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All rights reserved. webmaster@world-of-newave.com (Webmaster) Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:47:22 GMT Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:47:22 GMT Newave Lisa XML Engine v1.0 - http://www.world-of-newave.info/about.htm 60 http://www.world-of-newave.info/images/wi8831.gif World-of-Newave.info - Knowledge and Informational Database http://www.world-of-newave.info/ 88 31 {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - NPR, CNN's Crowley report on Obama's Beverly Hills fundraiser, ignore McCain's recent lucrative fundraisers http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/npr-cnn-s-crowley-report-on-obama-s-beverly-hills-20080987324.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/npr-cnn-s-crowley-report-on-obama-s-beverly-hills-20080987324.htm Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:30:06 GMT During the September 17 edition of NPR's Morning Edition, correspondent Scott Horsley reported on what he described as "a pair of posh fundraisers in Beverly Hills" for Sen. Barack Obama, and in the following segment, correspondent David Greene reported on Sen. John McCain's criticism of Obama for attending one featuring Barbra Streisand. But neither Horsley nor Greene reported that McCain also attended a fundraiser in Miami earlier in the week at which he reportedly raised $5.1 million. Nor did they point out that McCain reportedly held a fundraiser in Beverly Hills with celebrities last month. During the first segment, Horsley reported: "After speaking in Colorado, Obama was off to California for a pair of posh fundraisers in Beverly Hills -- one of them featuring Barbra Streisand." Following Horsley's segment, Greene reported: "I'm David Greene, traveling with Senator McCain, who had some things to say about Obama's fundraiser out in Beverly Hills." Greene then aired a clip of McCain saying of Obama: "He talked about siding with the people, siding with the people, just before he flew off to Hollywood for a fundraiser with Barbra Streisand and his celebrity friends. Let me tell you, my friends, there's no place I'd rather be than here with the working men and women of Ohio." Greene ended the segment by saying: "These days, McCain's speeches are all about the economy. ... Oh, and there's also no Barbra Streisand music." Similarly, on the September 16 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, senior political correspondent Candy Crowley reported of Obama's Beverly Hills fundraisers: "One of those fundraisers ... $28,500 a head." She added: "That was too good for John McCain to pass up. He told one crowd he'd rather be talking to working class men and women in Ohio." But while Crowley noted Obama's fundraiser for "$28,500 a head," she did not note McCain's Miami fundraiser or his fundraiser with celebrities in Beverly Hills. By contrast, in a September 17 Wall Street Journal article, Brody Mullins and Glenn R. Simpson reported: "Many of the fund-raising events that Republican rival Sen. McCain attends, including one in Miami on Monday, begin with a private cocktail hour with the Arizona senator for contributors donating about $25,000 each. Some events that Sen. McCain held this summer for his campaign and the Republican National Committee offered special treatment for couples who wrote checks of up to $100,000." From Horsley's report on the September 17 edition of NPR's Morning Edition: HORSLEY: After speaking in Colorado, Obama was off to California for a pair of posh fundraisers in Beverly Hills -- one of them featuring Barbra Streisand. STREISAND: [singing] Happy days are here again. The skies above are clear again. HORSLEY: OK, that's actually a CD. But the people who ponied up $2,500 bucks last night got to hear Streisand in person. The two events brought in some $9 million, on top of the record $66 million Obama raised last month. But because he passed up public financing, Sheila Krumholz of the watchdog Center for Responsive Politics says Obama will have to keep up this pace to stay competitive with McCain and the Republican National Committee. KRUMHOLZ [audio clip]: Obama has raised more than twice what McCain has, but the picture is less lopsided when you consider the amount of money the parties can spend for their respective candidates. HORSLEY: That means Obama will be spending some valuable campaign time in non-swing states, like California, raising money and talking about yours. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Beverly Hills. From Greene's report on the September 17 edition of Morning Edition: GREENE: I'm David Greene, traveling with Senator McCain, who had some things to say about Obama's fundraiser out in Beverly Hills. McCAIN [audio clip]: He talked about siding with the people, siding with the people, just before he flew off to Hollywood for a fundraiser with Barbra Streisand and his celebrity friends. Let me tell you, my friends, there's no place I'd rather be than here with the working men and women of Ohio. GREENE: McCain was in an airport hanger in Vienna, Ohio, outside Youngstown. The event yesterday afternoon reunited McCain with his running mate, Sarah Palin. She also went after Obama. PALIN [audio clip]: Now, I know that there are a lot of small towns in this beautiful valley, and folks here don't quite know what to make of a candidate like our opponent, who has lavished praise on working people when they're listening, and then talks about, though, how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns, when those people aren't listening. We all tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Vienna or Youngstown, and then another way in San Francisco. GREENE: Palin was pointing to a comment Obama made at a fundraiser back in April. She kept hammering the theme of Obama not being on the side of working families. PALIN [audio clip]: There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you. GREENE: John McCain, Palin said, is the candidate voters should trust to deal with the current turmoil on Wall Street. And McCain's been talking about solutions. He said yesterday that he'd set up a high-profile body, much like the 9-11 Commission, to study the economic crisis, and he called for tighter federal regulations on Wall Street. [...] GRENE: These days, McCain's speeches are all about the economy. They come to an end with barely a mention of the war or foreign policy. McCAIN [audio clip]: We need to carry the state of Florida, and with your help, we will do that. And I will support -- thank you for your support. GREENE: Oh, and there's also no Barbra Streisand music. David Greene, NPR News, traveling with the McCain campaign. From the September 16 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight: CROWLEY: From Golden, Colorado, Obama went straight to Hollywood, California, where he will be at a couple of fundraisers tonight for his own campaign and for the Democratic Party. One of those fundraisers, Lou, $28,500 a head. That was too good for John McCain to pass up. He told one crowd he'd rather be talking to working class men and women in Ohio. Lou. DOBBS: Yeah, that is a little hard to square up, isn't it -- $28,500 a plate versus the populist message that both of these candidates, by the way, have discovered, Candy? I think that's fascinating that the people are starting to get some notice from both candidates. CROWLEY: Well, there's nothing like a crisis on Wall Street to kind of focus the mind and to have people -- have them both come out with plans saying here's what I would do. Mediamatters.Org NPR, CNN's Crowley report on Obama's Beverly Hills fundraiser, ignore McCain's recent lucrative fundraisers {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - During the September 17 edition of NPR's Morning Edition, correspondent Scott Horsley reported on what he described as "a pair of posh fundraisers in Beverly Hills" for Sen. Barack Obama, and in the following segment, correspondent David Greene reported on Sen. John McCain's criticism of Obama for attending one featuring Barbra Streisand. But neither Horsley nor Greene reported that McCain also attended a fundraiser in Miami earlier in the week at which he reportedly raised $5.1 million. Nor did they point out that McCain reportedly held a fundraiser in Beverly Hills with celebrities last month. During the first segment, Horsley reported: "After speaking in Colorado, Obama was off to California for a pair of posh fundraisers in Beverly Hills -- one of them featuring Barbra Streisand." Following Horsley's segment, Greene reported: "I'm David Greene, traveling with Senator McCain, who had some things to say about Obama's fundraiser out in Beverly Hills." Greene then aired a clip of McCain saying of Obama: "He talked about siding with the people, siding with the people, just before he flew off to Hollywood for a fundraiser with Barbra Streisand and his celebrity friends. Let me tell you, my friends, there's no place I'd rather be than here with the working men and women of Ohio." Greene ended the segment by saying: "These days, McCain's speeches are all about the economy. ... Oh, and there's also no Barbra Streisand music." Similarly, on the September 16 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, senior political correspondent Candy Crowley reported of Obama's Beverly Hills fundraisers: "One of those fundraisers ... $28,500 a head." She added: "That was too good for John McCain to pass up. He told one crowd he'd rather be talking to working class men and women in Ohio." But while Crowley noted Obama's fundraiser for "$28,500 a head," she did not note McCain's Miami fundraiser or his fundraiser with celebrities in Beverly Hills. By contrast, in a September 17 Wall Street Journal article, Brody Mullins and Glenn R. Simpson reported: "Many of the fund-raising events that Republican rival Sen. McCain attends, including one in Miami on Monday, begin with a private cocktail hour with the Arizona senator for contributors donating about $25,000 each. Some events that Sen. McCain held this summer for his campaign and the Republican National Committee offered special treatment for couples who wrote checks of up to $100,000." From Horsley's report on the September 17 edition of NPR's Morning Edition: HORSLEY: After speaking in Colorado, Obama was off to California for a pair of posh fundraisers in Beverly Hills -- one of them featuring Barbra Streisand. STREISAND: [singing] Happy days are here again. The skies above are clear again. HORSLEY: OK, that's actually a CD. But the people who ponied up $2,500 bucks last night got to hear Streisand in person. The two events brought in some $9 million, on top of the record $66 million Obama raised last month. But because he passed up public financing, Sheila Krumholz of the watchdog Center for Responsive Politics says Obama will have to keep up this pace to stay competitive with McCain and the Republican National Committee. KRUMHOLZ [audio clip]: Obama has raised more than twice what McCain has, but the picture is less lopsided when you consider the amount of money the parties can spend for their respective candidates. HORSLEY: That means Obama will be spending some valuable campaign time in non-swing states, like California, raising money and talking about yours. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Beverly Hills. From Greene's report on the September 17 edition of Morning Edition: GREENE: I'm David Greene, traveling with Senator McCain, who had some things to say about Obama's fundraiser out in Beverly Hills. McCAIN [audio clip]: He talked about siding with the people, siding with the people, just before he flew off to Hollywood for a fundraiser with Barbra Streisand and his celebrity friends. Let me tell you, my friends, there's no place I'd rather be than here with the working men and women of Ohio. GREENE: McCain was in an airport hanger in Vienna, Ohio, outside Youngstown. The event yesterday afternoon reunited McCain with his running mate, Sarah Palin. She also went after Obama. PALIN [audio clip]: Now, I know that there are a lot of small towns in this beautiful valley, and folks here don't quite know what to make of a candidate like our opponent, who has lavished praise on working people when they're listening, and then talks about, though, how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns, when those people aren't listening. We all tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Vienna or Youngstown, and then another way in San Francisco. GREENE: Palin was pointing to a comment Obama made at a fundraiser back in April. She kept hammering the theme of Obama not being on the side of working families. PALIN [audio clip]: There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you. GREENE: John McCain, Palin said, is the candidate voters should trust to deal with the current turmoil on Wall Street. And McCain's been talking about solutions. He said yesterday that he'd set up a high-profile body, much like the 9-11 Commission, to study the economic crisis, and he called for tighter federal regulations on Wall Street. [...] GRENE: These days, McCain's speeches are all about the economy. They come to an end with barely a mention of the war or foreign policy. McCAIN [audio clip]: We need to carry the state of Florida, and with your help, we will do that. And I will support -- thank you for your support. GREENE: Oh, and there's also no Barbra Streisand music. David Greene, NPR News, traveling with the McCain campaign. From the September 16 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight: CROWLEY: From Golden, Colorado, Obama went straight to Hollywood, California, where he will be at a couple of fundraisers tonight for his own campaign and for the Democratic Party. One of those fundraisers, Lou, $28,500 a head. That was too good for John McCain to pass up. He told one crowd he'd rather be talking to working class men and women in Ohio. Lou. DOBBS: Yeah, that is a little hard to square up, isn't it -- $28,500 a plate versus the populist message that both of these candidates, by the way, have discovered, Candy? I think that's fascinating that the people are starting to get some notice from both candidates. CROWLEY: Well, there's nothing like a crisis on Wall Street to kind of focus the mind and to have people -- have them both come out with plans saying here's what I would do.
