Media Matters - Conservative echo chamber pushes story about Obama's brother, despite brother's reported refutation {...} Numerous conservative media figures have promoted a story in the Italian edition of Vanity Fair that reportedly quoted Sen. Barack Obama's half brother George Obama as saying that he lives "on less than a dollar a month," but have disregarded reports that quoted George Obama saying, "They say I live on a dollar a month, but this is all lies by people who don't want my brother to win," and, "The magazines, they exaggerated everything." {...}

Media Matters - Couric didn't challenge McCain's false claim that Biden proposed "break[ing] Iraq up into three different countries" {...} During an interview with Sen. John McCain, Katie Couric did not challenge McCain's false claim that Sen. Joe Biden "said you had to break Iraq up into three different countries" as part of his Iraq plan. On America's Election HQ , Karl Rove falsely asserted that Biden's proposal for Iraq involved "unilaterally splitting up a sovereign nation," a statement that Chris Wallace echoed. In fact, Biden introduced a "five-point plan" to "[m]aintain a unified Iraq by decentralizing it and giving Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis breathing room in their own regions." Further, Biden has made clear that he was not proposing that his plan be imposed on Iraq "unilaterally." {...}

Media Matters - CBS Evening News aired only part of Bill Clinton quote about Obama, ignored praise that followed {...} CBS' Jeff Greenfield reported that President Clinton "offered a decidedly lukewarm endorsement of Obama's credentials," but Greenfield aired only a small portion of a response Clinton gave to the question from ABC's Kate Snow: "Is he ready to be president?" Greenfield did not air Clinton saying: "I mean, I certainly learned a lot about the job in my first year. He's shown a keen strategic sense and his ability to run an effective campaign. He clearly can inspire people and motivate people and energize them, which is a very important part of being president, and he's smart as a whip so there's nothing he can't learn." {...}

Media Matters - Trust me, John McCain doesn't know what bad press looks like {...}

Media Matters - CBS' Reid didn't note that experts, including Energy Dept., have rebutted assertion that expanded offshore drilling "will bring prices down" {...} CBS' Chip Reid stated, "[Sen. John] McCain says he now supports increased offshore drilling, as do 73 percent of Americans, because, he says, more oil supplies will bring prices down," and went on to claim, "[Sen. Barack] Obama says offshore drilling harms the environment, and looks to the past, not the future." But Reid provided no indication that Obama has directly rebutted the suggestion that "increased offshore oil drilling ... will bring prices down" by pointing to the conclusion of "most experts, even within the Bush Administration," that doing so would not affect gas prices for many years. {...}

Media Matters - "Media Matters"; by Jamison Foser {...}