P.U. litizer Prizes for 2013 - Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting

-The Sponsors Speak Award: PBS -- The January 23 episode of PBS series Nova was a mostly upbeat report on drones and surveillance. What viewers may not have known about "Rise of the Drones" was that it was funded in part by Lockheed Martin--the giant aerospace corporation that just happens to be a major drone manufacturer.

- Everyone (I Know) Is Rich: David Gregory -- During a discussion of the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare"), NBC's Meet the Press host David Gregory (7/7/13) said that while he wasn't sure how the law would work out, he did know one thing: "Anybody who gets a paycheck in this country understands one thing, that there's a new line item. And it says Medicare surtax."

Actually, that additional Medicare tax doesn't apply to "anybody who gets a paycheck"—it applies to people making over $200,000, who are in the top 2 percent of household income.

- Deadly Website Award: Michael Shear -- The botched roll-out of the Healthcare.gov website was certainly widely covered, but it was New York Times reporter Michael Shear who thought it could be compared to a deadly hurricane that killed nearly 2,000 people (11/15/13).  Who exactly was raising this question? Shear attributes it to...a former adviser to George W. Bush. But the website = Katrina line was soon everywhere--which seemed absurd, until NBC's David Gregory explained that the more apt comparison would be the Iraq War

- Send a Union-Busting Message Award: Chris Matthews -- During a discussion about how the Obama administration should control the scandals swirling around the White House, MSNBC's Chris Matthews (Hardball, 5/14/13) brought up one president who did it right: Ronald Reagan, when he broke the PATCO air traffic controllers union in 1981.

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