Will Colorado media correct factual inaccuracies in their DNC coverage?

Summary: Colorado media outlets published numerous falsehoods, provided misleading commentary, and uncritically parroted Republican talking points during the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Will media figures such as 630 KHOW-AM's Dan Caplis and KCNC CBS4's Raj Chohan correct their inaccuracies, as The Gazette of Colorado Springs did after Colorado Media Matters pointed out an error in one of its editorials?

Colorado Media Matters documented numerous falsehoods, misleading commentary, and uncritical repetition of Republican talking points during the local media's coverage of the Democratic National Convention, held August 25-28 in Denver. For example, as a guest columnist in the Rocky Mountain News and on his 630 KHOW-AM radio program, Dan Caplis smeared Sen. Barack Obama four days in a row by distorting his positions on abortion, energy issues, foreign policy, and funding for the armed forces. In addition, Newsradio 850 KOA, KDVR Fox 31, and The Denver Post all disseminated or promoted conservative misinformation during the DNC.

However, following an August 28 Colorado Media Matters item pointing out that in an editorial that day, The Gazette of Colorado Springs incorrectly asserted that "Democrat leadership also forbade pro-life Democrats from being seen or heard" at the convention, the newspaper corrected the editorial on August 29. Will other media outlets correct falsehoods that they reported during the DNC?

Dan Caplis

In August 25 and August 26 guest columns for the News, and on his August 25 KHOW broadcast, Caplis repeated a variation of the smear that Obama "voted against protecting babies who were born alive after a failed abortion." Caplis apparently was referring to Obama's opposition as an Illinois state senator to bills seeking to amend the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975. As Media Matters for America repeatedly has noted -- but Caplis and the News omitted -- Obama and other opponents said the legislation posed a threat to abortion rights and was unnecessary because, they said, Illinois law already prohibited the conduct that the bills supposedly addressed.

In his August 27 News column, Caplis also claimed that Obama "voted against funding troops in the field" and later added, "That is why a terrorist organization like Hamas told ABC Radio, 'We like Mr. Obama and we hope he will win this election.' " As he has done in the past on his radio program, Caplis also failed to mention that Obama repeatedly has denounced Hamas as a terrorist organization or that a Hamas official reportedly has stated the group does not differentiate between Obama and his opponent, Sen. John McCain. Caplis failed to mention that, as Media Matters for America has noted, McCain has voted against legislation to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and to direct more than $1 billion to the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Additionally, Caplis suggested in his August 26 News column that Obama and the Democratic Party "won't drill" -- an apparent reference to oil and natural gas development -- without noting that Obama's energy plan includes provisions to promote domestic oil and gas development, as Colorado Media Matters has noted.

Caplis' DNC-week comments about Obama continued his pattern of smearing the Democratic presidential nominee or making false and misleading statements about him during KHOW's The Caplis & Silverman Show.

CBS4 "Reality Check"

During August 22 and August 25 "Reality Check" reports on KCNC CBS4, reporter Raj Chohan repeated baseless or inaccurate Republican talking points about Obama. On August 22, Chohan repeated the baseless claim -- also made by other media figures -- that the Obamas paid $300,000 less than market value for their house or otherwise received a special deal or price break from real estate developer Tony Rezko. The News published the same misleading "Reality Check" in its August 26 print edition.

On August 25, Chohan stated that Obama "lags behind" his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, regarding energy policy according to a recent poll and that "Obama has opposed expanded drilling, both offshore and in ANWR [the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge]. He also opposes nuclear energy, which his opponent John McCain supports." In fact, Obama's energy plan includes provisions to "Promote the Supply of Domestic Energy," including drilling for oil and gas, and details his policy of "a sustained effort to diversify our energy sources," including "Safe and Secure Nuclear Energy." While Chohan on the same broadcast cited the results of an August 11-13 Rocky Mountain News/CBS4 poll to support his contention that, regarding energy issues, Obama "lags behind Senator McCain, at least among Colorado voters, " he failed to mention that a more recent Quinnipiac University poll released August 24 found that "Colorado voters trust Obama more than McCain 49 - 42 percent to handle the energy crisis."

Beauprez and Owens

KUSA 9News and KOA allowed former Republican governor Bill Owens and failed Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez -- who both have been guest hosts for talk shows on KOA and KHOW -- to make false statements about Obama during DNC-week interviews.

