Associated Press
'No-Go Zones' Are Back in the News — But Not at U.S. Media Outlets
January 11th, 2016 10:27 AM
Despite reports and statements containing the term coming out of Germany during the past week, searches at the Associated Press on "no-go zones," and even on "no-go," return nothing. The New York Times has no recent report identifying European no-go zones, but has at least demonstrated that it might be getting over its nearly allergic reaction to the term by observing that parts of Ramadi, Iraq…
Memo to AP: Job Growth Doesn't Automatically Equal Economic Growth
January 9th, 2016 11:27 AM
At the Associated Press, as seen at its "Top Business News" page Friday afternoon, Christopher Rugaber opened his song of praise for yesterday's jobs report ("US EMPLOYERS HIRE AT ROBUST PACE, DEFYING GLOBAL TRENDS") as follows: "American employers added a robust 292,000 jobs in December, suggesting that the U.S. economy is so far defying global weakness and growing solidly. ..."
Rugaber's…
AP Applauds 'Blistering Pace' in Jobs, Buries Awful Wholesale News
January 9th, 2016 8:47 AM
Yesterday at NewsBusters, Ken Shepherd noted how quickly and gleefully the New York Times jumped ("an impressive sprint capping off a year of solid job growth") on December's relatively strong jobs report.
The Associated Press joined the parade — "US EMPLOYERS HIRE AT BLISTERING PACE, DEFYING GLOBAL TRENDS" – and kept its story as its lead in its Business "Top Stories" until late afternoon.…
AP Highlights One Piece of Good Economic News, Buries 3 Weaker Ones
January 6th, 2016 4:29 PM
Today was a fairly brisk day for economic data, as four noteworthy reports were released. One of them contained good news, but with a heavy asterisk. The other three were either not good, period, or came in below expectations.
Readers here probably know which one the Associated Press was still carrying at its Top Business Stories page as of 2:39 p.m. Of course, it was the one with good news.
AP Admits: Obama's Gun Actions 'Would Not Have Prevented' Sandy Hook
January 6th, 2016 12:13 PM
The liberal media, especially the Big Three networks, have been so caught up in President Obama's "deeply emotional appeal," as he issued his executive orders on gun contro,l that they haven't bothered to check the effectivity of the actions. On Wednesday, the AP's Michael R. Sisak pointed out that "the gun control measures a tearful President Barack Obama announced Tuesday would not have…
AP's Scott Bauer Has a New Obsession: Negatively Describing Ted Cruz
January 5th, 2016 5:31 PM
At the Associated Press, Wisconsin-based reporter Scott Bauer, who has spent the better part of the past five years describing Badger State Governor Scott Walker as "polarizing," has been given the opportunity to get involved with 2016 presidential campaign coverage.
Leftists and Democrats rarely earn negative descriptors in Bauer's reports, while Republicans and conservatives receive them…
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WashPost: Putting Black Opponent in Darker Light in TV Ads Is Racist
January 2nd, 2016 11:58 PM
A time-honored tactic in political TV ads is to use contrasting degrees of photographic exposure, one bright and snappy for your candidate and a darker hue, sometimes even going to old-fashioned black-and-white, for your opponent.
On December 29, at the Washington Post's Wonkblog, Max Ehrenfreund cited a conveniently timed "study" which looked at 2008 ads produced by and on behalf of GOP…
Obama's NSA Spying on Congress Not a Story at AP — Until GOP Responds
January 1st, 2016 9:19 PM
The Wall Street Journal ran a blockbuster story Tuesday afternoon ("U.S. Spy Net on Israel Snares Congress") about how the Obama administration's National Security Agency's "targeting of Israeli leaders swept up the content of private conversations with U.S. lawmakers." In other words, the NSA spied on Congress. As talk-show host and commentator Erick Erickson drily observed: "Congress began…
On Economy, AP Wraps Year With Two Weak Stories and a Glaring Omission
December 31st, 2015 3:50 PM
This week, the Associated Press wrapped up a year of largely pathetic business reporting with three items exemplifying the wire service's habits of data-twisting, sloppiness, and convenient omissions.
A deceptive AP post-Christmas story pretended that Christmas-season "spending" was twice as high as anyone else has predicted. A report on pending home sales omitted a concerned comment from a…
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Year-End Awards: The Most Outrageous Media Quote of 2015
December 31st, 2015 9:04 AM
Wrapping up the Media Research Center’s “Best Notable Quotables of 2015,” it’s time to present the “Quote of the Year” for 2015, and the top runner-up, as selected by our panel of 39 expert judges, who were extremely generous with their time as they reviewed a large ballot of outrageous quotes. Winning the dubious distinction of worst quote of the year, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry, who on…
Poll: Americans Divided on Religious Liberty for Christians, Muslims
December 30th, 2015 5:16 PM
People place a higher priority on preserving the religious freedom of Christians than for other faith groups, ranking Muslims as the least deserving of the protections, according to a new survey released on Wednesday. A skeptic might think the Associated Press did this poll less to explore the question of religious liberty than to make mischief about Muslims being less favored in America.
The…
No Media Repercussions for Minn. Councilwoman Who 'Doxed' Constituents
December 29th, 2015 5:37 AM
Did you hear the story about the conservative city councilman who was so incensed at his private-citizen critics that he or she published their names and addresses and accused them of racism in the process?
Of course you didn't. If it happened, press coverage of "right-wing intimidation" would be everywhere. Instead, "doxing," the term given to such exposures, is a technique predominantly…
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Hillary Gaffe: Close Any School Not 'Doing a Better Than Average Job'
December 28th, 2015 8:08 PM
According to NewsBusters' own Blonde Gator, Hillary Clinton has, in the 8-1/2 months since she declared her candidacy, committed 51 gaffes and goofs. That's an average rate of six per month. Imagine how many there would be if Mrs. Clinton genuinely campaigned among the people instead of among preselected groupies.
One of her latest gaffes, which occurred last week at an elementary school in Iowa…
AP Claims Christmas 'Spending' Up 8 Pct. — On Number of Transactions
December 28th, 2015 5:27 PM
As I noted in a pre-Christmas post, "The desperation is palpable at the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, over how the Christmas shopping season is going."
Desperation has clearly descended into outright deception at the wire service, where an unbylined story claims that spending is up 8 percent, but that the source involved "does not include spending by dollar amounts." As will…