Media Matters - NPR, CNN's Crowley report on Obama's Beverly Hills fundraiser, ignore McCain's recent lucrative fundraisers {...} NPR and CNN reported that Sen. John McCain mocked Sen. Barack Obama for holding fundraisers in Beverly Hills that were expected to raise several million dollars, but neither report noted that McCain himself reportedly attended a fundraiser in Miami earlier in the week that raised several million dollars and held a fundraiser last month in Beverly Hills attended by celebrities. {...}
Published: September 17, 2008, 8:30 pm - Indexed: September 18, 2008, 1:07 pm - Page Size: 25KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - Fox News repeatedly aired new McCain ad without noting its falsehoods http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/fox-news-repeatedly-aired-new-mccain-ad-without-20080952524.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/fox-news-repeatedly-aired-new-mccain-ad-without-20080952524.htm Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:29:33 GMT During the September 12 editions of Fox & Friends and America's Newsroom, Fox News aired a new ad by Sen. John McCain's campaign that accuses Sen. Barack Obama's campaign of being "disrespectful" to Gov. Sarah Palin. However, neither the hosts of Fox & Friends -- Gretchen Carlson, Steve Doocy, and Brian Kilmeade -- nor the hosts of America's Newsroom -- Bill Hemmer and Jamie Colby -- gave any indication that the ad contains several distortions. In its analysis of the ad, FactCheck.org noted that the ad "takes words out of context to make it sound as though the Democratic ticket is belittling Palin" and stated that it "distorts" each of the three Obama campaign statements it uses "to make the case" that Obama is "being 'disrespectful' of Palin," as Media Matters for America previously documented. From FactCheck.org's September 11 article: The ad says Obama and [Sen. Joe] Biden "lashed out at Sarah Palin. Dismissed her as 'good looking.' " That's misleading. The reference is to a report of Biden joking that one of the differences between Palin and him is that "she's good looking." But the report cited in the ad doesn't characterize Biden's remarks as dismissive. Instead, ABC News' Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe describe a moment when Biden "ham[s] it up" for the crowd, with one woman telling Biden that he's "gorgeous." The Democratic candidate then says he'd like to end "on a serious note." [...] Our ears don't hear Biden's "good looking" comment as dismissive. To the contrary, it's clearly a self-deprecating remark made in joking about himself and his looks. And by the way, the ad shows a picture of Obama next to the "good looking" quote, but it was Biden, not Obama, who said that. [...] The ad continues to imply sexism by claiming that "they said she was doing 'what she was told.' " Presumably "they" are the Democrats. But no one said anything close to that. Rather, the McCain ad took a fragment of an actual statement by an Obama adviser and carefully added language to alter the meaning. The ad cites a Sept. 4 report from Ben Smith's blog at Politico.com in which he interviewed Obama adviser David Axelrod about Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention. The full quote reads: Axelrod, quoted by Politico, Sept. 4: "She tried to attack Obama by saying he had no significant legislative accomplishments -- maybe that's what she was told -- but she should talk to Sen. Lugar, talk to Sen. Coburn, talk to people across the aisle in Illinois where he passed dozens of major laws to expand health care reform welfare, reduce taxes on working families." Axelrod's statement, as reported, was about information that Palin was given: "maybe that's what she was told." The McCain-Palin campaign manipulated the phrase to make it sound as though he was alleging that Palin took orders: "doing what she was told." The rest of the interview actually included some praise from Axelrod for Palin. For instance, he said she is a "skilled politician." And, again, the quote used in the ad wasn't said by Obama, either -- though his photo appears next to it. [...] The ad wraps up by saying Obama and Biden "desperately called Sarah Palin a liar." And it adds, "How disrespectful." The reference is to an ad the Obama-Biden campaign released in which it criticizes Palin for saying she was against the infamous Bridge to Nowhere when she had previously been for it. (We called into question Palin's comments on the bridge last week.) The Obama ad says, "Politicians lying about their records. You don't call that maverick, you call it more of the same." It then quotes an item from the liberal magazine The New Republic, which called the claim that Palin stopped the pork-barrel bridge project "a naked lie." Indeed, as Media Matters has documented, Palin has put forth outright falsehoods about her purported opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere project. From the September 12 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom: COLBY: Well, the McCain camp is staying on the offensive, as well, today, with their brand new ad, just released this morning. Take a look at this. [begin video clip] NARRATOR: He was the world's biggest celebrity -- CROWD: Obama! Obama! NARRATOR: -- but his star's fading. So they lashed out at Sarah Palin, dismissed her as good looking -- that backfired. So they said she was doing "what she was told," then, desperately, called Sarah Palin a liar. How disrespectful. And how Governor Sarah Palin proves them wrong every day. McCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message. [end video clip] COLBY: And of course, Governor Palin considered to have more than held her own in that interview that she gave with Charlie Gibson. HEMMER: We're going to get to that in a moment, soon, yeah. COLBY: But does what you wore in 1982, which is what they're trying to point out in that McCain picture of him in that polyester suit, does that -- is that relevant? HEMMER: An out-of-touch, out-of-date, computer illiterate. COLBY: You know -- HEMMER: There will be reaction on this. We talked about the sexism. We talk about the ageism. These are the issues that are being laid out with 53 days to go. COLBY: And not using the computer? It's what's here that counts. From the September 12 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends: KILMEADE: Wow. Got a little personal there. DOOCY: A little bit. CARLSON: Yeah, and he's obviously going after the younger demographic by talking about email because who, quite frankly, in American society does not email? So, I think this is effective for the group of people that he's going after as far as age range, but just be -- when you think that you've been swayed one way or another, here's the other side of the story. [begin video clip] NARRATOR: He was the world's biggest celebrity -- CROWD: Obama! Obama! NARRATOR: -- but his star's fading. So they lashed out at Sarah Palin, dismissed her as good looking -- that backfired. So they said she was doing "what she was told," then, desperately, called Sarah Palin a liar. How disrespectful. And how Governor Sarah Palin proves them wrong every day. McCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message. [end video clip] DOOCY: OK, so there you've got -- it's nice to see the disco ball -- KILMEADE: Right. DOOCY: -- back into the campaign. KILMEADE: That's absolutely true. DOOCY: Which do you think is more effective? Email us right now: The "Disrespectful" ad or "the John McCain doesn't know how to email" ad? Email us right now at Friends@FoxNews.com. Mediamatters.Org Fox News repeatedly aired new McCain ad without noting its falsehoods {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - During the September 12 editions of Fox & Friends and America's Newsroom, Fox News aired a new ad by Sen. John McCain's campaign that accuses Sen. Barack Obama's campaign of being "disrespectful" to Gov. Sarah Palin. However, neither the hosts of Fox & Friends -- Gretchen Carlson, Steve Doocy, and Brian Kilmeade -- nor the hosts of America's Newsroom -- Bill Hemmer and Jamie Colby -- gave any indication that the ad contains several distortions. In its analysis of the ad, FactCheck.org noted that the ad "takes words out of context to make it sound as though the Democratic ticket is belittling Palin" and stated that it "distorts" each of the three Obama campaign statements it uses "to make the case" that Obama is "being 'disrespectful' of Palin," as Media Matters for America previously documented. From FactCheck.org's September 11 article: The ad says Obama and [Sen. Joe] Biden "lashed out at Sarah Palin. Dismissed her as 'good looking.' " That's misleading. The reference is to a report of Biden joking that one of the differences between Palin and him is that "she's good looking." But the report cited in the ad doesn't characterize Biden's remarks as dismissive. Instead, ABC News' Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe describe a moment when Biden "ham[s] it up" for the crowd, with one woman telling Biden that he's "gorgeous." The Democratic candidate then says he'd like to end "on a serious note." [...] Our ears don't hear Biden's "good looking" comment as dismissive. To the contrary, it's clearly a self-deprecating remark made in joking about himself and his looks. And by the way, the ad shows a picture of Obama next to the "good looking" quote, but it was Biden, not Obama, who said that. [...] The ad continues to imply sexism by claiming that "they said she was doing 'what she was told.' " Presumably "they" are the Democrats. But no one said anything close to that. Rather, the McCain ad took a fragment of an actual statement by an Obama adviser and carefully added language to alter the meaning. The ad cites a Sept. 4 report from Ben Smith's blog at Politico.com in which he interviewed Obama adviser David Axelrod about Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention. The full quote reads: Axelrod, quoted by Politico, Sept. 4: "She tried to attack Obama by saying he had no significant legislative accomplishments -- maybe that's what she was told -- but she should talk to Sen. Lugar, talk to Sen. Coburn, talk to people across the aisle in Illinois where he passed dozens of major laws to expand health care reform welfare, reduce taxes on working families." Axelrod's statement, as reported, was about information that Palin was given: "maybe that's what she was told." The McCain-Palin campaign manipulated the phrase to make it sound as though he was alleging that Palin took orders: "doing what she was told." The rest of the interview actually included some praise from Axelrod for Palin. For instance, he said she is a "skilled politician." And, again, the quote used in the ad wasn't said by Obama, either -- though his photo appears next to it. [...] The ad wraps up by saying Obama and Biden "desperately called Sarah Palin a liar." And it adds, "How disrespectful." The reference is to an ad the Obama-Biden campaign released in which it criticizes Palin for saying she was against the infamous Bridge to Nowhere when she had previously been for it. (We called into question Palin's comments on the bridge last week.) The Obama ad says, "Politicians lying about their records. You don't call that maverick, you call it more of the same." It then quotes an item from the liberal magazine The New Republic, which called the claim that Palin stopped the pork-barrel bridge project "a naked lie." Indeed, as Media Matters has documented, Palin has put forth outright falsehoods about her purported opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere project. From the September 12 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom: COLBY: Well, the McCain camp is staying on the offensive, as well, today, with their brand new ad, just released this morning. Take a look at this. [begin video clip] NARRATOR: He was the world's biggest celebrity -- CROWD: Obama! Obama! NARRATOR: -- but his star's fading. So they lashed out at Sarah Palin, dismissed her as good looking -- that backfired. So they said she was doing "what she was told," then, desperately, called Sarah Palin a liar. How disrespectful. And how Governor Sarah Palin proves them wrong every day. McCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message. [end video clip] COLBY: And of course, Governor Palin considered to have more than held her own in that interview that she gave with Charlie Gibson. HEMMER: We're going to get to that in a moment, soon, yeah. COLBY: But does what you wore in 1982, which is what they're trying to point out in that McCain picture of him in that polyester suit, does that -- is that relevant? HEMMER: An out-of-touch, out-of-date, computer illiterate. COLBY: You know -- HEMMER: There will be reaction on this. We talked about the sexism. We talk about the ageism. These are the issues that are being laid out with 53 days to go. COLBY: And not using the computer? It's what's here that counts. From the September 12 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends: KILMEADE: Wow. Got a little personal there. DOOCY: A little bit. CARLSON: Yeah, and he's obviously going after the younger demographic by talking about email because who, quite frankly, in American society does not email? So, I think this is effective for the group of people that he's going after as far as age range, but just be -- when you think that you've been swayed one way or another, here's the other side of the story. [begin video clip] NARRATOR: He was the world's biggest celebrity -- CROWD: Obama! Obama! NARRATOR: -- but his star's fading. So they lashed out at Sarah Palin, dismissed her as good looking -- that backfired. So they said she was doing "what she was told," then, desperately, called Sarah Palin a liar. How disrespectful. And how Governor Sarah Palin proves them wrong every day. McCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message. [end video clip] DOOCY: OK, so there you've got -- it's nice to see the disco ball -- KILMEADE: Right. DOOCY: -- back into the campaign. KILMEADE: That's absolutely true. DOOCY: Which do you think is more effective? Email us right now: The "Disrespectful" ad or "the John McCain doesn't know how to email" ad? Email us right now at Friends@FoxNews.com.