• In an interview about the DNC posted August 25 on the 9News website, 9News failed to challenge Beauprez's unsubstantiated assertion that Obama and other Democrats are "[t]rying to shut down domestic production of energy." In addition to Obama's energy plan, Colorado's U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, and Gov. Bill Ritter have proposed development of oil and gas reserves under the state's Roan Plateau, as Colorado Media Matters has noted. Udall and Salazar also recently proposed their own energy plan, which proposes to "Expand Domestic Oil and Gas Drilling and Refinery Capacity" and includes provisions for what they called expansion of "Responsible Domestic Drilling Inland" and "Responsible Domestic Drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)."

During the same interview, Beauprez labeled Obama "the number one most liberal member of the senate," citing the "very objective standard" of 2007 rankings by the National Journal magazine. Beauprez did not explain how the Journal rankings were "very objective," but as Media Matters for America repeatedly has noted, many conservatives and media figures have repeated the Journal's ranking of Obama as the "most liberal senator" for 2007 without noting the rankings' subjectivity. In contrast to Beauprez's claim, a study by political science professors Keith Poole and Jeff Lewis, using every non-unanimous vote cast in the Senate in 2007 to determine relative ideology, placed Obama in a tie for the ranking of 10th most liberal senator.

• On the August 28 broadcast of KOA's Colorado's Morning News, hosts April Zesbaugh and Steffan Tubbs uncritically allowed Owens to assert falsely of Obama that "[t]here isn't any law that he's passed, there isn't any scholarship that he's accomplished." Owens further claimed that "[f]our years ago" Obama "couldn't get the credentials to get into the Democratic convention; he was a state legislator." In fact, Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention during his Illinois campaign for U.S. Senate.

Fox 31

Similar to Caplis' August 27 statement that Obama "voted against funding troops in the field," Fox 31's News at Nine O'Clock on the same day reported Republican criticism of Obama's foreign policy experience, including the claim that he is "unprepared to handle a complex and dangerous world, especially after voting against funding our troops in Iraq." Like Caplis, Fox 31 reporter Tammy Vigil did not mention McCain's votes against troop funding.

Fox 31 also omitted that Obama repeatedly has voted to provide funds for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, including during the period of troop escalation in Iraq. As Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz wrote, "Obama has frequently voted to finance the war but was one of 14 Senate Democrats to oppose a war-funding bill last year -- after Republicans removed troop withdrawal deadlines -- saying he did not want to be 'validating the same failed policy in Iraq.' "

The Denver Post

In two August 29 articles, the Post uncritically reported Republican talking points ridiculing the DNC stage set at Invesco Field, where Obama gave his August 28 acceptance speech. One article reported that Republican critics said the stadium setting "only highlighted a candidate that is more flash than substance, mocking the stage's faux Roman columns as the 'Temple of Obama' and 'Obamapolis,' " while another article about GOP criticism of Obama's speech reported that "Republicans mocked the spectacle of the event" including the "columned backdrop that the GOP labeled 'the Temple of Obama.' " Both articles failed to include the Obama campaign's reported response to criticism of the stage at Invesco or to point out that the stage at the Republican National Convention in 2004 also included columns, as Media Matters for America has noted.

The Gazette of Colorado Springs

The August 28 editorial in the Gazette falsely claimed that "Democrat leadership also forbade pro-life Democrats from being seen or heard at the convention" in Denver, adding, "The convention was staged as a love fest, and anyone who didn't agree to unconditional love for the official platform and candidate wasn't welcome anywhere near the podium." In fact, Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey Jr., a Democrat who opposes abortion, delivered a prime-time speech to the Democratic National Convention on August 26 in which he stated, "Barack Obama and I have an honest disagreement on the issue of abortion. But the fact that I'm speaking here tonight is testament to Barack's ability to show respect for the views of people who may disagree with him."

After Colorado Media Matters pointed out the Gazette's error on August 28, the newspaper published a correction on August 29:

CORRECTION

Tuesday's Our View, "Just another infomercial" criticized the Democratic National Convention for excluding speakers with pro-life messages. In fact, Democratic Sen. Robert Casey, Jr., said from the podium:

"Barack Obama and I have an honest disagreement on the issue of abortion."

Casey is pro-life. The Gazette's opinion staff regrets the error. [italics in original]

-C.K.