Limbaugh, O'Reilly baselessly accused media of ignoring Iraq's constitutional referendum

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published


On the October 17 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh accused The Washington Post of “bury[ing]” its coverage of Iraq's constitutional referendum on page A22. In fact, on October 16, the Post ran a story about the vote on page A1 with the headline "Sunni Turnout Is High In Vote on Iraqi Charter; Attacks by Insurgents Largely Halt During Referendum," as well as a story on page A22 under the headline "On the Streets of Iraq, Scenes of Joy and Determination."

Limbaugh said that “this rates page A22 in the mainstream press, as does the Iraqi constitution. That rates A22 -- what -- that's in The Washington Post.” Later in the broadcast, he stated, “This has to be recognized and celebrated! It's a disgrace to bury this on page A22.” On the same day Limbaugh charged the newspaper with burying the good news, the Post ran a second front-page story on the likelihood of the constitution's ratification.

The underlying theme in Limbaugh's false accusation -- that the media downplayed the good news about democratic progress in Iraq out of anti-American bias -- was echoed later that day by host Bill O'Reilly on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor.

During an interview with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), O'Reilly claimed difficulty finding “a lot of coverage of the Iraq constitutional election. The New York Times [published] a little bit, but not a lot. And I think it's because there is a minority, it's a minority but a powerful one, that wants the USA to lose the conflict in Iraq.”

But The New York Times ran a front-page story covering Iraq's constitutional referendum on October 17, the day of O'Reilly's broadcast, and two front-page stories (here and here) on October 16.

(Indeed, in criticizing coverage in The Washington Post, Limbaugh actually pointed to The New York Times for what he falsely claimed to be a contrast, noting that unlike the Post, the Times had gone with front-page “big news out of Iraq.”)

The Times also ran an editorial on October 17, "The Sovereign People of Iraq," which read in part:

What we know already, and can't fail to be impressed by, is that large numbers of Iraqis of all persuasions turned out, in defiance of terrorist threats, to decide their constitutional future. They have exercised a basic democratic right that would have been inconceivable just a few years ago."

In addition to front-page stories in The New York Times and The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times led with the Iraq vote on October 15 and printed additional stories (here, here, and here) over the following two days.

Broadcast reports on the referendum began on October 15 with ABC's Good Morning America and CBS' The Saturday Early Show. On October 16, Fox Broadcasting Co. aired a report on Fox News Sunday; ABC's This Week featured an interview with Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq; CBS' Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer interviewed Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-DE) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE) on the topic; and NBC's Meet the Press host Tim Russert interviewed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the referendum and also led a discussion of the vote.

Also on October 16, host Wolf Blitzer interviewed both Khalilzad and Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's foreign minister, on CNN's Late Edition. Coverage continued that evening on ABC's World News Tonight and NBC's Nightly News.

From the October 17 Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: It -- this is -- this is stunning stuff, and of course, this rates page A22 in the mainstream press, as does the Iraqi Constitution. That rates A22 -- what -- that's in The Washington Post.

[...]

And it goes on, and on, and on to describe what a pleasant day election day was in Iraq. It -- if you look at this, folks, perhaps the most amazing awe-inspiring, positive, and triumphant story of the past two years -- and it's on page A22 of The Washington Post. We have paid for this achievement. We have paid for this achievement with the blood of our sons and daughters. And their families. This has to be recognized and celebrated. It's a disgrace to bury this on page A22.

[...]

Talent on loan from God. Meeting and surpassing all audience expectations on a daily basis. Now to be fair, The New York Times did front-page, the big news out of Iraq. The Washington Post didn't. Page A22. But The New York Times did: “Early Signs Show Iraqis' Approval of Constitution.”

From the October 17 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: All right. Let's knock them down. Not a lot of coverage of the Iraq constitutional election. The New York Times a little bit, but not a lot. And I think it's because there is a minority, it's a minority but a powerful one, that wants the USA to lose the conflict in Iraq. They hate Bush so much that they put that hatred above the good of the country. Do you believe that?

GINGRICH: Well, I certainly think that the bias on the left is so great that when something really great happens, they just can't bring themselves to be for it. Just as, and you and I have talked about this before, many feminist groups who would normally be appalled by what the bin Laden faction does to women can't bring themselves to be upset about it because that would put them on the same side as George W. Bush.