Washington–(ENEWSPF)– In recent weeks the media have repeatedly indulged President George W. Bush and the vice president through various interview stops on their Bush legacy tour, utterly failing to push back against statements that were demonstrably false or highly disputable.
Media Matters has reviewed interviews given by Bush and Cheney — reportedly armed with talking points that “present the Bush record as an unalloyed success” — since the November 4 election and has identified numerous instances in which interviewers have failed to challenge false or debatable statements; these failures span a variety of issues, including Hurricane Katrina, prewar Iraq intelligence, national security, and the economy.
One example of this is NPR’s Mara Liasson, who asserted that the Iraq war is “pretty manageable, if not almost won.” Liasson’s conjecture is one of many instances in which the traditional media has repainted the Bush years in more favorable colors. Media Matters for America has compiled a list – by no means exhaustive – of the repeated failures by media figures to challenge these false or disputed claims and hold Bush and Cheney accountable:
- On Bush legacy tour, media often just along for the ride
- Wash. Post uncritically quoted Bush assertion that “there can be little debate” his policies kept us safe
- ABC, CBS reported Bush’s defense of Katrina response without noting congressional criticism
- Ignoring contrary evidence, CNN’s King said of Bush’s African AIDS program: “Any liberal will tell you it has been a dramatic success”
- Gibson, Couric uncritically aired Bush’s comment calling Abu Ghraib a “disappointment”
“There are legitimate credibility concerns to be addressed when media outlets attempt to revise and edit history,” said Media Matters Communications Director Murshed Zaheed. He added, “Airbrushing a happy ending onto the Bush legacy is laughable… and scary.”
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Media Matters for America is a progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. Media Matters is the first organization to systematically monitor the media for conservative misinformation every day, in real time. For more information, visit www.mediamatters.org.
