Media Matters for America

Things that shouldn't surprise you: Fox politicizing a moment of silence, media not taking seriously right-wing attempts to suppress the vote, television news missing the big picture on something, or Bill O'Reilly making grand proclamations without knowing all the facts. All that and more.
John Whitehouse
Twitter: @existentialfish

Fox Politicizes 9/11 Moment Of Silence With Lies

President Obama, like President Bush before him, issued a proclamation declaring September 11 to be Patriots Day. Fox turned this into Obama-Hates-God-gate, by claiming the President did not mention God. But unsurprisingly Fox got the facts completely wrong.  http://mm4a.org/SArETm

Papering Over Voter Suppression Reality

Actual voter fraud is less common than being struck by lightning. But as states push laws that restrict voting rights ostensibly to stop such fraud, media still are not taking seriously that the laws will restrict citizens from voting -- even as the Pennsylvania GOP House Majority Leader promises the new restrictions will deliver the state to Mitt Romney. Get the facts on the real cost of these voting laws: http://mm4a.org/ROwCJq

Solar Surprise? Only To The Media

If you only watch network and cable news, it might surprise you that America is on the precipice of a clean energy revolution. While the media myopically focuses on Solyndra, a new report shows that solar power is actually booming in America, driven by companies that benefitted from government loan guarantees. Jill Fitzsimmons compares the story you hear in mainstream media with the reality happening on the ground: http://mm4a.org/RICU92

Another Dishonest Fox News Graphic

There are two different measures of unemployment. One measures how many people without work are looking for work, the other adds to that number people who are not looking for a job, part-time workers who prefer full unemployment, and others. Even we were surprised by the brazenly dishonest graphic that made it appear that unemployment had doubled since January 2009. Needless to say, that has not happened.  http://mm4a.org/QDJVha

Right-Wing Pundits Circle The Wagons After Mitt Romney's Embassy Statement

Experts left and right have weighed in: Mitt Romney's statement and response following the horrific attacks on the American embassy in Cairo and the American consulate in Benghazi has been widely condemned. The sole apparent exception to this are a few die-hard right-wing pundits like Eric Bolling, Michelle Malkin, and Rush Limbaugh. To them, this is all a media creation, facts be damned: http://mm4a.org/QNKCEG