Washington Times

WashTimes Writer Miller Notes Media 'Obsessed' with Linking AR-15 to Navy Yard Murders
By Tom Blumer | September 18, 2013 | 10:19 AM EDT

At the New York Times on Tuesday, Michael S. Schmidt claimed that "The suspect in the killing of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday test-fired an AR-15 assault rifle at a Virginia gun store last week but was stopped from buying one because state law there prohibits the sale of such weapons to out-of-state buyers, according to two senior law enforcement officials."

The portion of that statement about being "stopped from buying" an AR-15 isn't true, writes Emily Miller at the Washington Times, not only because "state law" wouldn't have prevented such an attempt, but also because Aaron Alexis didn't even try to buy one. Miller asserts that the New York Times "should issue a correction immediately." She also decries the establishment media's "obsession" with tying the AR-15 to the Navy Yard shooting (bolds are mine throughout this post):

MRC Study Documents Virginia Newspapers' Viciously Negative Slant on GOP Gubernatorial Candidate
By Rich Noyes | September 7, 2013 | 9:00 AM EDT

Last year, the national media spent the campaign highlighting (or inventing) problems for the Republican ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, while downplaying or ignoring the shortcomings in Barack Obama’s record as President. Next year, we’ll find out if the media will be more successful than they were in 2010, when they attempted to marginalize and discredit conservative Tea Party candidates in a campaign that turned out to be a crushing defeat for liberals.

This year, however, there’s really only one major political race on the political radar: the Virginia governor’s race between former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe (a longtime associate of Bill and Hillary Clinton) and Republican Ken Cuccinelli, currently the state’s attorney general. And a new MRC study of major newspapers in the state finds the GOP candidate is receiving far more negative coverage than his Democratic counterpart — just four positive stories vs. 95 negative ones, a whopping 24-to-1 margin.

Media Mostly Yawns As More Fast and Furious Guns Are Recovered From 'Cradle of Narco-Trafficking'
By Tom Blumer | August 17, 2013 | 12:00 PM EDT

On Wednesday at CBSnews.com, Sharyl Attkisson reported that "Three more weapons from Fast and Furious have turned up at crime scenes in Mexico."

A Google News search at 10 a.m. on ["Fast and Furious" guns] (typed exactly as indicated between brackets, past 7 days, sorted by date, with duplicates) returned 26 relevant items. Very few (to be noted later) are from establishment press outlets.

Feds Targeted Tax Records of Political Candidates; All Three Networks Ignore
By Scott Whitlock | July 17, 2013 | 3:45 PM EDT

 The tax records of political candidates and certain donors were improperly accessed by government officials, but the Justice Department has refused to prosecute, according to the Washington Times. This revelation, published on Tuesday, has been ignored by the morning and evening newscasts of CBS, NBC and ABC.

Times writers Dave Boyer and Ben Wolfgang explained, "In a written response to a request by [Senator Chuck] Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, [Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell] George said a review turned up four cases since 2006 in which unidentified government officials took part in 'unauthorized access or disclosure of tax records of political donors or candidates," including one case he described as 'willful.'"

WashTimes's Miller: D.C. Govt. Dragged Feet, Holding Back Documents Re: David Gregory Gun Law Violation
By Ken Shepherd | May 21, 2013 | 6:27 PM EDT

When a major journalist breaks a gun law in the nation's capital on national TV in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers at home, you'd think it would be pretty much an open-and-shut case to prosecute. But when Meet the Press host David Gregory did just that last December -- displaying on-air an empty 30-round magazine during an interview segment with the NRA's Wayne LaPierre -- he got off scot-free when the District of Columbia failed to prosecute. The relevant law on the books in the nation's capital calls for a $1,000 fine and a year in prison for any civilian who possesses a ammunition magazine that can hold more than 10 rounds.

Two months later, annoyed with the District of Columbia for failing to answer her questions pertaining to the case, pro-gun rights opinion columnist Emily Miller of the Washington Times filed a freedom of information request. On Friday, Miller updated readers by noting how the District has been stringing her and other conservative bloggers along when it came to producing documents related to the Gregory investigation (emphasis mine):

AP Doubles Down on Boston Bombing T-Word Reluctance: 'The Blasts ... Raised Fears of a Terrorist Attack'
By Tom Blumer | April 16, 2013 | 9:10 AM EDT

Those who might have given the Associated Press's Jimmy Golen the benefit of the doubt early this morning for writing that the Boston Marathon bombings "raised alarms that terrorists might have struck again in the U.S." are going to have a tougher time doing so with his 8:15 a.m. report, in which he wrote that "the blasts among the throngs of spectators raised fears of a terrorist attack." In context, readers can insert "that it was" to replace "of." (If he meant to write "that there will be another terorrist attack," he would have. He didn't.)

