WSJ echoed RNC attack ad, didn't report Obama's response

Summary: A Wall Street Journal blog post reported on a Republican National Committee attack ad without noting the Obama campaign's response to it, which other news organizations had reported a day earlier.

More than 24 hours after Sen. Barack Obama's campaign responded to a Republican National Committee attack ad, Wall Street Journal correspondent Susan Davis reported on the content of the ad in a July 7 post on the Journal's Washington Wire blog, yet failed to report the Obama campaign's response. The post, which appeared at 11:23 a.m., provided a full transcript in addition to an embedded version of the ad. As Media Matters for America has noted, the Obama campaign reportedly responded to the ad more than 24 hours before the Washington Wire blog post.

In a post on the washingtonpost.com blog The Fix dated 10:08 a.m. ET on July 6, Chris Cillizza reported that Obama spokesperson Hari Sevugan responded to the ad with "[a] stunned skepticism," saying, "What we need to solve our energy crisis is an honest debate about the choices before us, not more attack ads that mislead voters about the facts."

The New York Times blog The Caucus reported Sevugan's full statement regarding the ad in a post dated 11:10 a.m. ET on July 6:

"What we need to solve our energy crisis is an honest debate about the choices before us, not more attack ads that mislead voters about the facts," said Hari Sevugan, a spokesman. "There's a real choice in this election between John McCain's promise to continue the Bush approach of trying to drill our way out of our energy crisis - which even he admits won't lower prices this summer - or Barack Obama's plan to provide meaningful short-term relief for our families and to make a historic investment in alternative energy development that will create millions of new jobs, keep the cost of energy affordable and secure our energy independence once and for all."

From Davis' Washington Wire blog post:

The Republican National Committee released their first television ad targeting Barack Obama on Sunday. The spot is running in four states -- Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin -- and will air for ten days. The 30 second ad, "Balance," features images of both candidates and both touts John McCain's record and criticizes Obama's on energy policy.

[Ad embed]

"Record gas prices, a climate in crisis. John McCain says solve it now. With a balanced plan -- alternative energy, conservation, suspending the gas tax, and more production here at home. He's pushing his own Party to face climate change," the ad states, "But Barack Obama? For conservation, but he just says no to lower gas taxes. No to nuclear. No to more production. No new solutions. Barack Obama: Just the party line."

McCain is discussing his energy goals today in a speech scheduled in Denver, Colo., on his broader economic plan. McCain's campaign is re-rolling out portions of their agenda in a new effort to sharpen their message. (For more on that read this Wall Street Journal story). Today in Denver, McCain will again highlight components of his energy plan- his campaign has dubbed it the Lexington Project -- which includes increasing domestic oil exploration as well as nuclear power resources and the development of more green technologies.

—A.J.W.