June 30, 2012 7:00 am ET
O'Reilly And The Enduring Threat Of Uncertainty
Fox News' Bill O'Reilly is still blaming health care reform legislation for "uncertainty" that he warned is harming jobs growth - even after the Supreme Court issued a final ruling that the law is constitutional. Economists and small business owners have said that lack of demand, not uncertainty, has held back jobs growth.
June 29, 2012 3:24 pm ET
Dobbs Helps Cover Up Romney's Support For Health Insurance Mandate
Fox Business host Lou Dobbs covered up the fact that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney previously supported the same kind of financial penalties on individuals who refuse to purchase health insurance that are in the Affordable Care Act, penalties Romney now criticizes. In fact, even the architect of Romney's health care law says the law Romney championed as governor of Massachusetts is very similar.
June 29, 2012 1:50 pm ET
Right-Wing Media Attacks SNAP Outreach To Elderly Americans
Right-wing media are attacking a program designed to increase awareness of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) among the elderly, saying they hope the effort "come[s] to a quick end." But SNAP outreach programs have been crafted and employed by previous administrations, hunger is increasing among all groups, including the elderly, and the elderly are under enrolled in SNAP.
June 28, 2012 4:46 pm ET
Right-Wing Media Lament Supreme Court Decision That Protects And Extends Affordable Care To Millions
Right-wing media have reacted to the Supreme Court's ruling upholding President Obama's health care law by claiming it is "a dark day for freedom" and "the end of America as we know it." But the decision allows the health care law to implement reforms that will protect and extend affordable insurance coverage to millions of Americans.
June 28, 2012 4:28 pm ET
Fox's Special Report Ignores EPA News It Doesn't Like
After hosting claims that the EPA acted "lawless[ly]" by regulating greenhouse gas emissions, Fox News' flagship "straight news" program Special Report has ignored an important court ruling that undermines Fox's narrative.
June 28, 2012 2:56 pm ET
Right-Wing Media Vilify Roberts, Ignoring His Very Conservative Record As Chief Justice
In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, right-wing media figures claimed Chief Justice Roberts' decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act shows that he's liberal. But Roberts' recognizing the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act doesn't change his record as presiding over the most conservative and corporate-friendly court in recent history.
June 28, 2012 1:49 pm ET
Conservative Media Falsely Claim Individual Mandate Is A "Massive New Tax" On All Americans
Right-wing media have responded to the Supreme Court's decision upholding the health care mandate -- the requirement that most Americans purchase health insurance or pay a fee -- by claiming that President Obama has instituted the "biggest tax increase in the history of the world" and a "massive, regressive tax on all Americans." In fact, the fee will only be applied to a small percentage of people who choose not to purchase health insurance.
June 28, 2012 10:42 am ET
Fox's Losing Battle To Declare Health Care Reform Unconstitutional
The debate about the constitutionality of health care reform went from the fringes of legal and political opinion to the mainstream, culminating in the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the law. During this time, Fox News was at the forefront, challenging the constitutionality of health care reform and the individual mandate. Media Matters takes a look back at Fox's efforts.
June 27, 2012 5:32 pm ET
Fox Revives Falsehood That Public Sector Pensions Are Bankrupting Governments
Fox News has seized on Stockton, California's announcement that it will file for bankruptcy in order to blame state and local governments' budget problems on public sector pension obligations. In fact, the budget problems facing these governments are the result of the dramatic drop in revenue after the recession, not pensions.
June 27, 2012 12:29 am ET
Dick Morris Smears Hillary Clinton With U.N. Conspiracy Theories
Dick Morris used appearances on Fox News to attack Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over a U.S. commitment to help fund a United Nations initiative on sustainable energy in the developing world.In contrast to Morris' fearmongering, private-sector interests have pledged far more money to the initiative than the U.S. has.
June 26, 2012 4:18 pm ET
Right-Wing Media That Previously Questioned Obama's Christian Faith Tout Poll Showing Many Americans Don't Know He's Christian
Right-wing media are highlighting a new Gallup poll that found only 34 percent of Americans correctly identified President Obama's religion as Christianity. These same right-wing media outlets have previously questioned the president's religious faith.