Media Matters - Fox News repeatedly aired new McCain ad without noting its falsehoods {...} Fox & Friends and America's Newsroom both aired a new ad by Sen. John McCain's campaign that accuses Sen. Barack Obama's campaign of being "disrespectful" to Gov. Sarah Palin. However, none of the hosts on either show gave any indication that the ad contains several distortions. {...}
Published: September 13, 2008, 12:29 am - Indexed: September 13, 2008, 1:00 pm - Page Size: 26KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - After NBC political director discredited it, MSNBC uncritically ran McCain campaign ad attacking Obama http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/after-nbc-political-director-discredited-it-msnbc-20080979424.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/after-nbc-political-director-discredited-it-msnbc-20080979424.htm Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:18:36 GMT On the September 12 edition of MSNBC Live, anchor Alex Witt aired a new ad by Sen. John McCain's campaign that suggests that Sen. Barack Obama's campaign is being "disrespectful" to Gov. Sarah Palin. Neither Witt nor her guest, NBC News deputy political director Mark Murray, gave any indication that the ad contains several distortions or that, in the previous hour of the program, NBC News political director Chuck Todd said, "The ad that McCain's hitting Obama on takes some words out of context." In its analysis of the ad, FactCheck.org noted that the ad "takes words out of context to make it sound as though the Democratic ticket is belittling Palin," and stated that the McCain campaign ad "distorts" each of the three Obama campaign statements it uses "to make the case" that Obama is "being 'disrespectful' of Palin," as Media Matters for America previously documented. From FactCheck.org's September 11 article: The ad says Obama and [Sen. Joe] Biden "lashed out at Sarah Palin. Dismissed her as 'good looking.' " That's misleading. The reference is to a report of Biden joking that one of the differences between Palin and him is that "she's good looking." But the report cited in the ad doesn't characterize Biden's remarks as dismissive. Instead, ABC News' Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe describe a moment when Biden "ham[s] it up" for the crowd, with one woman telling Biden that he's "gorgeous." The Democratic candidate then says he'd like to end "on a serious note." [...] Our ears don't hear Biden's "good looking" comment as dismissive. To the contrary, it's clearly a self-deprecating remark made in joking about himself and his looks. And by the way, the ad shows a picture of Obama next to the "good looking" quote, but it was Biden, not Obama, who said that. [...] The ad continues to imply sexism by claiming that "they said she was doing 'what she was told.' " Presumably "they" are the Democrats. But no one said anything close to that. Rather, the McCain ad took a fragment of an actual statement by an Obama adviser and carefully added language to alter the meaning. The ad cites a Sept. 4 report from Ben Smith's blog at Politico.com in which he interviewed Obama adviser David Axelrod about Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention. The full quote reads: Axelrod, quoted by Politico, Sept. 4: "She tried to attack Obama by saying he had no significant legislative accomplishments -- maybe that's what she was told -- but she should talk to Sen. Lugar, talk to Sen. Coburn, talk to people across the aisle in Illinois where he passed dozens of major laws to expand health care reform welfare, reduce taxes on working families." Axelrod's statement, as reported, was about information that Palin was given: "maybe that's what she was told." The McCain-Palin campaign manipulated the phrase to make it sound as though he was alleging that Palin took orders: "doing what she was told." The rest of the interview actually included some praise from Axelrod for Palin. For instance, he said she is a "skilled politician." And, again, the quote used in the ad wasn't said by Obama, either - though his photo appears next to it. [...] The ad wraps up by saying Obama and Biden "desperately called Sarah Palin a liar." And it adds, "How disrespectful." The reference is to an ad the Obama-Biden campaign released in which it criticizes Palin for saying she was against the infamous Bridge to Nowhere when she had previously been for it. (We called into question Palin's comments on the bridge last week.) The Obama ad says, "Politicians lying about their records. You don't call that maverick, you call it more of the same." It then quotes an item from the liberal magazine The New Republic, which called the claim that Palin stopped the pork-barrel bridge project "a naked lie." Indeed, as Media Matters has documented, Palin has put forth outright falsehoods about her purported opposition to the "Bridge to Nowhere" project. Previously on MSNBC Live, anchor Contessa Brewer aired a clip of a different McCain campaign ad, without noting that the clip falsely suggests that Obama was behind "attacks on Governor Palin" that have been called "completely false" and "misleading" by FactCheck.org. From the 9 a.m. ET hour of the September 12 edition of MSNBC Live: TODD: The day is going to be about how the 9-11 truce is over. Both McCain and Obama are up with some pretty negative ads. I think we've got a couple of them that we can take a look at. [begin video clip] NARRATOR: He was the world's biggest celebrity -- CROWD: Obama! Obama! NARRATOR: -- but his star's fading. So they lashed out at Sarah Palin, dismissed her as good looking. [end video clip] NARRATOR [video clip]: 1982 -- John McCain goes to Washington. Things have changed in the last 26 years, but McCain hasn't. He admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer, can't send an email, still doesn't understand the economy. TODD: Well, that was a tough one. The ad that McCain's hitting Obama on takes some words out of context, the one Obama's hitting McCain on obviously hitting on age, Tamron, so -- TAMRON HALL (anchor): Yeah. TODD: -- it's getting rough and tumble every single day. [...] WITT: All right, let's get to the ad wars. And I want to play you part of McCain's new ad, in which he once again hits Obama over his treatment of Sarah Palin. [begin video clip] NARRATOR: He was the world's biggest celebrity -- CROWD: Obama! Obama! NARRATOR: -- but his star's fading. So they lashed out at Sarah Palin, dismissed her as good looking -- that backfired. So they said she was doing "what she was told," then, desperately, called Sarah Palin a liar. How disrespectful. And how Governor Sarah Palin proves them wrong every day. McCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message. [end video clip] WITT: All right, here's what the Obama campaign said today, quote, "In recent weeks, John McCain has shown that he is willing to go into the gutter to win this election. His campaign has become nothing but a series of smears, lies, and cynical attempts to distract from the issues that matter to the American people." So, who's winning the ad wars right now, Mark? MURRAY: Well, I'd say, Alex, that, actually, the ad wars have really just started. I mean, today was just kind of a furious day, a back-and-forth already this morning. I ended up probably getting in my email inbox about 100, 150 emails from the McCain, Obama, DNC, RNC people just, you know, passing around things. It's worth nothing that Barack Obama's up with two new ads, two really tough ads, one in which -- seems to kinda go after McCain for his age and not being able to use a computer, so I really think the ad wars have just really begun, and we'll have an answer to who's winning in the weeks ahead. WITT: OK, but the Sarah Palin factor, Mark, does the McCain campaign at all risk overplaying its hand on that front? MURRAY: No doubt about it Alex. I mean, what is interesting is the McCain campaign is trying to make this presidential election about Sarah Palin and really not about John McCain, just, you know, as that ad that you just played was all about Sarah Palin. Also, you know, Sarah Palin's going to be the McCain campaign person doing most of the campaigning this week, and she has a big event in Nevada on Saturday. John McCain, however, is down. He's doing interviews on The View, Rachael Ray, going to a NASCAR race on Sunday in New Hampshire, but that's it, and the McCain campaign has made it clear that Sarah Palin, in a way, is the campaigner in chief. And so, there is a certain risk and danger when it's unprecedented that the running mate actually becomes the star attraction for the ticket. WITT: Yeah, we're going to see how this plays out over the next 53 or so days. Mark Murray, thank you. Appreciate it. MURRAY: Thank you. Mediamatters.Org After NBC political director discredited it, MSNBC uncritically ran McCain campaign ad attacking Obama {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - On the September 12 edition of MSNBC Live, anchor Alex Witt aired a new ad by Sen. John McCain's campaign that suggests that Sen. Barack Obama's campaign is being "disrespectful" to Gov. Sarah Palin. Neither Witt nor her guest, NBC News deputy political director Mark Murray, gave any indication that the ad contains several distortions or that, in the previous hour of the program, NBC News political director Chuck Todd said, "The ad that McCain's hitting Obama on takes some words out of context." In its analysis of the ad, FactCheck.org noted that the ad "takes words out of context to make it sound as though the Democratic ticket is belittling Palin," and stated that the McCain campaign ad "distorts" each of the three Obama campaign statements it uses "to make the case" that Obama is "being 'disrespectful' of Palin," as Media Matters for America previously documented. From FactCheck.org's September 11 article: The ad says Obama and [Sen. Joe] Biden "lashed out at Sarah Palin. Dismissed her as 'good looking.' " That's misleading. The reference is to a report of Biden joking that one of the differences between Palin and him is that "she's good looking." But the report cited in the ad doesn't characterize Biden's remarks as dismissive. Instead, ABC News' Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe describe a moment when Biden "ham[s] it up" for the crowd, with one woman telling Biden that he's "gorgeous." The Democratic candidate then says he'd like to end "on a serious note." [...] Our ears don't hear Biden's "good looking" comment as dismissive. To the contrary, it's clearly a self-deprecating remark made in joking about himself and his looks. And by the way, the ad shows a picture of Obama next to the "good looking" quote, but it was Biden, not Obama, who said that. [...] The ad continues to imply sexism by claiming that "they said she was doing 'what she was told.' " Presumably "they" are the Democrats. But no one said anything close to that. Rather, the McCain ad took a fragment of an actual statement by an Obama adviser and carefully added language to alter the meaning. The ad cites a Sept. 4 report from Ben Smith's blog at Politico.com in which he interviewed Obama adviser David Axelrod about Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention. The full quote reads: Axelrod, quoted by Politico, Sept. 4: "She tried to attack Obama by saying he had no significant legislative accomplishments -- maybe that's what she was told -- but she should talk to Sen. Lugar, talk to Sen. Coburn, talk to people across the aisle in Illinois where he passed dozens of major laws to expand health care reform welfare, reduce taxes on working families." Axelrod's statement, as reported, was about information that Palin was given: "maybe that's what she was told." The McCain-Palin campaign manipulated the phrase to make it sound as though he was alleging that Palin took orders: "doing what she was told." The rest of the interview actually included some praise from Axelrod for Palin. For instance, he said she is a "skilled politician." And, again, the quote used in the ad wasn't said by Obama, either - though