In the National Review article On Sex-Ed Ad, McCain Is Right, Byron York not only points out how the media bought the Obama campaign’s rhetoric about the sex-ed ad, but they then added a large portion of their own self-righteous outrage.
“The kindergarten ad flat-out lies,” wrote the New York Times, arguing that “at most, kindergarteners were to be taught the dangers of sexual predators.” The Washington Post wrote that “McCain’s ‘Education’ Spot is Dishonest, Deceptive.” And in a column in The Hill, the influential blogger Josh Marshall called the sex-education spot “a rancid, race-baiting ad based on [a] lie. Willie Horton looks mild by comparison.”
Even factcheck.org presented the Obama campaign’s view point, adding their own interpretation, “Obama, contrary to the ad’s insinuation, does not support explicit sex education for kindergarteners.” The ad is a series of sourced quotes which factcheck.org does not deny are legitimate. Insinuations are not a facts, and factcheck.org bases their critique of the ad off the insinuation that Obama supported ‘explicit’ sex education for kindergarteners. However, that is not a claim of that ad.
Factcheck and the media felt compelled to express outrage at this ad, but never relayed the substance of the bill. As Byron York reported, “The fact is, the bill’s intention was to mandate that issues like contraception and the prevention of sexually-transmitted diseases be included in sex-education classes for children before the sixth grade, and as early as kindergarten. Obama’s defenders may howl, but the bill is what it is.”
As noted in a previous article CNN continued to call the McCain ad a lie even after the National Review article was published. They clearly had not read the text of the bill, but expressed their outrage anyways. Please contact CNN at Election Center and/or Headline News to demand a retraction and an apology for falsely claiming the McCain campaign lied, and please urge others to do the same.
Also, contact factcheck.org at [email protected] and let them know they got his one wrong by interpreting the ad and judging intent, and not reporting on the content and purpose of the bill.
Filed under: McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized | Tagged: cnn media bias, contact cnn, help mccain, protest cnn, sex ed ad
[...] Also, contact factcheck.org at [email protected] and let them know they got his one wrong by interpreting the ad and judging intent, and not reporting on the content and purpose of the bill. Protest The Media’s Melt Down Over Sex-Ed Ad [...]
You have got to be kidding me. When the ad says Obama supports “teaching comprehensive sex to Kindergarteners” it clearly misleads. While you might get some to argue semantics and say that this is not a lie, it is dishonest. Any reasonable person will tell you that by leaving out that the bill was for all grades, was done to make Obama sound creepy. Therefor while you might not call it a lie, it is not unreasonable for others to consider it a lie. And it is not unreasonable for the media to point out that that this ad clearly is, if not lying, dishonest. Just because there are quotes does not make it true. Cherry picking something in quotes does not make something factual.
Read the text of the bill. It talks about broadening the reach of sex-ed. It goes way beyond ‘inapproprriate touching’. Certainly fair to criticize the ad, but the calling it a lie is just not accurate, and news organizations are supposed to report facts not give interpretations.
[...] passage of this legislation, and may be able to account for other education successes. Also, the previous article should have been more clear in stating that it was Senator Obama that stated the bill was about [...]
[...] passage of this legislation, and may be able to account for other education successes. Also, the previous article should have been more clear in stating that it was Senator Obama that stated the bill was about [...]
[...] passage of this legislation, and may be able to account for other education successes. Also, the previous article should have been more clear in stating that it was Senator Obama that stated the bill was about [...]
I don’t need to read the bill. The part of the lie I am talking about is when the voice in the ad says that Obama supports “teaching comprehensive sex to Kindergarteners”. That part is. I know you want to Let’s me show you.
Hey everyone, the Sex-ed McCain ad is a lie. kmorrison33 in her response to your bro says “fair to criticize the ad”, ” “a lie”, and “not accurate”.
Ok, If you don’t want to say that I’m lying about your position then I will conceed that you don’t believe they lied. As far as the media reporting just the facts, please show me one news show or article where there is no analysis or interpreting going on. They all do it. It is part of reporting. C-SPAN is the only one I can think of. They just leave a camera on and don’t report at all.
Oops the first paragraph doesn’t make sense. let’s redoove.
I don’t need to read the bill. The part of the lie I am talking about is when the voice in the ad says that Obama supports “teaching comprehensive sex to Kindergarteners”. That is the lie. I think I know where your logic is going and I disagree with it. Let’s see if I can give you an example you’ll understand.
Hey everyone, the Sex-ed McCain ad is a lie. kmorrison33 in her response to your bro says “fair to criticize the ad”, ” “a lie”, and “not accurate”.
Ok, If you don’t want to say that I’m lying about your position then I will conceed that you don’t believe they lied. As far as the media reporting just the facts, please show me one news show or article where there is no analysis or interpreting going on. They all do it. It is part of reporting. C-SPAN is the only one I can think of. They just leave a camera on and don’t report at all.