Associated Press

As Usual, AP Report on Deficit Fails to Note Far Larger Increase in National Debt
By Tom Blumer | December 11, 2015 | 5:37 PM EST

For a change, Martin Crutsinger's coverage at the Associated Press of the federal government's November Monthly Treasury Statement wasn't completely full of rose-colored baloney.

Crutsinger managed to note how auto-pilot entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare are bankrupting the country (not in those words, of course). That said, he somehow thought that highlighting a rare and small increase in year-over-year defense spending was worthwhile, while ignoring several other larger percentage increases in other areas. Most importantly, he failed to note that the national debt has increased by far more than Uncle Sam's reported deficits. Excerpts follow the jump (bolds and numbered tags are mine):

AP Promotes Contrast with Harsh Trump: Hillary 'Preaches Love and Kindness'
By Tim Graham | December 11, 2015 | 10:40 AM EST

The Associated Press isn’t being shy about which party it favors with this headline: “As Trump rises, Clinton preaches love and kindness.” On its site, U.S. News & World report took it the natural step further: “As Donald Trump rises with his harsh rhetoric, Hillary Clinton preaches love and kindness.” Reach for the Rolaids.

AP’s Lisa Lerer and Ken Thomas began oddly, noting the “kindness” message came on the heels of her accusing Republicans with threatening the safety of the American people:

AP's 'Spin Meter' Suggests Carson, Trump Hypocrites on Gun Rights Because Rallies Don't Permit Weapons
By Ken Shepherd | December 9, 2015 | 5:17 PM EST

In the AP Spin Meter today, the newswire's Bill Barrow and Jill Colvin hit Republican presidential candidates Bill Carson and Donald Trump over hypocrisy regarding gun rights. Both candidates have made statements in favor of civilian concealed carry as a preventative measure against terrorist attacks like San Bernardino.

Compromised AP and Reporter Julie Pace Offer Predictably Uncritical Coverage of Obama's Speech
By Tom Blumer | December 7, 2015 | 2:04 AM EST

At the Associated Press Sunday evening, White House Correspondent Julie Pace's coverage of President Obama's Oval Office address was predictably weak.

One could cite at least a half-dozen problems with Pace's story, but two of them were particularly disingenuous.

As Paris Climate Talks Loom, AP's Borenstein Goes Full-Bore Over 'Trying to Save' Earth
By Tom Blumer | November 30, 2015 | 7:46 PM EST

From time to time over the past nine years, I have written about "globaloney," a shorthand term for the pseudo-science behind “climate change,” and “globalarmism” to describe the enviro-hysteria over "global warming" and the misguided public-policy prescriptions arising from that hysteria. Since the Paris climate talks have just begun, the press hysteria has reached a fever pitch.

At the Associated Press on Sunday, Seth Borenstein, swept up in that hysteria, wrote up a perfect example of "news" coverage embodying the essence of each term. We should be forever grateful that longtime skeptic Christopher Monckton, at the Watts Up With That blog, picked Borenstein apart, utterly destroying the AP reporter's work, piece by piece.

Former AP Reporters: Wire Service Suppressed 'World-Changing' Story on 2008 Israeli Peace Offer
By Tom Blumer | November 30, 2015 | 12:23 PM EST

In predictably disingenuous fashion, the Associated Press claimed in a November 18 story that "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has shined new light on the breakdown of a potentially history-altering round of 2008 peace talks." Abbas acknowledged that Israel offered Palestinians 93.5 percent of the West Bank and other significant concessions.

The "light" isn't "new" at all. The wire service had the news almost seven years ago, and, according to former AP reporters, refused to publish it. An AP reporter who "discovered the Israeli peace offer in early 2009, got it confirmed on the record and brought it" to the AP in Jerusalem has substantiated the assertion that it "suppressed a world-changing story for no acceptable reason." It is perhaps the most damming validation yet that prudent people should never trust establishment press reports out of the Middle East — particularly in regards to Israel — because of their "pattern ... of accepting the Palestinian narrative as truth and branding the Israelis as oppressors."

AP's Rugaber, Despite Wednesday's Weak Economic Data: 'Fundamentals Remain Solid'
By Tom Blumer | November 29, 2015 | 10:03 PM EST

As yours truly noted in several posts at my home blog on Wednesday and at NewsBusters on Friday and Saturday, the torrent of pre-Thanksgiving "getaway day" economic data was largely disappointing.