his photo appears next to it. [...] The ad wraps up by saying Obama and Biden "desperately called Sarah Palin a liar." And it adds, "How disrespectful." The reference is to an ad the Obama-Biden campaign released in which it criticizes Palin for saying she was against the infamous Bridge to Nowhere when she had previously been for it. (We called into question Palin's comments on the bridge last week.) The Obama ad says, "Politicians lying about their records. You don't call that maverick, you call it more of the same." It then quotes an item from the liberal magazine The New Republic, which called the claim that Palin stopped the pork-barrel bridge project "a naked lie." Indeed, as Media Matters has documented, Palin has put forth outright falsehoods about her purported opposition to the "Bridge to Nowhere" project. Previously on MSNBC Live, anchor Contessa Brewer aired a clip of a different McCain campaign ad, without noting that the clip falsely suggests that Obama was behind "attacks on Governor Palin" that have been called "completely false" and "misleading" by FactCheck.org. From the 9 a.m. ET hour of the September 12 edition of MSNBC Live: TODD: The day is going to be about how the 9-11 truce is over. Both McCain and Obama are up with some pretty negative ads. I think we've got a couple of them that we can take a look at. [begin video clip] NARRATOR: He was the world's biggest celebrity -- CROWD: Obama! Obama! NARRATOR: -- but his star's fading. So they lashed out at Sarah Palin, dismissed her as good looking. [end video clip] NARRATOR [video clip]: 1982 -- John McCain goes to Washington. Things have changed in the last 26 years, but McCain hasn't. He admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer, can't send an email, still doesn't understand the economy. TODD: Well, that was a tough one. The ad that McCain's hitting Obama on takes some words out of context, the one Obama's hitting McCain on obviously hitting on age, Tamron, so -- TAMRON HALL (anchor): Yeah. TODD: -- it's getting rough and tumble every single day. [...] WITT: All right, let's get to the ad wars. And I want to play you part of McCain's new ad, in which he once again hits Obama over his treatment of Sarah Palin. [begin video clip] NARRATOR: He was the world's biggest celebrity -- CROWD: Obama! Obama! NARRATOR: -- but his star's fading. So they lashed out at Sarah Palin, dismissed her as good looking -- that backfired. So they said she was doing "what she was told," then, desperately, called Sarah Palin a liar. How disrespectful. And how Governor Sarah Palin proves them wrong every day. McCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message. [end video clip] WITT: All right, here's what the Obama campaign said today, quote, "In recent weeks, John McCain has shown that he is willing to go into the gutter to win this election. His campaign has become nothing but a series of smears, lies, and cynical attempts to distract from the issues that matter to the American people." So, who's winning the ad wars right now, Mark? MURRAY: Well, I'd say, Alex, that, actually, the ad wars have really just started. I mean, today was just kind of a furious day, a back-and-forth already this morning. I ended up probably getting in my email inbox about 100, 150 emails from the McCain, Obama, DNC, RNC people just, you know, passing around things. It's worth nothing that Barack Obama's up with two new ads, two really tough ads, one in which -- seems to kinda go after McCain for his age and not being able to use a computer, so I really think the ad wars have just really begun, and we'll have an answer to who's winning in the weeks ahead. WITT: OK, but the Sarah Palin factor, Mark, does the McCain campaign at all risk overplaying its hand on that front? MURRAY: No doubt about it Alex. I mean, what is interesting is the McCain campaign is trying to make this presidential election about Sarah Palin and really not about John McCain, just, you know, as that ad that you just played was all about Sarah Palin. Also, you know, Sarah Palin's going to be the McCain campaign person doing most of the campaigning this week, and she has a big event in Nevada on Saturday. John McCain, however, is down. He's doing interviews on The View, Rachael Ray, going to a NASCAR race on Sunday in New Hampshire, but that's it, and the McCain campaign has made it clear that Sarah Palin, in a way, is the campaigner in chief. And so, there is a certain risk and danger when it's unprecedented that the running mate actually becomes the star attraction for the ticket. WITT: Yeah, we're going to see how this plays out over the next 53 or so days. Mark Murray, thank you. Appreciate it. MURRAY: Thank you.
Media Matters - After NBC political director discredited it, MSNBC uncritically ran McCain campaign ad attacking Obama {...} After Alex Witt aired a new McCain campaign ad on MSNBC Live that suggests the Obama campaign is being "disrespectful" to Gov. Sarah Palin, neither Witt nor NBC News deputy political director Mark Murray gave any indication that the ad contains several distortions or that, an hour earlier, Chuck Todd had said that the ad "takes some words out of context." {...}
Published: September 12, 2008, 9:18 pm - Indexed: September 13, 2008, 12:59 pm - Page Size: 28KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - NPR's Liasson falsely claimed distortion-laden McCain ad "catalogued all of the false or sexist or awful things" Dems have said about Palin http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/npr-s-liasson-falsely-claimed-distortion-laden-20080989224.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/npr-s-liasson-falsely-claimed-distortion-laden-20080989224.htm Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:55:09 GMT On the September 12 edition of NPR's Morning Edition, national political correspondent Mara Liasson asserted: "[T]oday, the McCain campaign just released an ad called, 'Disrespectful,' where it catalogued all of the false or sexist or awful things that Democrats and Obama supporters have said about [Gov.] Sarah Palin." In fact, the McCain campaign ad to which Liasson referred did not "catalogue[]" any "false" statements the Obama campaign or other Democrats have made about Palin. Moreover, contrary to Liasson's assertion that the ad documents "sexist" and "awful things" that have been said about Palin, it "distorts" each of the three Obama campaign statements it uses "to make the case," as FactCheck.org has noted. From FactCheck.org's September 11 article: The ad says Obama and [Sen. Joe] Biden "lashed out at Sarah Palin. Dismissed her as 'good looking.' " That's misleading. The reference is to a report of Biden joking that one of the differences between Palin and him is that "she's good looking." But the report cited in the ad doesn't characterize Biden's remarks as dismissive. Instead, ABC News' Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe describe a moment when Biden "ham[s] it up" for the crowd, with one woman telling Biden that he's "gorgeous." The Democratic candidate then says he'd like to end "on a serious note." [...] Our ears don't hear Biden's "good looking" comment as dismissive. To the contrary, it's clearly a self-deprecating remark made in joking about himself and his looks. And by the way, the ad shows a picture of Obama next to the "good looking" quote, but it was Biden, not Obama, who said that. [...] The ad continues to imply sexism by claiming that "they said she was doing 'what she was told.' " Presumably "they" are the Democrats. But no one said anything close to that. Rather, the McCain ad took a fragment of an actual statement by an Obama adviser and carefully added language to alter the meaning. The ad cites a Sept. 4 report from Ben Smith's blog at Politico.com in which he interviewed Obama adviser David Axelrod about Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention. The full quote reads: Axelrod, quoted by Politico, Sept. 4: "She tried to attack Obama by saying he had no significant legislative accomplishments -- maybe that's what she was told -- but she should talk to Sen. Lugar, talk to Sen. Coburn, talk to people across the aisle in Illinois where he passed dozens of major laws to expand health care reform welfare, reduce taxes on working families." Axelrod's statement, as reported, was about information that Palin was given: "maybe that's what she was told." The McCain-Palin campaign manipulated the phrase to make it sound as though he was alleging that Palin took orders: "doing what she was told." The rest of the interview actually included some praise from Axelrod for Palin. For instance, he said she is a "skilled politician." And, again, the quote used in the ad wasn't said by Obama, either - though his photo appears next to it. [...] The ad wraps up by saying Obama and Biden "desperately called Sarah Palin a liar." And it adds, "How disrespectful." The reference is to an ad the Obama-Biden campaign released in which it criticizes Palin for saying she was against the infamous Bridge to Nowhere when she had previously been for it. (We called into question Palin's comments on the bridge last week.) The Obama ad says, "Politicians lying about their records. You don't call that maverick, you call it more of the same." It then quotes an item from the liberal magazine The New Republic, which called the claim that Palin stopped the pork-barrel bridge project "a naked lie." Indeed, as Media Matters for America has documented, Palin has put forth outright falsehoods about her purported opposition to the "Bridge to Nowhere" project. Later in the Morning Edition broadcast, Liasson identified several "examples" of, in host Renée Montagne's words, "John McCain's once-famous 'Straight Talk Express' taking a detour," but Liasson did not return to discussing McCain's "Disrespectful" ad. After mentioning the "examples," Liasson stated: "But, you know, this might not be straight talk, but just like those celebrity ads with Paris Hilton that the McCain campaign ran earlier, they -- it seems to work, and I think winning is important whether you win pretty or win ugly." From the September 12 broadcast of NPR's Morning Edition: MONTAGNE: The excitement about Sarah Palin, her appeal to conservatives, her interview last night with ABC News, and the shifting polls are the big campaign stories these days. Our political brain trust is standing by to provide some analysis: NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson and political editor Ken Rudin. Good morning to both of you. RUDIN: Good morning, Renée. LIASSON: Good morning, Renée. MONTAGNE: Now, Mara, if I may start with you, conventional wisdom has it that people don't vote on running mates, they vote for the top of the ticket, but from what we've just heard from [correspondent] Don [Gonyea], and from other stories, it looks like Sarah Palin may just well turn that on its head. LIASSON: She may be the exception that proves the rule, at least for now. She is energizing the base, as you just heard. She's boosted John McCain's support with white women. She's energized him -- he hasn't been apart from her very much for the whole week, and the campaign says they may continue to campaign together. That's why they're getting those big crowds; he wouldn't get them by himself. And the other effect she's had is to flummox the famously unflappable Obama campaign, who has been unsure of how to deal with her and has tried out a whole bunch of different approaches. Some of them have been more successful than others, and as a matter of fact, today, the McCain campaign just released an ad called, "Disrespectful," where it catalogued all of the false or sexist or awful things that Democrats and Obama supporters have said about Sarah Palin. MONTAGNE: Ken, let's talk about the polls. How much of McCain's better numbers are thanks to Palin? [...] MONTAGNE: And sticking with you, Mara, there's been talk about John McCain's once-famous "Straight Talk Express" taking a detour. Palin's claims to oppose the bridge -- "Bridge," I'm sorry, "to Nowhere" when the facts indicate