About us Login Get email updates
County Fair
Print

Worst Headline of the Day award goes to the AP

February 09, 2010 8:53 am ET by MMFA Staff

Gee, nothing loaded in this one, right? 

Obama's health care summit: Just for show? 

Honestly, can GOP talking points appear more transparently in the form of an AP headline? 

Keep in mind there is no reporting within the article to substantiate the sneering premise; that the White House has invited Republicans to a health care summit simply for theatrics, and that the White House has absolutely no intention of trying to accomplish anything.

Make no mistake, that is the GOP spin about the summit, but should the AP really be in the business of treating spin as fact? 

Meanwhile, get a load of the this piece of priceless AP analysis [emphasis added]: 

 Still, there are a couple of issues on which Obama could try to nudge both sides.

He could officially bury the government insurance plan sought by liberals. A major obstacle for Republicans, the public option never had the votes to pass in the Senate. Yet Obama has hesitated to declare it dead.

The president could also follow through with curbs on medical malpractice litigation. Although he agrees with Republicans that fear of lawsuits leads doctors to practice defensive medicine and drives up costs, Obama has not insisted that limits on litigation be in the bill.

Any step toward limits — fiercely opposed by the nation's trial lawyers — is certain to draw solid Democratic resistance in a midtern election year. It's unclear how much such a gesture by Obama would help at this point. 

Is this a joke? The AP sets out to explain ways that Obama could nudge "both sides" towards a health compromise. But then the AP only mentions initiatives that Republicans favor

Or maybe that's the Beltway's media's new definition of bipartisanship -- doing whatever Republcians want. 

UPDATED: Behold the Obama bipartisan trap. For a year, the Beltway press has been blaming Democrats (and Dems only) for the fact that Republicans oppose virtually every White House initiative. Now, when Obama overtly reaches out to the other side for a bipartisan summit, the AP suggests it's "just for show." 

Expand All Expand 1st Level Collapse All Add Comment
    • Author by captfoster2 (February 09, 2010 9:13 am ET)
      5  
      Wait a second... I thought the media was liberally biased?

      What happened? One would expect the 'liberal' media to be defending Obama at every turn? Did I miss something?
      Report Abuse
    • Author by MMTVrocks (February 09, 2010 9:17 am ET)
         
      AP screws up its titling yet again.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by theselflobby (February 09, 2010 9:36 am ET)
         
      AP must be getting tired of the 'STATE-CONTROLLED AP' label, so they throw in some Republican talking-points. AP trying to play both sides? Who knew?
      Report Abuse
    • Author by RKAllen (February 09, 2010 9:49 am ET)
      5  
      The use of a question mark at the end of a headline usually means that the column is going to be biased, factless, and ultimately irrelevant.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by kydem09 (February 09, 2010 11:05 am ET)
        7
      "Should the AP really be in the business of treating spin as fact?" Seriously? This question was posed by a web site that does this all day long? LMAO!
      Report Abuse
      • Author by congero6189599 (February 09, 2010 11:38 am ET)
        1  
        ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz! Another insightful whine from a factless con.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by historygeek001 (February 09, 2010 12:24 pm ET)
        2  
        kydem09: Please link to any misinformation provided by MMfA, documenting it as such. Please note that linking to a discredited story does NOT constitute documentation.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by shaggles (February 09, 2010 12:47 pm ET)
      1  
      You know something is slanted as soon as you see the expression "trial lawyers." Nobody says trial lawyers except people who think the answer to all our problems is tort reform (ie: rightwing nut cases.)
      Report Abuse
      • Author by latichever (February 09, 2010 2:24 pm ET)
        1  
        "President Obama the scold" at Politico should be in the running in this category.

        http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/32661.html

        Basically, they're trying to put a negative spin on the O-Man's kicking ass recently.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by seahawks123 (February 09, 2010 3:34 pm ET)
            1
          He's kicking sooo much ass his approval numbers are at 44%. Awesome.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by latichever (February 09, 2010 3:53 pm ET)
            1  
            Actually, if you mark this on a curve, Obama gets an A compared to the Republicans who are 10 to 20 points lower-depending on the poll.

            "Marist did a hypothetical 2012 match-up, which included New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg running as an independent, and Obama came out on top, 44 percent to Palin's 29 percent with 15 percent for Bloomberg and 12 percent undecided."
            Report Abuse

my.MediaMatters.org

Login  Sign Up

About the Blog

Feed Icon
  • County Fair is a media blog featuring links to progressive media criticism from around the Web as well as original commentary, breaking news and rapid response updates to major media events from Media Matters senior fellows and other staff.