Media Matters - The Politico

Media Matters - The Politico http://mediamatters.org/tools/syndication/tag_rss/the_politico This link is for use by RSS-enabled software to retrieve Media Matters items matching the term: The Politico en-US Copyright 2009, Media Matters for America Media run with unsourced assertion by Sun-Times columnist of "rumbles" that Emanuel "is reportedly on 21 different taped conversations" http://mediamatters.org/items/200812230012 Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed asserted in a column that she "hears rumbles President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is reportedly on 21 different taped conversations by the feds -- dealing with his boss' vacant Senate seat!" Sneed added: "A lot of chit-chat? Hot air? Or trouble? To date, Rahm's been mum. Stay tuned." Despite the complete absence of sourcing, many in the media have run with Sneed's assertion, in some cases simply quoting Sneed, in others, paraphrasing the assertion, and in still others, actually expanding on it. http://mediamatters.org/items/200812230012 Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:36:38 EST Politico still ignoring nominees with Southern backgrounds, still claiming Obama hasn't selected one http://mediamatters.org/items/200812190005 A Politico article asserted that President-elect Barack Obama "hasn't given back" to the South "with an appointment" to his Cabinet, ignoring nominees who have spent many years living or working in the South. http://mediamatters.org/items/200812190005 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:20:45 EST Ignoring contrary evidence, Matthews, Bloomberg criticized Obama's Cabinet as devoid of Southerners http://mediamatters.org/items/200812170018 On Hardball, Chris Matthews cited a Politico article as purported evidence that "zero -- count 'em, zero Southerners have been named to the Obama Cabinet so far," and a Bloomberg article similarly asserted that Obama's Cabinet is lacking in Southerners. These claims either ignore or discount Obama's selection of Lisa Jackson, Hillary Clinton, and Robert Gates. http://mediamatters.org/items/200812170018 Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:41:02 EST Politico claimed "Dems embrace dynasty politics" but ignored Lisa Murkowski appointment by her father http://mediamatters.org/items/200812170011 In a Politico article titled "Nepotism Nation: Dems embrace dynasty politics," Charles Mahtesian wrote that President-elect Barack Obama's "election last month is helping accelerate the trend toward dynasty politics." But while noting that "[t]here is a rich bipartisan history of dynasty in American politics" and that Jeb Bush might run for Senate in 2010, Mahtesian did not mention that Republican Lisa Murkowski was appointed by her father to take the Alaska Senate seat he left vacant when he was elected governor. http://mediamatters.org/items/200812170011 Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:22:49 EST Discussing Obama's release of Blagojevich report next week, Politico and Hannity ignored Fitzgerald's reported request for delay http://mediamatters.org/items/200812160008 The Politico reported that President-elect Barack Obama "announced he would delay the release of an internal review about contacts between his aides and Blagojevich's office until next week," but did not report that Obama said that while the review was complete, "The U.S. attorney's office asked us to hold off releasing those [findings] for a week." Despite Obama's explanation, Sean Hannity asked: "Why can't we get it out this week?" http://mediamatters.org/items/200812160008 Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:28:30 EST Politico still focused on Obama's -- but not Bush's -- church attendance http://mediamatters.org/items/200812070002 Politico's Ben Smith contrasted President-elect Barack Obama and President George W. Bush's church attendance in the weeks after their elections, but Smith failed to note numerous reports of Bush's infrequent church attendance over the past eight years, as well as Bush's reported lack of membership in a Washington, D.C., congregation. Smith cited another Politico article that also ignored reports about Bush's church attendance. http://mediamatters.org/items/200812070002 Sun, 7 Dec 2008 17:04:08 EST Memo to Politico: Al Gore never claimed he "invented the Internet" http://mediamatters.org/items/200812050004 Politico's Ben Smith and Craig Gordon repeated the falsehood that Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet, writing, "Al Gore took a lot of grief for saying he invented the Internet, but Google's Vinton Cerf can come as close as anyone alive to making that boast with a straight face." In fact, Gore did not claim that he "invented the Internet." Rather, in a 1999 interview on CNN, Gore said, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." http://mediamatters.org/items/200812050004 Fri, 5 Dec 2008 12:29:56 EST Politico contributors, guests on CNN and MSNBC join chorus claiming Clinton will bring "drama" to sec. of state office http://mediamatters.org/items/200812030019 Since initial reporting that President-elect Barack Obama was considering naming Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, many in