she initially supported it. Can you give us some other examples? LIASSON: Well, there's a lot of examples. Obviously, the "Bridge to Nowhere" is a big one. She was for it, before she was against it, and she was against it when it really didn't matter anymore. The McCain campaign is running an ad about attacking Barack Obama's education record, saying that he was for comprehensive sex education for kindergartners. Fact-check features in newspapers have called that dishonest and deceptive. And then, of course, there's the charge that when he said, "putting lipstick on a pig," he was referring to Sarah Palin, which seems to not to be supported by the evidence. But, you know, this might not be straight talk, but just like those celebrity ads with Paris Hilton that the McCain campaign ran earlier, they -- it seems to work, and I think winning is important whether you win pretty or win ugly, and that seems to be the strategy that the McCain campaign is following. Mediamatters.Org NPR's Liasson falsely claimed distortion-laden McCain ad "catalogued all of the false or sexist or awful things" Dems have said about Palin {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - On the September 12 edition of NPR's Morning Edition, national political correspondent Mara Liasson asserted: "[T]oday, the McCain campaign just released an ad called, 'Disrespectful,' where it catalogued all of the false or sexist or awful things that Democrats and Obama supporters have said about [Gov.] Sarah Palin." In fact, the McCain campaign ad to which Liasson referred did not "catalogue[]" any "false" statements the Obama campaign or other Democrats have made about Palin. Moreover, contrary to Liasson's assertion that the ad documents "sexist" and "awful things" that have been said about Palin, it "distorts" each of the three Obama campaign statements it uses "to make the case," as FactCheck.org has noted. From FactCheck.org's September 11 article: The ad says Obama and [Sen. Joe] Biden "lashed out at Sarah Palin. Dismissed her as 'good looking.' " That's misleading. The reference is to a report of Biden joking that one of the differences between Palin and him is that "she's good looking." But the report cited in the ad doesn't characterize Biden's remarks as dismissive. Instead, ABC News' Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe describe a moment when Biden "ham[s] it up" for the crowd, with one woman telling Biden that he's "gorgeous." The Democratic candidate then says he'd like to end "on a serious note." [...] Our ears don't hear Biden's "good looking" comment as dismissive. To the contrary, it's clearly a self-deprecating remark made in joking about himself and his looks. And by the way, the ad shows a picture of Obama next to the "good looking" quote, but it was Biden, not Obama, who said that. [...] The ad continues to imply sexism by claiming that "they said she was doing 'what she was told.' " Presumably "they" are the Democrats. But no one said anything close to that. Rather, the McCain ad took a fragment of an actual statement by an Obama adviser and carefully added language to alter the meaning. The ad cites a Sept. 4 report from Ben Smith's blog at Politico.com in which he interviewed Obama adviser David Axelrod about Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention. The full quote reads: Axelrod, quoted by Politico, Sept. 4: "She tried to attack Obama by saying he had no significant legislative accomplishments -- maybe that's what she was told -- but she should talk to Sen. Lugar, talk to Sen. Coburn, talk to people across the aisle in Illinois where he passed dozens of major laws to expand health care reform welfare, reduce taxes on working families." Axelrod's statement, as reported, was about information that Palin was given: "maybe that's what she was told." The McCain-Palin campaign manipulated the phrase to make it sound as though he was alleging that Palin took orders: "doing what she was told." The rest of the interview actually included some praise from Axelrod for Palin. For instance, he said she is a "skilled politician." And, again, the quote used in the ad wasn't said by Obama, either - though his photo appears next to it. [...] The ad wraps up by saying Obama and Biden "desperately called Sarah Palin a liar." And it adds, "How disrespectful." The reference is to an ad the Obama-Biden campaign released in which it criticizes Palin for saying she was against the infamous Bridge to Nowhere when she had previously been for it. (We called into question Palin's comments on the bridge last week.) The Obama ad says, "Politicians lying about their records. You don't call that maverick, you call it more of the same." It then quotes an item from the liberal magazine The New Republic, which called the claim that Palin stopped the pork-barrel bridge project "a naked lie." Indeed, as Media Matters for America has documented, Palin has put forth outright falsehoods about her purported opposition to the "Bridge to Nowhere" project. Later in the Morning Edition broadcast, Liasson identified several "examples" of, in host Renée Montagne's words, "John McCain's once-famous 'Straight Talk Express' taking a detour," but Liasson did not return to discussing McCain's "Disrespectful" ad. After mentioning the "examples," Liasson stated: "But, you know, this might not be straight talk, but just like those celebrity ads with Paris Hilton that the McCain campaign ran earlier, they -- it seems to work, and I think winning is important whether you win pretty or win ugly." From the September 12 broadcast of NPR's Morning Edition: MONTAGNE: The excitement about Sarah Palin, her appeal to conservatives, her interview last night with ABC News, and the shifting polls are the big campaign stories these days. Our political brain trust is standing by to provide some analysis: NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson and political editor Ken Rudin. Good morning to both of you. RUDIN: Good morning, Renée. LIASSON: Good morning, Renée. MONTAGNE: Now, Mara, if I may start with you, conventional wisdom has it that people don't vote on running mates, they vote for the top of the ticket, but from what we've just heard from [correspondent] Don [Gonyea], and from other stories, it looks like Sarah Palin may just well turn that on its head. LIASSON: She may be the exception that proves the rule, at least for now. She is energizing the base, as you just heard. She's boosted John McCain's support with white women. She's energized him -- he hasn't been apart from her very much for the whole week, and the campaign says they may continue to campaign together. That's why they're getting those big crowds; he wouldn't get them by himself. And the other effect she's had is to flummox the famously unflappable Obama campaign, who has been unsure of how to deal with her and has tried out a whole bunch of different approaches. Some of them have been more successful than others, and as a matter of fact, today, the McCain campaign just released an ad called, "Disrespectful," where it catalogued all of the false or sexist or awful things that Democrats and Obama supporters have said about Sarah Palin. MONTAGNE: Ken, let's talk about the polls. How much of McCain's better numbers are thanks to Palin? [...] MONTAGNE: And sticking with you, Mara, there's been talk about John McCain's once-famous "Straight Talk Express" taking a detour. Palin's claims to oppose the bridge -- "Bridge," I'm sorry, "to Nowhere" when the facts indicate she initially supported it. Can you give us some other examples? LIASSON: Well, there's a lot of examples. Obviously, the "Bridge to Nowhere" is a big one. She was for it, before she was against it, and she was against it when it really didn't matter anymore. The McCain campaign is running an ad about attacking Barack Obama's education record, saying that he was for comprehensive sex education for kindergartners. Fact-check features in newspapers have called that dishonest and deceptive. And then, of course, there's the charge that when he said, "putting lipstick on a pig," he was referring to Sarah Palin, which seems to not to be supported by the evidence. But, you know, this might not be straight talk, but just like those celebrity ads with Paris Hilton that the McCain campaign ran earlier, they -- it seems to work, and I think winning is important whether you win pretty or win ugly, and that seems to be the strategy that the McCain campaign is following.
Media Matters - NPR's Liasson falsely claimed distortion-laden McCain ad "catalogued all of the false or sexist or awful things" Dems have said about Palin {...} On NPR's Morning Edition , Mara Liasson asserted that a new McCain campaign ad "catalogued all of the false or sexist or awful things that Democrats and Obama supporters have said about [Gov.] Sarah Palin." In fact, the ad did not "catalogue[]" any "false" statements the Obama campaign or other Democrats have made about Palin and, as FactCheck.org noted, the ad "distorts" each of the three Obama campaign statements it uses "to make the case" that Sen. Barack Obama is "being 'disrespectful' of Palin." {...}
Published: September 12, 2008, 7:55 pm - Indexed: September 13, 2008, 12:59 pm - Page Size: 26KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance {PUZZLES > SUDOKU} - JK Rowling is worried? LOL http://articles.world-of-newave.info/games/puzzles/brain-teasers/sudoku/jk-rowling-is-worried-lol-2008097924.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/games/puzzles/brain-teasers/sudoku/jk-rowling-is-worried-lol-2008097924.htm Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:21:58 GMT News & Star: "Six of the last week's top 10 selling non-fiction paperbacks had Sudoku in their title. Even JK Rowling is panicking about her sales figures. Carol Vorderman is doing it ? and if there's one TV celebrity I can't abide it?s Carol Vorderman. Her How to do Sudoku is at number one which goes to show that the British male public are suckers for anything that has a picture of a bit of mature thinking man's crumpet on the cover." If JK is worried - she has other issues than Harry Potter..namely after the initial sales figure...so I doubt she is. Robert sudoku Sudoku Sudokustrategies.Blogspot.Com JK Rowling is worried? LOL {new window}   Sudokustrategies.Blogspot.Com - News & Star: "Six of the last week's top 10 selling non-fiction paperbacks had Sudoku in their title. Even JK Rowling is panicking about her sales figures. Carol Vorderman is doing it ? and if there's one TV celebrity I can't abide it?s Carol Vorderman. Her How to do Sudoku is at number one which goes to show that the British male public are suckers for anything that has a picture of a bit of mature thinking man's crumpet on the cover." If JK is worried - she has other issues than Harry Potter..namely after the initial sales figure...so I doubt she is. Robert sudoku Sudoku
Sudoku Strategies: JK Rowling is worried? LOL {...}
Indexed: September 1, 2008, 1:21 pm - Page Size: 20KB
Category: Games > Puzzles > Brain Teasers > Sudoku

