WaPo posts smear of La Raza without rebuttal
June 02, 2009 1:28 pm ET by Jamison Foser
From a Washington Post online discussion with reporter Ed O'Keefe:
Dunn Loring, Va.: Although The Post has had several stories about Sotomayor quoting her friends and even had a chat with the head of an organization of which she was a board member, when can we expect a story about her involvement with La Raza, which supports the return of the western US to Mexico?
Ed O'Keefe: There'll be plenty of time between now and confirmation.
The National Council of La Raza does not support any such thing.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200906020017If Ed O'Keefe and Lisa Rein, the article's authors, read their colleague Ezra Klein's blog, they'd be aware of an Economic Policy Institute paper by Rutgers professor Jeffrey Keefe, who concludes that "public employees are compensated 2-7% less than equivalent private sector employees." Klein's post about the study appeared on the Post's site just last month, but no hint of it -- or any other data or studies -- appeared in today's article.
It gets worse.
A separate post by Ed O'Keefe on Federal Eye, the Post's blog dedicated to "covering news from across the federal government," spends another 500 words on the poll without including any evidence that those beliefs about government workers are false. O'Keefe did reference "Heritage Foundation statistics that found … that federal workers earn approximately 30 percent to 40 percent more in total pay and benefits than private sector workers." But he didn't mention any contradictory studies or statistics, leaving the reader with the impression that none exist.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201010180035Washington Post reporter Ed O'Keefe defends the inclusion of two Arkansas Senators in the so-called "Gang of 10" health care negotiations:
Washington, D.C.: Is it just me, or is Arkansas a bit overrepresented in the "Gang of 10"?
Ed O'Keefe: It's a moderate state with moderate lawmakers, so it makes sense to me!
Arkansas is a "moderate state"? Really?
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200912080017WaPo reporter suggests CNN decision to cover conviction of Cheney aide was "political"
October 13, 2009 12:30 pm ET by Jamison Foser
In today's Washington Post online Q&A, Post reporter Ed O'Keefe offered a series of remarkable defenses of Fox News, like his suggestion that Fox wasn't really guilty of "promotion" of the "tea parties," they were providing "balanced" reporting. But this may be the most remarkable:
There is no objective news on Fox: Just by deciding to air some stories and ignoring others, Fox is political thru and thru. I remember the day Scooter Libby was convicted. Every news channel was reporting the story; on Fox, nothing...
Ed O'Keefe: Right, but couldn't critics argue that CNN and MSNBC devoting so much time to the Libby conviction was an equally political decision?
This is the silliness of this type of debate... all of these channels serve the marketplace of ideas. It's up to you to pick your brand.
Washington Post reporter Ed O'Keefe, responding to a reader who asked "what's so complicated about abandoning the 'don't ask, don't tell' practice."
Ed O'Keefe: It requires a mix of executive and legislative action, and President Obama has said he wants to end it, but wants to make sure the government does so properly. That means a mix of executive actions that he can take and Congressional legislation that will make it law -- meaning his predecessors can't enter office and reverse his executive decisions.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200910130023Missing the point
September 29, 2009 2:01 pm ET by Jamison Foser
Washington Post reporter Ed O'Keefe passes on an opportunity to explain that the Republicans have dramatically increased the use of the filibuster over historic norms:
VP tie breaker: I just realized how funny that question is! With this strange use of the non-filibuster filibuster, the VP's role is hugely curtailed, isn't it? There are few tie votes, because those bills never make it past the minority's filibuster. How often has the VP had to break a tie, since this strange, undemocratic Congressional "rule" (protocol?) was contorted into it's current bastardized form?
Ed O'Keefe: Both Gore and Cheney definitely had to break a few ties in their day.
That was O'Keefe's full answer. Of course, part of the reason Gore and Cheney had to break a few ties is that there weren't nearly as many filibusters as there are now -- which was precisely the point of the question. But O'Keefe completely ignored the obvious reality that the Republicans are currently making extraordinary use of the filibuster -- that there is not only nothing democratic about the filibuster, there isn't much precedent for its current preeminence, either.
It also requires a culture shift at the Pentagon, where many current and former officials support DADT's repeal, but others still oppose the idea.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200909290025Can't anyone read a poll?
June 30, 2009 12:01 pm ET by Jamison Foser
Washington Post reporter Ed O'Keefe, during today's "Post Politics Hour":
I think we're already starting to see signs of Obama taking the blame. Look at last week's Post-ABC poll that showed that while most Americans still like Obama personally, they've got serious concerns about how he's going to address the deficit, the economic stimulus plan and health care reform efforts.
The poll to which O'Keefe refers does not say anything about whether Americans "like Obama personally." The poll asked whether respondents "approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president?" Personal favorability and job approval ratings are not the same thing, no matter how much journalists conflate them.
Saying Americans "like Obama personally" but have "serious concerns" about how he is going to do his job is a distortion of the poll's actual findings, which is that a strong majority of Americans approve of how Obama is doing his job.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200906300016Washingtonpost.com joins growing list of media perpetuating McCaughey's health IT falsehood
February 12, 2009 1:51 pm ET
SUMMARY: Washingtonpost.com blogger Ed O'Keefe uncritically quoted Betsy McCaughey's false claim from her Bloomberg op-ed that provisions in the House-passed recovery bill would permit the government to "monitor treatments" and restrict what "your doctor is doing" with regard to patient care. In fact, the provisions McCaughey referred to address establishing an electronic records system such that doctors would have complete, accurate information about their patients "to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care."
http://mediamatters.org/research/200902120011Washingtonpost.com's O'Keefe: "I don't necessarily know what" Obama campaign would want him to cover
June 17, 2007 5:34 pm ET
Discussing the online video "Obama Girl" in an appearance on MSNBC, washingtonpost.com "Channel '08" blogger Ed O'Keefe asserted that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) "perhaps is, you know, big on style, not enough on substance," rehashing a baseless critique of Obama advanced by Washington Post staff writer Chris Cillizza and MSNBC anchor Peter Alexander -- among others -- despite Obama's numerous detailed policy speeches. O'Keefe later said: "ere we are four days after the video surfaced talking about this and not perhaps talking about what the Obama campaign would want us to talk about. I don't necessarily know what that is."
Anchor Alex Witt said that she had a "concern" that the online video could encourage a "dumb down" of "political discourse." O'Keefe responded that the "Obama Girl" video "reinforces that debate and I think it's an important one, you know, is Obama a guy that we can trust with the presidency? Does he have good ideas?" None of Obama's "ideas", nor those of any other presidential candidate, were discussed during the segment.
http://mediamatters.org/research/200706170002I believe your argument would have been better served if you didn't even mention the name of the source. Acting like a dutiful stenographer by citing the WP's own bio on O'Keefe merely prompted a cursory search, which reveals the inconvenient fact that your tweet source is a right-wing hosebag. You may continue your shrugging activities.
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