, airing the video clip and claiming that Sherrod's remarks were "Exhibit A" of "what racism looks like." The full video of Sherrod's remarks has since shown that Breitbart's clip was incredibly unfair, yet Fox & Friends has not acknowledged its mistake or apologized for attacking Sherrod's character on national television. Read More Fox & Friends dredges up debunked claim that NAACP president was in attendance at Sherrod speech Fox & Friends guest co-host Juliet Huddy dredged up the debunked claim that NAACP national president Ben Jealous was in the audience during former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod's now-infamous March speech. In fact, Media Matters for America confirmed that Jealous was not in attendance. Read More Kelly's obsession with phony scandal is just the latest "hint of her political outlook" Megyn Kelly has been a driving force behind Fox News' heavy promotion of the phony New Black Panther Party scandal. Kelly has been criticized for showing "hints of her political outlook" from the anchor desk and has a history of advancing right-wing smears and falsehoods. Read More Media denounce Breitbart's tactics, highlight his loss of credibility With the implosion of Andrew Breitbart's smear of Shirley Sherrod, many in the media have criticized Breitbart's tactics, called on him to apologize, or pointed out how this episode has depleted any credibility he may have had. Read More CNN's Cooper detonates Breitbart's NAACP applause falsehood Andrew Breitbart has attempted to divert attention from his falsehoods about former USDA official Shirley Sherrod by claiming that her NAACP audience applauded "as she described how she maltreated the white farmer." While some in the media have uncritically forwarded his falsehood, CNN's Anderson Cooper has definitively exposed it as false. Read More Right-wing conspiracy: Sherrod controversy "orchestrated" by the White House to "smear Breitbart" As Andrew Breitbart's Shirley Sherrod smear dissolved, rather than blame Breitbart for posting the deceptive clip of her speech, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, and Rush Limbaugh ludicrously began speculating that he and the conservative media could have been the victim of a "set-up" that had been "orchestrated" by the White House. Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.