]]> Games > Puzzles > Brain Teasers > Sudoku {AUTOS > MAGAZINES AND E-ZINES} - How Pilots and Planespotters Keep Track and Keep in Touch http://articles.world-of-newave.info/recreation/autos/magazines-and-e_zines/how-pilots-and-planespotters-keep-track-and-keep-2008093341.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/recreation/autos/magazines-and-e_zines/how-pilots-and-planespotters-keep-track-and-keep-2008093341.htm Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:47:13 GMT On August 12, 2008, an Angel Flight Beechcraft Bonanza carrying a cancer patient to treatment at Boston's Dana Farber Cancer Institute crashed in a strip-mall parking lot in Easton, MA, killing all three on board. As the impact took place in the early afternoon mere feet away from shoppers, cell phone videos and eyewitness accounts of the twisted wreckage and badly burned victims flooded local newspaper webpages within minutes. In spite of all the graphic accounts of the tragedy, the most poignant account of the doomed flight was a single image: a blue-background map with green lettering showing the Beechcraft's flight path. The departure and destination airport codes are shown, with the green line departing from KFOK and heading in the direction of KBOS, sharply curving and then ending just an inch on the screen away from the eventual destination. Like Minard's depiction of Napoleon's disastrous march to Moscow, the flight plan graphic tells the entire story of the doomed Angel Flight, courtesy of FlightAware. By now, we bet you've heard of FlightAware. In fact, we're pretty sure you've used it, or you've visited a similar site. Whether you were planning an airport pickup, checking to see if a family member's flight arrived safely, or betting on which plane gets to JFK first, your air traffic request was among the two million FlightAware gets every day. Of all those requests, some come from a more dedicated group of 250,000 users who for business, pleasure, or a little of both use FlightAware to track anomalies, celebrities, and sometimes tragedies. A visitor to FlightAware's Discussions page will find conversations about a mystery plane mistakenly labeled as the Concorde, Bruce Springsteen's tour plane, and a Lindbergh-worthy prop-plane flight from Honolulu to Kiribati. After talking with a few of FlightAware's creators, it's no surprise the site attracts a group of plane spotters and pilots who can't get enough of tracking flights. Each member of FlightAware's leadership team holds a pilot's license, and the site began as a labor of love. "That's why we started it," Chief Information Officer David McNett told Wired.com. "Our only intention was to track our own flights. It accidentally turned into a site." One example of how much these guys love planes? The on-hold music at FlightAware headquarters features recordings of air traffic control transmissions. We really wouldn't be surprised if their offices look just like the Admiral's Club at LAX. So who are these FlightAware junkies, posting on message boards and racing to the airport to get pictures of some rare bird? According to McNett, users have told him they enjoy sitting outside on the patio, laptops at the ready, tracking each plane that flies overhead. (We assume they're listening to Little Feat on their iTunes and sipping on Coors Light.) Luddites will be glad to know the chatter in the forums is better at predicting delays than any computer software, according to McNett. "We wanted to develop some fancy heuristics for predicting delays," he said. "But software isn't as effective as monitoring the forums." A little more than half of FlightAware's registered users are pilots, one of whom is Robert Reid of Toronto. Reid is a private pilot and lives close to both Buttonville (YKZ) and Downsview (YZD) airports. He uses FlightAware to track when a particularly interesting plane is taking off or landing, and to follow friends' flights. YZD is used by Bombardier to fly their unfinished ultra-exclusive Global 5000 jets for completion at other locations. "I can click on YZD, and if a Global 5000 files a flight plan, I can catch them on camera departing YZD," Reid told Wired.com. Such a picture is shown below. "I have a friend that owns a Cessna 421 in Torrance California, so I have it on FlightAware Flight Alert. When ever the aircraft files a flight plan, departs, or lands on the flight plan I get an email flight alert." Reid also used LiveATC.net to listen to in-flight communications of a friend's recent trip to West Palm Beach. For pilots, being able to check in on friends is one of the biggest draws of flight tracking sites "The aviation community -- as disparate as it is -- is pretty tight," McNett said. "Everyone has gone through the same training and the same lessons." The close-knit group gets even tighter after an accident. "I literally have friends involved in aviation all over the world," Reid said. "If there is a midair accident, or something I feel other pilots should be aware of I'll post it. The best way to avoid an accident is to learn from others misfortunes." McNett agrees. "It's easy to empathize when you see an aircraft go down. It's sobering. It feels like a family. Your perspective as a pilot is to learn from it." It's especially moving when survivors and family members participate in the conversation. Not every participant is an enthusiast. In fact, some depend on the data for their bread and butter. To most business travelers, it probably comes as a surprise that there's commercial use to tracking flights other than seeing if Nelson got to Reagan National in time to present the third quarter sales results to the board meeting. According to Karl Lehenbauer, FlightAware's Chief Technology Officer, one Houston area paramedic saves time, money, and gas by using FlightAware data to find out exactly when to meet air ambulances, eliminating time spent idling at the airport. Another user manages a Fixed Base Operator and uses FlightAware for getting ready to fuel, cater, and hangar incoming aircraft. Of course, there are also the folks who just track celebrity planes. McNett isn't too concerned about them: if they were truly weirdos, they probably would've just bought a $50 scanner and stalked John Travolta's private 707 long before any internet application came along. "Even if it weren't on the internet, flight plans are all public information," McNett said. Plus, any plane with a blocked tail number won't show on FlightAware. According to McNett, the fact that more celebrities and dignitaries haven't taken advantage of blocking their tail numbers shows that "privacy concerns are overblown." We tend to agree, especially in light of how many celebs use their initials in their tail numbers. Photos by Robert Reid. Blog.Wired.Com How Pilots and Planespotters Keep Track and Keep in Touch {new window}   Blog.Wired.Com - On August 12, 2008, an Angel Flight Beechcraft Bonanza carrying a cancer patient to treatment at Boston's Dana Farber Cancer Institute crashed in a strip-mall parking lot in Easton, MA, killing all three on board. As the impact took place in the early afternoon mere feet away from shoppers, cell phone videos and eyewitness accounts of the twisted wreckage and badly burned victims flooded local newspaper webpages within minutes. In spite of all the graphic accounts of the tragedy, the most poignant account of the doomed flight was a single image: a blue-background map with green lettering showing the Beechcraft's flight path. The departure and destination airport codes are shown, with the green line departing from KFOK and heading in the direction of KBOS, sharply curving and then ending just an inch on the screen away from the eventual destination. Like Minard's depiction of Napoleon's disastrous march to Moscow, the flight plan graphic tells the entire story of the doomed Angel Flight, courtesy of FlightAware. By now, we bet you've heard of FlightAware. In fact, we're pretty sure you've used it, or you've visited a similar site. Whether you were planning an airport pickup, checking to see if a family member's flight arrived safely, or betting on which plane gets to JFK first, your air traffic request was among the two million FlightAware gets every day. Of all those requests, some come from a more dedicated group of 250,000 users who for business, pleasure, or a little of both use FlightAware to track anomalies, celebrities, and sometimes tragedies. A visitor to FlightAware's Discussions page will find conversations about a mystery plane mistakenly labeled as the Concorde, Bruce Springsteen's tour plane, and a Lindbergh-worthy prop-plane flight from Honolulu to Kiribati. After talking with a few of FlightAware's creators, it's no surprise the site attracts a group of plane spotters and pilots who can't get enough of tracking flights. Each member of FlightAware's leadership team holds a pilot's license, and the site began as a labor of love. "That's why we started it," Chief Information Officer David McNett told Wired.com. "Our only intention was to track our own flights. It accidentally turned into a site." One example of how much these guys love planes? The on-hold music at FlightAware headquarters features recordings of air traffic control transmissions. We really wouldn't be surprised if their offices look just like the Admiral's Club at LAX. So who are these FlightAware junkies, posting on message boards and racing to the airport to get pictures of some rare bird? According to McNett, users have told him they enjoy sitting outside on the patio, laptops at the ready, tracking each plane that flies overhead. (We assume they're listening to Little Feat on their iTunes and sipping on Coors Light.) Luddites will be glad to know the chatter in the forums is better at predicting delays than any computer software, according to McNett. "We wanted to develop some fancy heuristics for predicting delays," he said. "But software isn't as effective as monitoring the forums." A little more than half of FlightAware's registered users are pilots, one of whom is Robert Reid of Toronto. Reid is a private pilot and lives close to both Buttonville (YKZ) and Downsview (YZD) airports. He uses FlightAware to track when a particularly interesting plane is taking off or landing, and to follow friends' flights. YZD is used by Bombardier to fly their unfinished ultra-exclusive Global 5000 jets for completion at other locations. "I can click on YZD, and if a Global 5000 files a flight plan, I can catch them on camera departing YZD," Reid told Wired.com. Such a picture is shown below. "I have a friend that owns a Cessna 421 in Torrance California, so I have it on FlightAware Flight Alert. When ever the aircraft files a flight plan, departs, or lands on the flight plan I get an email flight alert." Reid also used LiveATC.net to listen to in-flight communications of a friend's recent trip to West Palm Beach. For pilots, being able to check in on friends is one of the biggest draws of flight tracking sites "The aviation community -- as disparate as it is -- is pretty tight," McNett said. "Everyone has gone through the same training and the same lessons." The close-knit group gets even tighter after an accident. "I literally have friends involved in aviation all over the world," Reid said. "If there is a midair accident, or something I feel other pilots should be aware of I'll post it. The best way to avoid an accident is to learn from others misfortunes." McNett agrees. "It's easy to empathize when you see an aircraft go down. It's sobering. It feels like a family. Your perspective as a pilot is to learn from it." It's especially moving when survivors and family members participate in the conversation. Not every participant is an enthusiast. In fact, some depend on the data for their bread and butter. To most business travelers, it probably comes as a surprise that there's commercial use to tracking flights other than seeing if Nelson got to Reagan National in time to present the third quarter sales results to the board meeting. According to Karl Lehenbauer, FlightAware's Chief Technology Officer, one Houston area paramedic saves time, money, and gas by using FlightAware data to find out exactly when to meet air ambulances, eliminating time spent idling at the airport. Another user manages a Fixed Base Operator and uses FlightAware for getting ready to fuel, cater, and hangar incoming aircraft. Of course, there are also the folks who just track celebrity planes. McNett isn't too concerned about them: if they were truly weirdos, they probably would've just bought a $50 scanner and stalked John Travolta's private 707 long before any internet application came along. "Even if it weren't on the internet, flight plans are all public information," McNett said. Plus, any plane with a blocked tail number won't show on FlightAware. According to McNett, the fact that more celebrities and dignitaries haven't taken advantage of blocking their tail numbers shows that "privacy concerns are overblown." We tend to agree, especially in light of how many celebs use their initials in their tail numbers. Photos by Robert Reid.
