From Media Matters

AND THE MEDIA DOES MATTER, FOR A TRUE DEMOCRACY, EVEN A REPRESENTATIVE ONE.

Current Actions

Change CNBC

CNBC should publicly declare a drastic change of direction, committing to responsible journalism in an effort to hold Wall Street accountable in the future. As a first step, it should bring new economic voices on the air with a focus on those who were right about this crisis in the first place.
The stakes are too high for CNBC to continue acting as the unofficial mouthpiece of Wall Street. This is not a game. Together we can bring about the much-needed change we seek.
That is why it is so important that you sign this petition today and then encourage your friends, family and co-workers to do the same.

Caught red-handed

During Fox News' Happening Now, co-host Jon Scott presented a press release issued by the Senate Republican Communications Center as Fox's own research. At no point during the segment did Scott indicate that he was reading from a partisan press release.

Not only did Scott not discuss where the research came from, he explicitly tried to pass it off as Fox News', stating, "We thought we'd take a look back at the bill ..." [emphasis added]. Unless we are to assume that when Fox News says "we" it means "the GOP," it has some serious explaining to do.

Email Fox News and demand that it apologize on air for passing off a Republican press release as its own report.

Playing Games?

Last week, CNN's Ed Henry joined a growing media chorus echoing conservative talking points about President Obama's economic stimulus package.

Last night on Lou Dobbs Tonight, responding to our critique of his report, Henry conceded that the CBO analysis assessed only a portion of the president's plan. Meanwhile, Dobbs resorted to name-calling, attacking Media Matters as "a partisan bunch of hacks trying to play games."
Tell Lou Dobbs that insisting on accurate reporting is not "trying to play games." Sign the petition.

Why is NBC reportedly helping Ann Coulter again?

Despite Ann Coulter's long and well-documented history of controversial statements, NBC has once again reportedly invited her to promote her latest book on its airwaves. On Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, during a segment in which she called President-elect Barack Obama an "atheist" and asked if "we could get all of his aliases before he's sworn in on the Quran," Coulter announced that she is scheduled to appear on the January 6, 2009, broadcast of NBC's Today.
Enough is enough.

Call NBC and ask why they are reportedly again helping Coulter promote her latest book despite past condemnations by NBC staff for her history of reprehensible comments.

What NBC News still won't tell you ...

On Thanksgiving, NBC's Nightly News aired a clip of retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey discussing "Afghan security forces." During the report, neither NBC News nor Gen. McCaffrey disclosed that McCaffrey serves on the board of directors of DynCorp International, a defense contractor that was awarded a $317.4 million contract with the State Department to provide advisers to the Afghanistan National Police, a component of the "Afghanistan National Security Forces."

In order to prevent even the appearance of impropriety on behalf of NBC News, it is imperative that they provide full disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest to their viewers in the future.
Call NBC News and demand full disclosure of military analysts' ties to defense contractors.

Military Analysts

Update: Congress Has taken a strong stand to ensure that the government is not promoting propaganda unchecked, sadly, the media remain mostly silent.
When the broadcast media ignored reports that many of the military analysts they featured on the air to talk about the war in Iraq were actually Pentagon-sponsored advocates, Media Matters was there. We provided viewers the tools they needed to contact the media and demand honesty and accountability. Make your voice heard today.
 
Send an email to the networks and ask them to come clean.
More information on your action will be available after logging into the calling tool.

Savage

On the September 16 broadcast of his syndicated radio show, discussing a caller's comment that "Muslim fundamentalists" are "walk[ing] around Northern Virginia as if they own the place," Savage asked, "Why would a nation that is as evolved as America, and as liberal as America is socially, want to bring in throwbacks who are living in the 15th century? Now you have to ask yourself, what's the benefit? What is the societal benefit of bringing in throwbacks, some of whom are no doubt terrorists, and some of whom are gonna produce children who will become terrorists?"

Find your local Savage station, log into our calling tool, and tell your local station manager what you think about his hate speech and racist comments.

More information on your action will be available after logging into the calling tool.

CBS

When CBS spliced an interview with Sen. John McCain, removing a false assertion by McCain and adding an answer taken from another context, Media Matters mobilized concerned citizens to demand a response from CBS and encouraged CBS News to publicize its ethical standards for editing news interviews.

Call CBS News and urge it to spell out, on the air and online, its policy on editing interviews.
More information on your action will be available after logging into the calling tool.

Action Center Tools

Local Media Reporting Tool

Conservative misinformation isn't confined to the national media -- it's local, too. Does your local paper quote conservative attacks without giving progressives the opportunity to respond? Does your local TV station give you two sides of every debate: the right, and the far right? Does your local talk-radio blowhard repeat false rumors and smears from right-wing blogs as if they were fact? Log in below to report conservative misinformation, and take the first step in holding the media accountable.

Report misinformation

Let The Sun Shine In......