the media have raised the specter of personal and political "drama" -- which they claim follows Hillary and Bill Clinton wherever they go -- negatively affecting the Obama administration. The Chicago Tribune's Clarence Page acknowledged that the media are hoping for "drama" resulting from a Clinton appointment; Page responded to the question of how Obama is "going to keep the drama at bay" by saying: "Well, do we want that? We're journalists." http://mediamatters.org/items/200812030019 Wed, 3 Dec 2008 22:12:21 EST Media advance notion of disappointment on "the left" with Obama, but polling undermines their claims http://mediamatters.org/items/200812030015 Several media figures are promoting the notion of division among Obama supporters, asserting that "the left" is or should be disappointed with the president-elect's Cabinet selections. But the idea of significant disappointment with Obama runs counter to a USA Today/Gallup poll finding that 94 percent of Democrats "approve of the way Obama is handling his presidential transition." http://mediamatters.org/items/200812030015 Wed, 3 Dec 2008 16:45:56 EST Politico ignored Martin's response to NRSC allegation that he is "soft on crime" http://mediamatters.org/items/200811250008 The Politico reported that the National Republican Senatorial Committee has aired a campaign ad attacking Georgia Democratic senatorial candidate Jim Martin as "soft on crime" without reporting that Martin's campaign released an ad of its own, in which Martin rebuts the allegation, noting that his own family has been victimized by violent crime. http://mediamatters.org/items/200811250008 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:36:37 EST Politico article on Obama's recent church attendance ignored Bush's sporadic attendance as president http://mediamatters.org/items/200811240019 In an article headlined "Obama skips church, heads to gym," Politico reported, "On the three Sundays since his election, Obama has instead used his free time to get in workouts at a Chicago gym," and also asserted, "Both President-elect George W. Bush and President-elect Bill Clinton managed to attend church in the weeks after they were elected." However, Politico ignored numerous reports that Bush attended church infrequently over the past eight years and did not belong to a Washington congregation. Politico's report was echoed by other media, including Fox News and the syndicated radio show The War Room with Quinn & Rose. http://mediamatters.org/items/200811240019 Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:17:07 EST Politico advances GOP's communist smear against MN secretary of state http://mediamatters.org/items/200811120008 The Politico falsely reported that "in a background document distributed by national Republicans," the National Republican Senatorial Committee "accuses" Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie "of having connections to ... the Communist Party of America." However, the NRSC "background document" to which the Politico presumably referred did not accuse Ritchie of "connections" to the Communist Party USA -- claiming only that "[t]he Communist Party USA wrote encouragingly of his candidacy" -- and insofar as the document's reference to the Communist Party USA suggested a link to Ritchie, it did not back up the suggestion with any evidence. http://mediamatters.org/items/200811120008 Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:14:34 EST WSJ's Fund reported on "fraudulent voters" in Ohio, without noting prosecutor reportedly said those in question weren't "attempting to deceive anyone" http://mediamatters.org/items/200811030016 In a Politico.com piece, John Fund described "out-of-state" registrants who reportedly cast ballots in Ohio as "fraudulent voters," without noting that a Columbus Dispatch article Fund apparently cited in his piece quoted an Ohio prosecutor saying of the people: "[M]y take is that they haven't come here to deceive anyone. ... They were under the impression they were entitled to vote." http://mediamatters.org/items/200811030016 Mon, 3 Nov 2008 16:37:20 EST Politico repeated Cindy McCain's comment about troop-funding vote without noting her husband's own vote http://mediamatters.org/items/200810200011 The Politico repeated Cindy McCain's assertion that "[t]he day that Sen. [Barack] Obama cast a vote not to fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body," but did not note that Sen. John McCain himself voted against legislation to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. http://mediamatters.org/items/200810200011 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:31:53 EST Politico's Smith uncritically quoted McCain misrepresenting Biden proposal for Iraq http://mediamatters.org/items/200810150021 The Politico's Ben Smith uncritically reported Sen. John McCain's false claim during the third presidential debate that Sen. Joe Biden has proposed "dividing Iraq into three countries.' " In fact, Biden introduced a plan to "[m]aintain a unified Iraq by decentralizing it and giving Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis breathing room in their own regions." http://mediamatters.org/items/200810150021 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:25:48 EST