How Pilots and Planespotters Keep Track and Keep in Touch | Autopia from Wired.com {...} On August 12, 2008, an Angel Flight Beechcraft Bonanza carrying a cancer patient to treatment at Boston's Dana Farber Cancer Institute crashed in a strip-mall parking lot in Easton, MA, {...}
Indexed: September 1, 2008, 12:47 pm - Page Size: 61KB
Category: Recreation > Autos > Magazines and E-zines

]]> Recreation > Autos > Magazines and E-zines {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - On Today , Lauer asked Noonan about WSJ column on Obama speech, but ignored comparison to "Nuremberg rally" http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/on-today-lauer-asked-noonan-about-wsj-column-on-obama-20080828330.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/on-today-lauer-asked-noonan-about-wsj-column-on-obama-20080828330.htm Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:58:59 GMT On the August 29 broadcast of NBC's Today, while discussing Sen. Barack Obama's August 28 speech at the Democratic National Convention, host Matt Lauer said to Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, "[B]efore the speech, you wrote in The Wall Street Journal that you were unimpressed with the staging, the Greek column look, the hugeness of the arena," and then asked her what she thought of the speech afterward. However, in describing Noonan's August 28 column to her, Lauer referred to her criticism of the columns and the size of the arena, but did not mention that she had written that the speech "has every possibility of looking like a Nuremberg rally." From Noonan's August 28 column: The general thinking among thinking journalists, as opposed to journalists who merely follow the journalistic line of the day, is that the change of venue Thursday night to Invesco Field, and the huge, open air Obama acceptance speech is ... one of the biggest and possibly craziest gambles of this or any other presidential campaign of the modern era. Everyone can define what can go wrong, and no one can quite define what "great move" would look like. It has every possibility of looking like a Nuremberg rally; it has too many variables to guarantee a good tv picture; the set, the Athenian columns, looks hokey; big crowds can get in the way of subtle oratory. My own added thought is that speeches are delicate; they're words in the air, and when you've got a ceiling the words can sort of go up to that ceiling and come back down again. But words said into an open air stadium ... can just get lost in echoes, and misheard phrases. From the August 29 broadcast of NBC's Today: LAUER: So, how did Barack Obama do? Peggy Noonan served as a top speechwriter for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. She's also a columnist for The Wall Street Journal and best-selling author of What I Saw at the Revolution. Hi, Peggy, good to see you. NOONAN: Good morning, Matt. Nice to be here from Denver. LAUER: Yeah, so, before the speech, you wrote in The Wall Street Journal that you were unimpressed with the staging, the Greek column look, the hugeness of the arena. You were there with some 80,000 other people last night. Did you change your mind? NOONAN: I did, a little bit. You could look at that staging, at the Athenian columns and the specific look of it, and you could think, "Man, that's odd-looking," and you couldn't figure out how it connected to Obama. But by the end of that speech, I think I broke the code. At the end of the speech, Barack Obama spoke about Martin Luther King, 45 years before, speaking in front of the Lincoln Memorial, with the beautiful columns behind him. And suddenly, I realized that whole set was meant to be an evocation of Martin Luther King and his great speech that day. So, I think the set was meant to connect thematically with part of the speech, and I think the set by the end had a certain glow to it. So, I think at the end of the day, it worked and was deliberate. LAUER: Let's talk a little bit more about content. Here's what you write in your column this morning, Peggy -- not that you don't know that already. But here are some samples. "The speech itself lacked lift but had heft. It wasn't precisely long on hope, but I think it showed audacity. This was not smiling O, he was not the charmer or the celebrity, and he didn't try much humor. Mr. Obama often looked stern and somewhat indignant." So, if you were one of those people who's come to love those lofty, hope-filled speeches, were you disappointed by this? NOONAN: No, I don't think so. I think there was a certain science behind what Mr. Obama was doing. I think he was thinking, "Look, I'm going to have 30, 35, maybe even 40 million people watching tonight. A lot of them have never seen me before. They've seen me from out of the side their eye when they walk by a television, but they haven't really focused on me. I'm going make them focus on me tonight, but in a different way. I'm not going to be charming, lovely, vaguely humorous, interesting and expansive on the issues. I'm going to be a very serious, seriously adult person talking about" -- LAUER: Well, when you talk about "seriously adult," though, let me ask you this. When he went right at John McCain, using his name, saying, "Listen, John McCain this and John McCain that," did he manage to walk that very fine line, Peggy, between being the antagonist and what would be called an attack dog? NOONAN: Oh, yes, I think he did. He gave John McCain a few hard wallops. Now, in the past few weeks, John McCain's been giving him a few hard wallops. Obama has been holding his fire. All of a sudden in that speech last night, he was not holding his fire. He was tough. He smacked him around on judgment, et cetera. I think there were two things he was trying to do. One was steady the field there and even things up. Another is, I think Obama was trying to bait John McCain. I think Obama was trying to get John McCain mad for next week when John McCain has a convention and might want to come out swinging. I think he sort of wanted to start a donnybrook, and I think he probably did. So I thought, strategically, his criticism of McCain was pretty smart stuff. LAUER: Let me end with history. You've brought up Martin Luther King and the "I Have a Dream" speech 45 years ago yesterday. Obviously, the other piece of history -- the first time an African-American has accepted a nomination of a major political party for president. So, major history at play in that arena last night. Did the speech in your terms live up to its historic significance? NOONAN: They asked themselves to live up to a lot when they put it in that big place. Did it live up to it? I think it was distinguished and memorable. I think it's going to take us a little time to figure out exactly what we think about it. In that way, it might be a little bit almost like the European trip in July. It may take time for it to sink in and for us to decide what we think. On balance, I think it was a plus. We'll find out very soon how big a plus it was. LAUER: Peggy Noonan. Nice to get your perspective, Peggy, and thanks for getting up early for us. I appreciate it. NOONAN: Thank you. Delighted. Mediamatters.Org On Today , Lauer asked Noonan about WSJ column on Obama speech, but ignored comparison to "Nuremberg rally" {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - On the August 29 broadcast of NBC's Today, while discussing Sen. Barack Obama's August 28 speech at the Democratic National Convention, host Matt Lauer said to Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, "[B]efore the speech, you wrote in The Wall Street Journal that you were unimpressed with the staging, the Greek column look, the hugeness of the arena," and then asked her what she thought of the speech afterward. However, in describing Noonan's August 28 column to her, Lauer referred to her criticism of the columns and the size of the arena, but did not mention that she had written that the speech "has every possibility of looking like a Nuremberg rally." From Noonan's August 28 column: The general thinking among thinking journalists, as opposed to journalists who merely follow the journalistic line of the day, is that the change of venue Thursday night to Invesco Field, and the huge, open air Obama acceptance speech is ... one of the biggest and possibly craziest gambles of this or any other presidential campaign of the modern era. Everyone can define what can go wrong, and no one can quite define what "great move" would look like. It has every possibility of looking like a Nuremberg rally; it has too many variables to guarantee a good tv picture; the set, the Athenian columns, looks hokey; big crowds can get in the way of subtle oratory. My own added thought is that speeches are delicate; they're words in the air, and when you've got a ceiling the words can sort of go up to that ceiling and come back down again. But words said into an open air stadium ... can just get lost in echoes, and misheard phrases. From the August 29 broadcast of NBC's Today: LAUER: So, how did Barack Obama do? Peggy Noonan served as a top speechwriter for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. She's also a columnist for The Wall Street Journal and best-selling author of What I Saw at the Revolution. Hi, Peggy, good to see you. NOONAN: Good morning, Matt. Nice to be here from Denver. LAUER: Yeah, so, before the speech, you wrote in The Wall Street Journal that you were unimpressed with the staging, the Greek column look, the hugeness of the arena. You were there with some 80,000 other people last night. Did you change your mind? NOONAN: I did, a little bit. You could look at that staging, at the Athenian columns and the specific look of it, and you could think, "Man, that's odd-looking," and you couldn't figure out how it connected to Obama. But by the end of that speech, I think I broke the code. At the end of the speech, Barack Obama spoke about Martin Luther King, 45 years before, speaking in front of the Lincoln Memorial, with the beautiful columns behind him. And suddenly, I realized that whole set was meant to be an evocation of Martin Luther King and his great speech that day. So, I think the set was meant to connect thematically with part of the speech, and I think the set by the end had a certain glow to it. So, I think at the end of the day, it worked and was deliberate. LAUER: Let's talk a little bit more about content. Here's what you write in your column this morning, Peggy -- not that you don't know that already. But here are some samples. "The speech itself lacked lift but had heft. It wasn't precisely long on hope, but I think it showed audacity. This was not smiling O, he was not the charmer or the celebrity, and he didn't try much humor. Mr. Obama often looked stern and somewhat indignant." So, if you were one of those people who's come to love those lofty, hope-filled speeches, were you disappointed by this? NOONAN: No, I don't think so. I think there was a certain science behind what Mr. Obama was doing. I think he was thinking, "Look, I'm going to have 30, 35, maybe even 40 million people watching tonight. A lot of them have never seen me before. They've seen me from out of the side their eye when they walk by a television, but they haven't really focused on me. I'm going make them focus on me tonight, but in a different way. I'm not going to be charming, lovely, vaguely humorous, interesting and expansive on the issues. I'm going to be a very serious, seriously adult person talking about" -- LAUER: Well, when you talk about "seriously adult," though, let me ask you this. When he went right at John McCain, using his name, saying, "Listen, John McCain this and John McCain that," did he manage to walk that very fine line, Peggy, between being the antagonist and what would be called an attack dog? NOONAN: Oh, yes, I think he did. He gave John McCain a few hard wallops. Now, in the past few weeks, John McCain's been giving him a few hard wallops. Obama has been holding his fire. All of a sudden in that speech last night, he was not holding his fire. He was tough. He smacked him around on judgment, et cetera. I think there were two things he was trying to do. One was steady the field there and even things up. Another is, I think Obama was trying to bait John McCain. I think Obama was trying to get John McCain mad for next week when John McCain has a convention and might want to come out swinging. I think he sort of wanted to start a donnybrook, and I think he probably did. So I thought, strategically, his criticism of McCain was pretty smart stuff. LAUER: Let me end with history. You've brought up Martin Luther King and the "I Have a Dream" speech 45 years ago yesterday. Obviously, the other piece of history -- the first time an African-American has accepted a nomination of a major political party for president. So, major history at play in that arena last night. Did the speech in your terms live up to its historic significance? NOONAN: They asked themselves to live up to a lot when they put it in that big place. Did it live up to it? I think it was distinguished and memorable. I think it's going to take us a little time to figure out exactly what we think about it. In that way, it might be a little bit almost like the European trip in July. It may take time for it to sink in and for us to decide what we think. On balance, I think it was a plus. We'll find out very soon how big a plus it was. LAUER: Peggy Noonan. Nice to get your perspective, Peggy, and thanks for getting up early for us. I appreciate it. NOONAN: Thank you. Delighted.
