http://mediamatters.org/items/200711290005?f=h_latestWash. Post's Bacon reported only Obama's denials of madrassa smear, not media debunkings
In a November 29 front-page article on how Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) "has had to address assertions that he is a Muslim or that he had received training in Islam in Indonesia, where he lived from ages 6 to 10," Washington Post staff writer Perry Bacon Jr. reported that an "early rumor about Obama's faith came from Insight, a conservative online magazine. The Insight article said Obama had 'spent at least four years in a so-called madrassa, or Muslim seminary, in Indonesia' "
. But rather than citing the investigative reports by CNN, the Associated Press, and ABC News conclusively debunking the smear, or providing his own reporting on whether the school Obama attended was, in fact, a madrassa, Bacon reported only that "Obama denied the rumor." CBSNews.com featured the Post article as the top story on its home page during the afternoon of November 29. Beneath a picture of Obama, the headline read "Obama Dogged By Muslim Rumors," with the accompanying text: "Washington Post: Foes Use Candidate's Muslim Ties To Fuel Speculation About His Faith."
Further, while Bacon reported that Obama is "a member of a congregation of the United Church of Christ in Chicago," "has actively touted his Christianity" during his presidential campaign, and recently told an Iowa audience, "If I were a Muslim, I would let you know," the article never definitively stated that claims that Obama was once a Muslim have been discredited. Bacon later reported:
Another e-mail, on a site called Snopes.com that tracks Internet rumors, starts, "Be careful, be very careful." It notes that "Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim," and that "since it is politically expedient to be a Christian when you are seeking political office in the United States, Obama joined the United Church of Christ to help purge any notion that he is still a Muslim."
In writing that the email "notes that 'Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim,' " Bacon implied that this allegation is true. In fact, as Daily Kos contributor BarbinMD pointed out, Snopes.com listed this email as an example of allegations that "Barack Obama is 'a radical, ideological Muslim,' " a smear that Snopes.com notes is "alse." Indeed, as Media Matters for America noted, a March 25 Chicago Tribune article reported that "nterviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors and friends show that Obama was not a regular practicing Muslim when he was in Indonesia."
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