The April 5 editions of several cable news programs reported criticisms of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) trip to Syria and touted an April 5 Washington Post editorial criticizing Pelosi's remarks in Syria, without noting that Pelosi had clarified her remarks after the editorial was published. Pelosi, the Post editorial asserted, had "misrepresented Israel's position" when she announced, at an April 4 press conference with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, that she had told him that "Israel was ready to engage in peace talks" with Syria. "Only one problem," the editorial asserted: "The Israeli prime minister had entrusted Ms. Pelosi with no such message," and instead had "quickly issued" a statement that "[w]hat was communicated to [Pelosi] does not contain any change in the policies of Israel" regarding the terms under which it would negotiate with Syria. As Media Matters for America noted, Pelosi's office issued a statement on April 5 saying she had made clear to Assad that Israel continued to demand that Syria cut ties with extremist groups, telling Assad that "in order for Israel to engage in talks with Syria, the Syrian government must eliminate its links with extremist elements, including Hamas and Hezbollah." That statement was released at 1:57 p.m. ET, yet it was ignored by several programs that aired well after it was released:
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