Media Matters - On Today , Lauer asked Noonan about WSJ column on Obama speech, but ignored comparison to "Nuremberg rally" {...} On Today , referring to Sen. Barack Obama's DNC speech, Matt Lauer said to Peggy Noonan, "[B]efore the speech, you wrote in The Wall Street Journal that you were unimpressed with the staging, the Greek column look, the hugeness of the arena," and then asked her what she thought of the speech afterward. However, Lauer did not mention that in the same column, she had written that the speech "has every possibility of looking like a Nuremberg rally." {...}
Published: August 30, 2008, 12:58 am - Indexed: August 31, 2008, 12:24 am - Page Size: 22KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance {AUTOS > MAGAZINES AND E-ZINES} - How Pilots and Planespotters Keep Track and Keep in Touch http://articles.world-of-newave.info/recreation/autos/magazines-and-e_zines/how-pilots-and-planespotters-keep-track-and-keep-20080857018.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/recreation/autos/magazines-and-e_zines/how-pilots-and-planespotters-keep-track-and-keep-20080857018.htm Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:49:54 GMT On August 12, 2008, an Angel Flight Beechcraft Bonanza carrying a cancer patient to treatment at Boston's Dana Farber Cancer Institute crashed in a strip-mall parking lot in Easton, MA, killing all three on board. As the impact took place in the early afternoon mere feet away from shoppers, cell phone videos and eyewitness accounts of the twisted wreckage and badly burned victims flooded local newspaper webpages within minutes. In spite of all the graphic accounts of the tragedy, the most poignant account of the doomed flight was a single image: a blue-background map with green lettering showing the Beechcraft's flight path. The departure and destination airport codes are shown, with the green line departing from KFOK and heading in the direction of KBOS, sharply curving and then ending just an inch on the screen away from the eventual destination. Like Minard's depiction of Napoleon's disastrous march to Moscow, the flight plan graphic tells the entire story of the doomed Angel Flight, courtesy of FlightAware. By now, we bet you've heard of FlightAware. In fact, we're pretty sure you've used it, or you've visited a similar site. Whether you were planning an airport pickup, checking to see if a family member's flight arrived safely, or betting on which plane gets to JFK first, your air traffic request was among the two million FlightAware gets every day. Of all those requests, some come from a more dedicated group of 250,000 users who for business, pleasure, or a little of both use FlightAware to track anomalies, celebrities, and sometimes tragedies. A visitor to FlightAware's Discussions page will find conversations about a mystery plane mistakenly labeled as the Concorde, Bruce Springsteen's tour plane, and a Lindbergh-worthy prop-plane flight from Honolulu to Kiribati. After talking with a few of FlightAware's creators, it's no surprise the site attracts a group of plane spotters and pilots who can't get enough of tracking flights. Each member of FlightAware's leadership team holds a pilot's license, and the site began as a labor of love. "That's why we started it," Chief Information Officer David McNett told Wired.com. "Our only intention was to track our own flights. It accidentally turned into a site." One example of how much these guys love planes? The on-hold music at FlightAware headquarters features recordings of air traffic control transmissions. We really wouldn't be surprised if their offices look just like the Admiral's Club at LAX. So who are these FlightAware junkies, posting on message boards and racing to the airport to get pictures of some rare bird? According to McNett, users have told him they enjoy sitting outside on the patio, laptops at the ready, tracking each plane that flies overhead. (We assume they're listening to Little Feat on their iTunes and sipping on Coors Light.) Luddites will be glad to know the chatter in the forums is better at predicting delays than any computer software, according to McNett. "We wanted to develop some fancy heuristics for predicting delays," he said. "But software isn't as effective as monitoring the forums." A little more than half of FlightAware's registered users are pilots, one of whom is Robert Reid of Toronto. Reid is a private pilot and lives close to both Buttonville (YKZ) and Downsview (YZD) airports. He uses FlightAware to track when a particularly interesting plane is taking off or landing, and to follow friends' flights. YZD is used by Bombardier to fly their unfinished ultra-exclusive Global 5000 jets for completion at other locations. "I can click on YZD, and if a Global 5000 files a flight plan, I can catch them on camera departing YZD," Reid told Wired.com. Such a picture is shown below. "I have a friend that owns a Cessna 421 in Torrance California, so I have it on FlightAware Flight Alert. When ever the aircraft files a flight plan, departs, or lands on the flight plan I get an email flight alert." Reid also used LiveATC.net to listen to in-flight communications of a friend's recent trip to West Palm Beach. For pilots, being able to check in on friends is one of the biggest draws of flight tracking sites "The aviation community -- as disparate as it is -- is pretty tight," McNett said. "Everyone has gone through the same training and the same lessons." The close-knit group gets even tighter after an accident. "I literally have friends involved in aviation all over the world," Reid said. "If there is a midair accident, or something I feel other pilots should be aware of I'll post it. The best way to avoid an accident is to learn from others misfortunes." McNett agrees. "It's easy to empathize when you see an aircraft go down. It's sobering. It feels like a family. Your perspective as a pilot is to learn from it." It's especially moving when survivors and family members participate in the conversation. Not every participant is an enthusiast. In fact, some depend on the data for their bread and butter. To most business travelers, it probably comes as a surprise that there's commercial use to tracking flights other than seeing if Nelson got to Reagan National in time to present the third quarter sales results to the board meeting. According to Karl Lehenbauer, FlightAware's Chief Technology Officer, one Houston area paramedic saves time, money, and gas by using FlightAware data to find out exactly when to meet air ambulances, eliminating time spent idling at the airport. Another user manages a Fixed Base Operator and uses FlightAware for getting ready to fuel, cater, and hangar incoming aircraft. Of course, there are also the folks who just track celebrity planes. McNett isn't too concerned about them: if they were truly weirdos, they probably would've just bought a $50 scanner and stalked John Travolta's private 707 long before any internet application came along. "Even if it weren't on the internet, flight plans are all public information," McNett said. Plus, any plane with a blocked tail number won't show on FlightAware. According to McNett, the fact that more celebrities and dignitaries haven't taken advantage of blocking their tail numbers shows that "privacy concerns are overblown." We tend to agree, especially in light of how many celebs use their initials in their tail numbers. Photos by Robert Reid. Blog.Wired.Com How Pilots and Planespotters Keep Track and Keep in Touch {new window}   Blog.Wired.Com - On August 12, 2008, an Angel Flight Beechcraft Bonanza carrying a cancer patient to treatment at Boston's Dana Farber Cancer Institute crashed in a strip-mall parking lot in Easton, MA, killing all three on board. As the impact took place in the early afternoon mere feet away from shoppers, cell phone videos and eyewitness accounts of the twisted wreckage and badly burned victims flooded local newspaper webpages within minutes. In spite of all the graphic accounts of the tragedy, the most poignant account of the doomed flight was a single image: a blue-background map with green lettering showing the Beechcraft's flight path. The departure and destination airport codes are shown, with the green line departing from KFOK and heading in the direction of KBOS, sharply curving and then ending just an inch on the screen away from the eventual destination. Like Minard's depiction of Napoleon's disastrous march to Moscow, the flight plan graphic tells the entire story of the doomed Angel Flight, courtesy of FlightAware. By now, we bet you've heard of FlightAware. In fact, we're pretty sure you've used it, or you've visited a similar site. Whether you were planning an airport pickup, checking to see if a family member's flight arrived safely, or betting on which plane gets to JFK first, your air traffic request was among the two million FlightAware gets every day. Of all those requests, some come from a more dedicated group of 250,000 users who for business, pleasure, or a little of both use FlightAware to track anomalies, celebrities, and sometimes tragedies. A visitor to FlightAware's Discussions page will find conversations about a mystery plane mistakenly labeled as the Concorde, Bruce Springsteen's tour plane, and a Lindbergh-worthy prop-plane flight from Honolulu to Kiribati. After talking with a few of FlightAware's creators, it's no surprise the site attracts a group of plane spotters and pilots who can't get enough of tracking flights. Each member of FlightAware's leadership team holds a pilot's license, and the site began as a labor of love. "That's why we started it," Chief Information Officer David McNett told Wired.com. "Our only intention was to track our own flights. It accidentally turned into a site." One example of how much these guys love planes? The on-hold music at FlightAware headquarters features recordings of air traffic control transmissions. We really wouldn't be surprised if their offices look just like the Admiral's Club at LAX. So who are these FlightAware junkies, posting on message boards and racing to the airport to get pictures of some rare bird? According to McNett, users have told him they enjoy sitting outside on the patio, laptops at the ready, tracking each plane that flies overhead. (We assume they're listening to Little Feat on their iTunes and sipping on Coors Light.) Luddites will be glad to know the chatter in the forums is better at predicting delays than any computer software, according to McNett. "We wanted to develop some fancy heuristics for predicting delays," he said. "But software isn't as effective as monitoring the forums." A little more than half of FlightAware's registered users are pilots, one of whom is Robert Reid of Toronto. Reid is a private pilot and lives close to both Buttonville (YKZ) and Downsview (YZD) airports. He uses FlightAware to track when a particularly interesting plane is taking off or landing, and to follow friends' flights. YZD is used by Bombardier to fly their unfinished ultra-exclusive Global 5000 jets for completion at other locations. "I can click on YZD, and if a Global 5000 files a flight plan, I can catch them on camera departing YZD," Reid told Wired.com. Such a picture is shown below. "I have a friend that owns a Cessna 421 in Torrance California, so I have it on FlightAware Flight Alert. When ever the aircraft files a flight plan, departs, or lands on the flight plan I get an email flight alert." Reid also used LiveATC.net to listen to in-flight communications of a friend's recent trip to West Palm Beach. For pilots, being able to check in on friends is one of the biggest draws of flight tracking sites "The aviation community -- as disparate as it is -- is pretty tight," McNett said. "Everyone has gone through the same training and the same lessons." The close-knit group gets even tighter after an accident. "I literally have friends involved in aviation all over the world," Reid said. "If there is a midair accident, or something I feel other pilots should be aware of I'll post it. The best way to avoid an accident is to learn from others misfortunes." McNett agrees. "It's easy to empathize when you see an aircraft go down. It's sobering. It feels like a family. Your perspective as a pilot is to learn from it." It's especially moving when survivors and family members participate in the conversation. Not every participant is an enthusiast. In fact, some depend on the data for their bread and butter. To most business travelers, it probably comes as a surprise that there's commercial use to tracking flights other than seeing if Nelson got to Reagan National in time to present the third quarter sales results to the board meeting. According to Karl Lehenbauer, FlightAware's Chief Technology Officer, one Houston area paramedic saves time, money, and gas by using FlightAware data to find out exactly when to meet air ambulances, eliminating time spent idling at the airport. Another user manages a Fixed Base Operator and uses FlightAware for getting ready to fuel, cater, and hangar incoming aircraft. Of course, there are also the folks who just track celebrity planes. McNett isn't too concerned about them: if they were truly weirdos, they probably would've just bought a $50 scanner and stalked John Travolta's private 707 long before any internet application came along. "Even if it weren't on the internet, flight plans are all public information," McNett said. Plus, any plane with a blocked tail number won't show on FlightAware. According to McNett, the fact that more celebrities and dignitaries haven't taken advantage of blocking their tail numbers shows that "privacy concerns are overblown." We tend to agree, especially in light of how many celebs use their initials in their tail numbers. Photos by Robert Reid.
How Pilots and Planespotters Keep Track and Keep in Touch | Autopia from Wired.com {...} On August 12, 2008, an Angel Flight Beechcraft Bonanza carrying a cancer patient to treatment at Boston's Dana Farber Cancer Institute crashed in a strip-mall parking lot in Easton, MA, {...}
Indexed: August 27, 2008, 3:49 pm - Page Size: 63KB
Category: Recreation > Autos > Magazines and E-zines

]]> Recreation > Autos > Magazines and E-zines {NEWS > ALTERNATIVE} - What's Going on with the Media's Ballooning Coverage of Celebrity Babies? http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/alternative/what-s-going-on-with-the-media-s-ballooning-coverage-20080886012.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/alternative/what-s-going-on-with-the-media-s-ballooning-coverage-20080886012.htm Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:00:01 GMT As print journalism faces extinction, tabloids obsess over celebrity pregnancy and childbirth. What's wrong with this picture? Alternet.Org What's Going on with the Media's Ballooning Coverage of Celebrity Babies? {new window}   Www.Alternet.Org - As print journalism faces extinction, tabloids obsess over celebrity pregnancy and childbirth. What's wrong with this picture?
What's Going on with the Media's Ballooning Coverage of Celebrity Babies? | Reproductive Justice and Gender | AlterNet {...}
Published: August 15, 2008, 8:00 am - Indexed: August 16, 2008, 11:34 am - Page Size: 32KB
Category: News > Alternative

]]> News > Alternative {NEWS > ALTERNATIVE} - What's Going on with the Media's Ballooning Coverage of Celebrity Babies? http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/alternative/what-s-going-on-with-the-media-s-ballooning-coverage-20080823014.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/alternative/what-s-going-on-with-the-media-s-ballooning-coverage-20080823014.htm Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:00:01 GMT As print journalism faces extinction, tabloids obsess over celebrity pregnancy and childbirth. What's wrong with this picture? Alternet.Org What's Going on with the Media's Ballooning Coverage of Celebrity Babies? {new window}   Www.Alternet.Org - As print journalism faces extinction, tabloids obsess over celebrity pregnancy and childbirth. What's wrong with this picture?
What's Going on with the Media's Ballooning Coverage of Celebrity Babies? | Media and Technology | AlterNet {...}
Published: August 15, 2008, 8:00 am - Indexed: August 16, 2008, 11:34 am - Page Size: 32KB
Category: News > Alternative

]]> News > Alternative