AFP Says Cubans Fleeing Island for US, Merely 'Depart' Not Defect

January 1st, 2009 11:22 PM
Apparently, for Agence France-Presse, desperate Cubans who flee the Castro brothers’ island prison don’t escape or defect, they merely “depart.”    It wasn’t merely a poorly-chosen headline stating, “Two top players depart Cuba in a bid to play in US." The whitewash was mirrored in the December 29 article, and the bias wasn’t confined to careful language manipulation.  AFP also minimized the…

AP Photogs and Journos Withholding Bylines; World Somehow Survives

December 16th, 2008 11:31 PM
No, it's a not a story from the Onion. It's AFP reporting on the actions of Associated Press photographers and journalists:US news agency staff stage 'byline strike' Journalists and photographers at the US news agency the Associated Press (AP) are withholding their bylines to protest management's stance in contract talks, their union said. "Staffers recognize the tough times, but they also…

AP Feels Sorry for Mexico Over Drop in 'Money Sent Home' By Returning

December 7th, 2008 3:38 AM
I suppose the Associated Press wants us all to feel sorry for Mexico. With so many illegals here either having trouble finding work or actually returning home, Mexico is finding that its citizens illegally in the US have fewer American dollars to send home. AP says the "situation is so serious" that the Mexican government is trying to create new programs to reinforce ties between illegals here…

AFP: Math is Heroic? Dumbing Down the English Language

November 21st, 2008 6:21 AM
Yahoo News featured an interesting short report issued by Agence France-Presse on November 20. In it we discover that a consortium of French, German and Hungarian mathematicians are claiming to have proven that Einstein's famous equation, e=mc2, is correct. The report is all good except for one very small aspect. They call the effort of these mathematicians "heroic" in contradiction to the root…

Obama Thanks The Tanks, Media Was ‘Gracious’ For Barack

November 4th, 2008 3:33 PM
**Update**I've Been Scolded... It’s always nice to see someone thank another for their hard work, isn’t it? Well, here at the end of this long, long presidential campaign (it’s been going on since 2004 for Barack and the Old Media, after all), Barack Obama has thanked his fellow campaign members in the Old Media for their hard work as they’ve fronted for him, pushed for him, and willingly dived…

Weekend Captionfest

October 17th, 2008 4:00 PM
Barack Obama speaks with Joe-the-Plumber Wurzelbacher on October 12, 2008 in Holland, Ohio. (AFP/Getty Images/Joe Raedle)  

Anatomy of a Biased Headline: Part III

October 1st, 2008 11:05 AM
Today’s version of our exercise, in which we dissect the media’s attempts at interjecting bias into a simple headline, may stun some of you. The shocking aspect? The Washington Post didn’t partake in the liberal doctoring of the headline. Let’s take a look… The Pentagon just released a report entitled ‘Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq,’ which highlights a decline in violence in the…

PBS Ombudsman Raps Anti-Palin Wisecrack

September 19th, 2008 9:33 PM
On PBS's Web site today, ombudsman Michael Getler writes of complaints over an incident during last Sunday's pledge drive.  He describes the cheap shot taken by actor Mike Farrell against vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin:According to Joseph Campbell, vice president of fundraising programs, here's what happened:

CNN's Blitzer: 'I Don't Remember' Biden's Law School Plagiarism

September 18th, 2008 10:55 PM

CNN's Chetry: 'Please Tell Me It's Not Lipstick Again

September 10th, 2008 11:40 PM
 On CNN's American Morning today, White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux reported on Barack Obama's campaigning in Virginia.  Afterwards, anchor Kiran Chetry had a question:CHETRY: All right. And Suzanne, what's on tap for the campaign today? And please tell me it's not lipstick again.MALVEAUX: Let's hope not. He's going to be in Norfolk, Virginia. That is in southeast Virginia, and it's home…

Headlines Offer an Alternate Liberal Reality

September 8th, 2008 10:21 PM
This is to say, not reality at all. What is the first step in the main stream media’s handbook of liberal bias?  Why, alter the headline to fit your agenda, of course. In textbook MSM form, liberal news outlets have been altering the planned Tuesday announcement by President Bush that 8,000 troops in Iraq will be home by February.  Allow me to demonstrate…

What You Won't See Reported About Iraq As July Ends

July 31st, 2008 8:22 AM
August 1 Update: This post has been revised to reflect July's final death toll of 13, per icasualties.org (8 hostile and 5 non-hostile).__________________NB readers should know that upcoming news reports about casualties in Iraq are probably going to understate how much US casualties relating to events that actually occurred during July declined. AFP appears to be the only wire service reporting…

Weekend Captionfest

July 18th, 2008 4:00 PM
Barack Obama delivers a speech on July 15 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC (AFP/Karen Bleier).

AP Does a Reuters: Saint Obama in a Halo

July 8th, 2008 8:25 PM
My colleague Warner Todd Huston was first to report the wire service Reuters publishing a picture of a saintly Barack Obama surrounded by a halo.Now, the Associated Press has gotten into the act (h/t NBer Roger the Shrubber):