Earlier today (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), I noted the press's ridiculously forgiving coverage of today's reported increase in unemployment claims while concentrating primarily on RTT News's assertion that the unemployment rate should continue to come down as long as weekly claims stay below 400,000. Three years ago, Christopher Rugaber's threshold at the Associated Press, also known to yours truly as the Administration's Press, was 325,000. He has since raised it (including in today's report) to 375,000.
This afternoon, Rush Limbaugh expanded on wire service's knee-jerk defense of mediocre-to-bad economic news, taking particular umbrage at the thoroughly misleading headline at Rugaber's report, as well as his first paragraph, which I will relay first before posting part of Rush's reaction:
First, from AP:
US unemployment applications hover near low levels Slightly more people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. But the overall level stayed low enough to suggest the job market is strengthening.
Part of Rush's reaction:
AP Spins for Regime
... After reading this, I'm wondering: Why doesn't the Associated Press have to register with the Federal Election Commission as an Obama super PAC? Because that's what they are. The AP, MSNBC, CBS, NBC, ABC, they're all part of the Obama super PAC. They give advertising away to Obama. They give it away. It's free media. He doesn't have to buy anything from these networks or these publications.
... This is an out-and-out lie again. It's intentionally misleading, the headline and the lead paragraph. Tell me, in what significant way are they any different from the rest of ... the Obama reelection campaign? ... You have 8,000 new applicants over last week, "slightly more Americans applied for unemployment benefits but the overall level stayed low enough to suggest the job market's strengthening." Headline: "US Unemployment Applications Hover Near Low Levels." This is shameless. Absolutely shameless.
... Every day on this program for 23-plus years, there's example after example after example of not just media bias, but journalistic malpractice: an entire industry lying and misleading and misrepresenting things to the American people. They hide behind the First Amendment and the freedom of the press, they hide behind the cloak of objectivity, but they're not objective. They are advocates. They are surrogates. They are part of the agenda. They advance it, and it is the primary reason that so many things in this country are out of whack, because one political party gets a pass. One segment of the American population gets a total pass.
And this AP unemployment story is just the latest in countless daily, multiple-times-a-day examples of the irresponsibility that exists in what is called the mainstream media in this country.
It would be pretty hard to top that truth-filled rant. So I won't try, except to also note, as Zero Hedge originally observed, that "this is the first time we have seen three consecutive weeks of rises since August 2010." Of course, Rugaber didn't tell readers that either.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
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