Yesterday the Associated Press ran two false headlines about Dick Durbin's reaction to Russ Feingold's censure proposal. The headlines at the AP, Google News, and all over the country and the world are:
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Durbin: It's Too Early to Censure Bush
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Durbin: Censuring Bush over spy program premature
But Durbin never said that. He was clearly talking about impeachment, and he didn't even use that language. Moreover, Durbin doesn't express an iota of disagreement or criticism of Feingold, his censure proposal, or its timing in the interview!
Whether it's incompetence or bias, the AP and CNN should hear from us and publish a correction. Write AP at info@ap.org.
Details below.
Here's the
video showing what Durbin said on Fox News Sunday. Here's the
Transcript.
When I saw the headlines I was pissed at Durbin. But then I got the real story via mcjoan (yeah!), watched the video (yeah!), and searched for "premature" and "early" in the transcript. They're not there. (He says censure could go to committee "as early as next week.") They're not implied either.
The AP, CNN and newspaper headlines are errors or lies.
It's either incompetent headline editing from someone who didn't see the video, or blatantly biased, false reporting. Either way, the AP needs to issue a correction.
I sure hope Durbin demands one. He's been running an apology deficit.
In any case, you can point out the error and demand a correction at info@ap.org.
The AP is relatively accountable about facts and accuracy, so it's no lost cause - don't hesitate to do it.
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