The first several paragraphs of Golen's report (since revised; the referenced report is saved here for future reference, fair use and discussion purposes) follow they jump:

CNN's Piers Morgan Falsely Claims Newtown Shooter Was an NRA Member
By Matt Vespa | March 28, 2013 | 5:41 PM EDT

Note to Piers Morgan: Journalism isn't rocket science and making a few phone calls can go a long way.

Giddy about a Newtown search warrant that showed there was an NRA certificate found in the Lanza household,  Morgan tweeted giddily: 

Yet, this is an abject lie.

AP: 'Massive Government Spending Cuts' Caused Sharp March Consumer Confidence Decline
By Tom Blumer | March 26, 2013 | 11:46 PM EDT

On February 28, though he hedged a bit, Martin Crutsinger at the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, wrote the following about prospects for economic growth: "The only impediment may be the across-the-board government spending cuts that kick in Friday — especially if those cuts remain in place for months."

Having established the template, the self-described Essential Global News Network has apparently decided that they need to do all they can to promote it. After today's sharp decline in consumer confidence as reported by the Conference Board, AP reporter Marcy Gordon's related dispatch opened with a whine about "massive government spending cuts," tried to reinforce her claim in a later paragraph, and saved contradictory information for an even later one (bolds are mine throughout this post):

WashTimes Writer: Bloomberg's New 'Responsible' Gun Control Ad Features Irresponsible Handling of Shotgun
By Ken Shepherd | March 25, 2013 | 5:17 PM EDT

While the liberal news media have been trumpeting Mayor Michael Bloomberg's new $12-million ad buy as an attempt to push federal gun control legislation, a glaring irony of one such ad is being ignored by the media: an actor in a Mayors Against Illegal Guns ad entitled "Responsible" is handling a shotgun in an irresponsible manner, violating three cardinal rules of gun safety.

Washington Times senior opinion editor and gun aficionada Emily Miller explains (emphases mine):

Not News: Wasserman Schultz and Moran Whine About Staff Budget Cuts; $100K+/Yr. Aides Being 'Priced Out' of a Good Lunch
By Tom Blumer | March 24, 2013 | 8:03 AM EDT

As hard as the establishment press has worked over the years to make certain politicians appear to be somehow out of touch with the situation of average Americans, you might think that two legislative leaders complaining about cuts in their Congressional offices' allowance might be news. One whined that her aides, some of whom "earn" in excess of $100,000 per year, are being "priced out" of a good lunch on Capitol Hill.

Don't be silly. The press only cares about making Republicans and conservatives appear out of touch. The complainers in question are Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who also heads the Democratic National Committee, and longtime Democratic Congressman Jim Moran of Virginia. The Washington Examiner's Paul Bedard noted Schultz's and Moran's whining on Wednesday:

Slate Slams Obama On Transparency, Credits Fox News, Wash. Times For Fast and Furious Reporting
By Matt Vespa | March 13, 2013 | 10:11 AM EDT

Some in the media have reported on the Obama administration reneging on its promise to be transparent and open.  The president’s drone policy is a testament to its commitment to secrecy.  The creation of a secret kill list is also another instance where Obama has betrayed a campaign promise to his liberal base.  So, why aren’t watchdog groups vociferously protesting the president’s 180-degree flip on this position?

Paul Thacker wrote on the left-leaning Slate website yesterday that Obama is no different from Bush in stonewalling FOIA requests, and skirting civil liberties – but gets away with it because of his party affiliation:

Democrat Insults Rape Victim Who Advocates for Gun Rights: 'Statistics Are Not On Your Side'
By Matt Vespa | March 5, 2013 | 7:05 PM EST

Last year the media did their level best to tar Republicans with the offensive comments that two Republicans made related to rape victims. But now that it's Democratic legislators insulting rape victims by insisting that they cannot be trusted to defend themselves with firearms, it's a different story. 

Amanda Collins, now 25, was brutally raped on campus, and was unable to defend herself since guns aren’t permitted on college campuses.  In fact, Colorado State Sen. Evie Hudak (D), has said that her “assault would likely had been worse had she been armed with a gun.” Jessica Chasmar of the Washington Times has the story: