October 7th 2008
Media Bias #82
LA Times Caught Quote-Cutting
Patterico’s headline tells the tale: L.A. Times Cuts Out McCain’s Remarks About Economy, Then Quotes Barack Obama Saying McCain is Scared to Talk About the Economy.
The LAT was reporting on a McCain speech in which the candidate rolled out his new and powerful message deck on the economy. Capt. Ed has a lengthy excerpt, including this:
To hear [Obama] talk now, you’d think he’d always opposed the dangerous practices at these institutions. But there is absolutely nothing in his record to suggest he did. He was surely familiar with the people who were creating this problem. The executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have advised him, and he has taken their money for his campaign. He has received more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other senator in history, with the exception of the chairman of the committee overseeing them.
Patterico notes that at the very first words of the section of the speech on the economy - “The current economic crisis is a case in point …” - is the very point where the LAT stopped quoting the candidate. Patterico picks up the tale:
Does the L.A. Times report one word of that? No. Instead, they cut the quote of McCain’s speech short there, right before he talks about the economy, and proceed to quote Obama as claiming that McCain is scared to talk about the economy:
Speaking with reporters in Asheville, N.C., where he is studying for Tuesday’s debate, which is to focus on the economy and domestic issues, Obama pointed to recent reports that the McCain camp wanted to get away from economic issues, a topic that polls show benefits the Democrats.
“I was a little surprised over the last couple of days to hear Sen. McCain say, or Sen. McCain’s campaign say, that we want to turn the page on the discussion of the economy and a member of Sen. McCain’s campaign saying today that if we keep talking about the economic crisis we lose,” Obama said.
“I cannot imagine anything more important to talk about than the economic crisis, and the notion that we’d want to brush that aside and engage in the usual political shenanigans and scare tactics that have come to characterize too many political campaigns, I think [that] is not what the American people are looking for,” he said.
Of course, the economic crisis, and who is responsible for it, is exactly what McCain talked about.
The LAT must know it’s under scrutiny and this sort of LYING reporting will be caught. But that’s not the point. The point is that they don’t care. Truth as a value is valueless to them. Getting Obama elected is all that matters.
hat-tip: Dale
Media Bias 2008 covers pro-Obama media bias. Items are listed from most recent to oldest; the numbering reflects this and is not a ranking. Send Media Bias 2008 examples via “comments”‘ below, or to email2laer [@] yahoo [dot] com.
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