Click Here For Media Bias Worse Than Ever

Media Monitor - Media Bias Worse Than Ever - November 15, 2004: "Another atrocious story which made Republicans look bad was carried by the Washington Post on October 17 under the headline 'Gatherings.' It was about a so-called 'Republican barbecue' of people engaging in strange behavior. The Post claimed that the event was 'punctuated by the possibly unprecedented occurrence of a young woman in a cowboy hat pretending to make out with a poster of Dick Cheney.'

Five days later, the Post ran this correction, which we quote in its entirety: 'In the Oct. 17 Sunday Source, the 'Gatherings' story described a Republican barbecue held to watch a presidential debate. The item reported 'the possibly unprecedented occurrence of a young woman in a cowboy hat pretending to make out with a poster of Dick Cheney.' The item should have explained that the woman was asked to pose with the vice president's picture by the photographer working for The Washington Post. The woman also did not pretend to 'make out' with the picture; at the photographer's suggestion, she pretended to blow a kiss at it. The item should have explained that the party was hosted in response to a request from The Post, which discussed the decorations and recipes with the host and agreed to reimburse the cost of recipe ingredients.'

This correction should have been an apology. The Post asked for the party to occur and paid for some of it. Then the Post asked the participants to engage in strange behavior, including kissing that picture of Cheney, which was transformed into something it was not. The story had manufactured elements in order to make it more dramatic than it actually was. "