June 26, 2012 1:22 pm ET
Fox Downplays The Likelihood That Arizona Will Engage In Racial Profiling
Fox News attacked the Justice Department for setting up a hotline for Arizonans to report civil rights violations by Arizona authorities enforcing the "show me your papers" provision of the state's immigration law. But commentators from across the political spectrum have acknowledged that Arizona's immigration law could lead to civil rights violations such as racial profiling.
June 26, 2012 1:57 am ET
Fox Favorite Sekulow Falsely Suggests DHS Has Abandoned AZ Law Enforcement
Frequent Fox News guest Jay Sekulow falsely claimed that the Department of Homeland Security would not accept phone calls from Arizona law enforcement seeking to verify an individual's immigration status. In fact, DHS will continue to verify immigration status over the phone, but "will not respond to the scene of state or local traffic stops or similar law enforcement encounters to enforce immigration laws unless the individual meets DHS enforcement priorities."
June 25, 2012 4:38 pm ET
Six Facts That Undermine The Orange County Register's Attacks On California Clean Energy Initiatives
Over the last year, the Orange County Register has published numerous editorials that falsely portray California's pollution reduction program as costly, ineffective and arbitrarily imposed by state regulators. In fact, the program -- which incorporates a cap-and-trade program -- is part of a bipartisan law expected to benefit the state's economy.
June 22, 2012 6:34 pm ET
Right-Wing Media Side With Pro-Romney Forces In Wash. Post's Internal Bain Capital Dispute
Right-wing media are touting a Washington Post Fact Checker article alleging that the Obama campaign "failed to make its case" in a new ad claiming that Romney "shipped jobs" overseas. But a different Post article pointing to data from the Securities and Exchange Commission has affirmed that Bain Capital, with Romney as head, "owned companies that were pioneers in the practice of shipping work from the United States to overseas."
June 22, 2012 6:21 pm ET
Fox News Botches Basic Facts About Food Stamp Program
Fox News attacked the food stamp program for its increasing enrollment and costs, accused the program of facilitating fraud, and expressed astonishment that states are rewarded for increasing enrollment. However, enrollment in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) increased due to the recession; there are only about 1 percent of cases that are found to be fraudulent, and the state awards for enrollment date back to the Bush administration.
June 22, 2012 11:46 am ET
REPORT: Media Overwhelmingly Focus On Rulings Against Health Care Reform Constitutionality
A majority of federal rulings on the substance of President Obama's health care reform law have found it to be constitutional, including the law's mandate that individuals purchase health insurance. But a Media Matters review of the five largest newspapers and the flagship CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news programs finds that the media overwhelmingly focused on rulings that struck down the law in whole or in part -- 84 percent of segments on the broadcast and cable programs reviewed and 59 percent of newspaper articles that reported on such rulings -- while largely ignoring rulings that found it constitutional or dismissed the case.
June 21, 2012 12:52 pm ET
Rove Touts His Super PAC's Record While Fact-Checkers Disagree
In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, Fox News contributor Karl Rove touted the campaign ads issued by his Crossroads GPS super PAC, claiming they are "highlighting the shortcomings" of President Obama's policies. But Rove groups have a history of issuing ads and statements that have been deemed dishonest or outright false by independent fact checkers.
June 21, 2012 10:29 am ET
Myths And Facts About Natural Gas
Natural gas can help the U.S. transition away from reliance on coal in the near-term if it is produced responsibly. But conservative media have dismissed the risks involved with the rapid spread of natural gas extraction to push for deregulation, attack the Obama administration, and ignore the need for a comprehensive energy policy to transition to renewable energy.
June 20, 2012 6:27 pm ET
Right-Wing Media Misleadingly Cite Cost Projection To Attack Food Stamp Program
Right-wing media have once again attacked the federal food stamp program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), this time by misleadingly citing a projection that the program will cost $770 billion over the next decade. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that both food stamp enrollment and costs will decline during that period as the economy improves.
