Just like dogs that merrily slurp vomit to the last chunk, bloggers at the Democratic party front group and Soros-funded Media Matters for America follow behind liberal media outlets, lapping up their latest noxious dousing of conservatives. Then with a satisfied smirk, Media Matters gloats “what vomit?” when conservatives complain about being puked on by the press.
The latest example of Media Matters’ vomit fetish is their defense of the attempted smear of Sarah Palin during her humanitarian trip to Haiti last weekend by the Associated Press and others as a hair-obsessed diva. The former Alaska governor, accompanied by her husband Todd and their eldest daughter Bristol, was a guest of the Rev. Franklin Graham and Samaritan’s Purse.
A photo of Palin in Haiti transmitted by the AP bore the caption, “Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, center, has her hair done during a visit to a cholera treatment center set up by the NGO Samaritan’s Purse in Cabaret, Haiti, Saturday Dec. 11, 2010. Palin arrived Saturday in Haiti as part of a brief humanitarian mission. Dieu Nalio Chery / AP.” The caption failed to note that the person fixing Palin’s hair was her daughter Bristol.
Outlets including USA Today, the Huffington Post, the U.K.’s Daily Mail and the Guardian, as well as liberal blogs and Twitterers keyed on the captioned AP photo to attack Palin as being more concerned with looking good for the cameras than the Haitians she traveled to help.
The Huffington Post: Reading the Pictures: Palin Does Haiti Cholera: How’s My Hair (and, Did AP Lend a Curl?). “Damn right it’s revolting seeing Sarah getting her hair made up like this field hospital is her movie set…”
The Daily Mail: Ready for her close-up… Sarah Palin lands in Haiti (well, she wants to look just right for those poor cholera-stricken residents). The Mail snarked their caption of the AP photo, “So long as she brings the cameras: Sarah Palin has her hair fixed during a visit to a cholera treatment center set up by the NGO Samaritan’s Purse in Cabaret, Haiti, on Saturday.”
The Guardian led its article with the AP photo captioned, “Sarah Palin gets her hair fixed during a visit to a cholera treatment centre in Haiti,” followed by the lede, “Earthquake. Cholera. Political strife. And now Sarah Palin.”
An expose posted at Free Republic Sunday night called out the media for accusing Palin of bringing a hairdresser to Haiti started a firestorm that prompted corrections by the AP and Huffington Post.
Despite those corrections, in an entry titled, Palin’s media defenders attack AP over non-existent “hairdresser” slight , Media Matters blogger Eric Boehlert employed his by now familiar technique of dissembling and lying-by-omission, accusing conservatives of falsely charging the Associated Press with claims that Palin had brought a hair stylist with her to Haiti. At the same time Boehlert, citing the Free Republic article, ignored the media attacks on Palin based on the AP’s photo and caption.
“Here’s the problem: The AP never reported Palin brought a “hair stylist” or a “hairdresser.” Those phrases came from Free Republic. It’s true: Free Republic rushed into (sic) to defend Palin from the AP allegation that Palin had brought a “hair stylist” or “hairdresser” with her to Haiti.
“But oops! The AP never made that claim.”
But oops, Eric! Free Republic never made that claim about the AP. In fact, the writer of the Free Republic article, a co-author of this report, quoted the AP caption that said Palin “has her hair done” and wrote:
“The AP photographer who sent the caption would have known that it was Bristol Palin, but by not mentioning her the AP was able to do a media hit on Palin but still be able to claim they told the “truth” with the caption.”(emphasis added for Media Matters bloggers.)
That statement proved prescient, as Boehlert characterized the AP caption “accurate” even though AP had already run a correction.
By running the captioned “getting her hair done” photo of Palin with a two-person video crew seen prominently behind her, the AP created a meme that Palin was having her hair styled for the cameras while touring a cholera treatment facility.
AP did not have to use the words “hair stylist” or “hairdresser.” The photo frame and caption did it for them.
USA Today picked up the AP’s meme with an online article and photo published December 12 in the Entertainment section. USA Today rewrote the AP caption to include an extra dig at Palin:
“Husband Todd Palin looks on as his wife, reality TV star and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, gets her hair done during a visit to a cholera treatment center in Cabaret, Haiti, Dec. 11, 2010.”
The photo led a brief item headlined Reality TV star, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin visits Haiti.
This paragraph from the brief USA Today article marked the third time Palin was dubbed a “reality TV star.” USA Today also accused Palin of getting “prepped for the camera shots.”
“USA TODAY’s Lorena Blas here, with celebrity news this Sunday afternoon. The former GOP VP candidate provided access on her tour only to the Fox News cable network, reports the Associated Press, which added that the reality TV star mostly avoided crowds and other news media. However, AP was able to take some photos as she was being prepped for camera shots.”
(For the record, Samaritan’s Purse set the rules for media access on the trip, not Palin.)
Comments by “mschultz2k” following USA Today’s article prior to publication of Free Republic’s expose perfectly illustrated the effect of AP’s photo and caption (bold face emphasis added for Media Matters readers):
“I find it odd that someone who is there to help the people is pimping (sic) before going on camera. It really isn’t about her and how she looks..or is it? I suspect the true motivation behind this trip was not so much her Christian duty (considering how much time she spends perpetuating hate) and more so a photo op to make her look Presidential. Most people who go to Haiti to help out aren’t getting hair and makeup before the cameras roll it’s about the Haitians who need the help. The photo accompanying the story speaks volumes.
“Opps [sic] .. should read “primping” but maybe it was a Freudian slip seeing as how she’s pimping out the Haitians to boost her image.”
SarahPalinUSAThis takes the cake. Really? MT @amandacarpenter: AP flubs Palin got “her hair done” in Haiti. Bristol helping mom out. https://bit.ly/hPWgycabout 1 hour ago via Twitter for BlackBerry Retweeted by 100+ people
After being called out on Twitter by Sarah Palin, the AP issued a correction and a weak explanation:
“AP spokesman Paul Colford explained to The Cutline that it wasn’t “immediately clear” that the person photographed next to Palin was her daughter. “Once we figured out it was Bristol Palin,” he said, “we amended the caption accordingly.””
AP photographer Dieu Nalio Chery was not kept away from Palin in Haiti. In fact, other photos by Chery were taken in close proximity to Palin. For AP to say they did not realize Bristol Palin was the one fixing her mother’s hair stretches credulity.
And though they initially cheered the AP’s hit on Palin, the Huffington Post was honest enough to at least acknowledge the photo was designed to give Palin bad press.
Notice of the AP’s correction was published “Mon Dec 13, 12:09 pm ET”. Four hours later, “December 13, 2010 4:39 pm ET”, Media Matters’ vomit sucker-upper Eric Boehlert proclaimed the AP innocent.
Now that’s dedication.