That didn't stop the Associated Press's Chris Rugaber from pushing the "All is well" meme late Wednesday afternoon, declaring, contrary to what anyone's eyes could see, that "the fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain solid," that "Consumers appear relatively confident in the economy," and that "Americans are unleashing pent-up demand for big-ticket items such as homes and cars."

AP's Rugaber Hides the Overall Decline in Thanksgiving and Black Friday Sales
By Tom Blumer | November 28, 2015 | 6:46 PM EST

The truth about this year's Thanksgiving and Black Friday store and online sales is out there. It's just that Christopher Rugaber at the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, wasn't interested in clearly revealing all of it.

Instead, the AP economics writer told readers about the dollar amount of this year's and last year's Thursday and Friday store sales, but failed to quantify the increase in online sales. People who don't follow the economy closely likely don't know that an increase in online sales is quite unlikely to offset a decrease in brick-and-mortar store sales. The way Rugaber wrote up his piece ensured that news of the economy's continued malaise will remain elusive for low-information news consumers and, ultimately, low-information voters.

AP's Boak Says New-Home Sales 'Recovered' In October; No They Didn't
By Tom Blumer | November 28, 2015 | 10:16 AM EST

On Wednesday, the Associated Press's Josh Boak added to the wire service's collection of weak "Getaway Day" business journalism by declaring that new-home sales "recovered in October."

No they didn't. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 495,000 units reported by the Census Bureau was the fourth-lowest monthly level seen this year, even well below the 521,000 and 545,000 reported in the supposedly unprecedentedly awful winter months of January and February, respectively. Boak also claimed that "Americans recovered much of their appetite for owning new homes this year," even though current levels are at best about 70 percent of what one would expect in a pre-"new normal" healthy market.

AP: Japan Is in a Recession, But Still Trying to 'Pump Up (a Non-Existing) Recovery'
By Tom Blumer | November 27, 2015 | 11:24 PM EST

Twenty years of economic growth averaging less than 1 percent have failed to convince Japan's leaders — and apparently its citizens — that Keynesian-style government spending and handouts are not the answer to turning that long-suffering nation's economy around.

So the Shinzo Abe government, fresh from learning that the country is in yet another recession — its fifth since 2008 — is doing more of the same, while counting on press shills around the world like the Associated Press's Elaine Kurtenbach to be gentle in their coverage. Kurtenbach cooperated as expected early Friday morning (bolds and numbered tags are mine):

AP Accentuates and Makes Up Positives, Ignores Most Negatives, in Covering October Durable Goods Report
By Tom Blumer | November 27, 2015 | 7:00 PM EST

Ever since the White House changed hands almost seven years ago, press reports on the U.S. economy have annoyingly overaccentuated whatever positives reporters might find (or think they have found), while ignoring glaring negatives and omitting key items.

One example of such biased reporting came from the Associated Press's Martin Crutsinger on Wednesday. In covering the Census Bureau's October Durable Goods report, Crutsinger praised its one-month seasonally adjusted increases in new orders and shipments. While that news was welcome, the AP reporter ignored the ugly fact that October's actual (i.e., not seasonally adjusted) year-over-year figure was lower than October 2014, marking the seventh straight month of year-over-year declines. He also didn't address shipments, which have been flat compared to to the same month last year for the past four months, at all.

AP Headlines Oct. Consumer Spending As 'Weak'; Crutsinger Opens by Claiming a 'Modest Increase'
By Tom Blumer | November 27, 2015 | 12:49 PM EST

Economic news on Wednesday's pre-Thanksgiving "Getaway Day" was largely dismal. The government's report on October's personal income and outlays headed up the disappointing news. While incomes increased nicely — at a rate which needs to be repeated about two dozen more times before it can be seen as genuinely impressive — spending only rose by 0.1 percent, while prior months were revised significantly downward.

Perhaps because they were all in a pre-holiday hurry, the headline writers at the Associated Press and AP economics writer Martin Crutsinger had fundamentally different takes on the news. Additionally, Crutsinger was apparently in such a rush that he didn't worry about the fact that his first two paragraphs' characterizations of the result disagreed. Finally, the AP reporter failed to note that total consumer spending in October was lower than what was originally reported in September after the previously mentioned downard revisions.