CNN Email Alert: 'GDP Report Tops Forecasts' (By One-Tenth of a Point

July 27th, 2012 9:23 PM
Today's report on the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) during the second quarter didn't impress anyone -- except, apparently those who send out email alerts to CNN Money subscribers. For several years, it has seemed like the primary goal of these alerts has been to create the illusion of pervasive prosperity when the economic news is even remotely tolerable, and to ignore or downplay…

AP Report on Guilty Plea in Cleveland Bombing Plot Grudgingly Notes, T

July 26th, 2012 8:25 AM
On May 2, Matt Sheffield at NewsBusters ran down a list of national media outlets which failed to report the Occupy movement connections of the five men arrested by the FBI for plotting to blow up a suburban Cleveland bridge, despite the fact that the Cleveland Plain Dealer began noting those relationships from the get-go. Matt wrote that the Associated Press recognized the connections, but…

Administration's Protection: AP's Gordon Turns 'Liebor' Hearing Into a

July 26th, 2012 1:34 AM
No matter how inane or damning his comments and answers to inquiries, it appears that Obama Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner can continue to count on favorable coverage from the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, aka the Administration's Protection. The AP's Marcy Gordon, with the help of her story's headline writer, made Geither's appearance before the House Committee on…

AP Publicizes Far Left Group's Slam of Social Conservatives' Africa Ef

July 25th, 2012 7:10 PM
The Associated Press made no attempt to hide their liberal slant on Tuesday as they hyped an obscure leftist organization's report attacking American conservatives' efforts to support traditional marriage in Africa. Writer Michelle Faul repeatedly used biased labels such as "anti-gay," "religious right," and "Christian right" against social conservatives. By contrast, she made only one vague…

Quite the Endorsement: Hugo Chavez Praises Obama, Denounces Romney; Wi

July 25th, 2012 4:42 PM
If you haven't heard of Barack Obama's newest endorsement, you're seriously missing out!  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave his blessing to the 44th president and he should be proud.  I'm not at all insinuating that this election and the one to be held later this year in Venezuela are similar at all, but when a Latin American strongman who built his political career and government policies…

AP Report on Fracking Faults Accuracy of 'Some' Opponents' Claims, Fai

July 25th, 2012 11:26 AM
I suppose the Associated Press deserves some credit for what appears to be a grudging acknowledgment that opponents of the oil and gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, aka "fracking," "sometimes mislead the public." Also, Kevin Begos's story does a good job of letting Josh Fox, producer of the fundamentally dishonest documentary "Gasland," hang himself with his own dodgy,…

AP Headline Jumps on the Apple-Bashing Train on Taxes ('Phantom Taxes

July 23rd, 2012 7:52 PM
Gosh, if Apple would only send the money it has parked overseas back to the United States and pay income taxes on it, the federal government's situation would be so much better, the budget would would balance, and ... no, not really. According to Peter Svensson at the Associated Press, the company has $74 billion in cash parked overseas, meaning that it would owe federal income taxes of about $…

Why Did AP Do a 1,500-Word Expected Poverty Rate Writeup Months Before

July 22nd, 2012 10:31 AM
In September 2010, the Associated Press prepared an advance report on the expected surge in the Census Bureau's official poverty rate, which rose from 13.2% to a 15-year high of 14.3%. Their stated preoccupation was not with the associated pain, but with "the unfortunate timing for Obama and his party just seven weeks before important elections when Congress is at stake." Well, this year's…

AP: 'Gun Control Advocates Sputter At Their Own Impotence

July 21st, 2012 4:50 PM
"Gun control advocates sputter at their own impotence." Such was the shocking opening sentence of a piece published by the Associated Press moments ago addressing the political aftermath of the tragic shootings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.

AP Pair Upset at Lack of Gun Control Calls and Clout of NRA in Aurora

July 21st, 2012 10:22 AM
Poor David Espo and Nancy Benac. A six-paragraph squib this morning headlined "Calls for gun control stir little support" at the wire service's national site and "Despite a string of high-profile shootings, calls for gun control stir little support" at Newser.com really should have been titled "Why Aren't You Guys Politicizing This, D**nit?" The two AP "reporters" bitterly wail and gnash…

At AP, Big Jobless Claims Miss Due to 'Seasonal Issues'; Consistent Ca

July 19th, 2012 9:59 AM
Todays unemployment claims release from the Department of Labor reported that initial jobless aid applications for the week ended July 14 were 386,000 after seasonal adjustment. Business Insider's email this morning carried a prediction of 364,000. Bloomberg's consensus prediction was 365,000. At the Associated Press, in his 8:45 a.m. dispatch (saved here for future reference, fair use and…

AP's Peoples Tells Readers What Obama 'Intended' in 'You Didn't Build

July 19th, 2012 1:46 AM
On July 13, President Barack Obama told a campaign audience in Roanoke that "If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen." As Geoffrey Dickens at NewsBusters pointed out on Wednesday, it wasn't until July 17 that any of the Big Three broadcast TV news networks recognized the existence of the remark -- and two of them failed to run the actual quote. Part…

AP Calls HHS's Gutting of Welfare Reform a 'Proposal

July 18th, 2012 8:22 AM
On July 12, the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children & Families, the group which administers the entitlement program known to most as "welfare" or "traditional welfare, issued an "Information Memorandum" entitled "Guidance concerning waiver and expenditure authority under Section 1115" (i.e., not "proposed guidance"). After navigating the thicket of…

Wishful Thinking at AP: 'Some Argue' That Jan. Tax Increases Won't Be

July 17th, 2012 9:33 AM
One useful interpretation of a journalist's use of "some people say that" or "some argue that" without an accompanying reference to or quote from a subject matters expert is that such phrases really mean "in my opinion." This is the very likely case in a disingenuously headlined Associated Press story yesterday by Andrew Taylor concerning the standoff between the Republicans, who want the…