Via dKos, the AP is starting to get really shoddy. Atrios has been giving a lot of virtual ink to the journalistic slant of Nedra Pickler, one of the AP writers whose style would seem more appropriate on the editorial page. But this time she's gone beyond slant and hit pieces and blatantly misquoted Dean:

"I opposed the Iraq war when everyone else up here was for it," said the former Vermont governor, invoking the anti-war position that helped fuel his 2003 transformation from asterisk in the polls to front-runner.

The proper role of the federal government in education is not to pass bills like No Child Left Behind. I have two big policy differences with almost everybody up here. I opposed the Iraq war; with the exception of Dennis and Carol, everybody else supported it.

I opposed No Child Left Behind; I don't know how Carol would have voted, but I -- everybody else supported it.

This isn't the only place where the AP dropped the ball on their debate coverage Sunday, either. Also off the AP Wire and via dKos is this blatant hit piece by Calvin Woodward, which contains the following gem of objectivity:

For a brief time in their debate Sunday, Democrats seemed to be hewing to a New Year's resolution to stick more carefully to the facts on taxes, the budget and more. But old habits die hard.

There simply can't be an easier job than being a Washington journalist. Under the current rules of the game, any time you have nothing to say, you can type up the "Gore embellishes" story. You throw together some jumbled version of favorite alleged misstatements by Gore. On October 5, for example, the AP's Calvin Woodward sampled the genre. Early on, he offered this:

WOODWARD: Whether claiming to have been an inspiration for a "Love Story" character years ago or recently recalling the strains of a childhood song that wasn't written until he was grown, Gore has tended to go off track on peripheral things.

Woodward's passage is simply astonishing. Author Erich Segal told the New York Times (three years ago!) that Gore was a model for the Love Story character. Woodward's implication that Gore embellished this simply flies in the face of reality. And Gore has explained that the "childhood song" remark was a joke (made to a labor audience that is plainly heard laughing on the videotape). Woodward doesn't even mention that, to let readers judge the facts for themselves. When the Washington press corps tells treasured old tales, they tend to serve up "novelized" news—stories in which favorite tales are shaped to be pleasing and simple-minded. The Gore embellishment story is one of their favorites. As Woodward does, they'll routinely embellish the facts themselves, just to keep stories lively and pleasing.

AP National Desk: 212-621-1600
The National Editor's name is Mark Kennedy--demand to speak with him; don't let a clerk brush you off.

You will also want to register your disapproval (politely but firmly) through email:
Nedra Pickler: npickler@ap.org
Calvin Woodward: cwoodward@ap.org
Be sure to cc: anything you send to either of them to info@ap.org as well.

UPDATE: The AP has issued a correction to the Pickler story. According to many of the posters at dKos, the person answering the phones at the AP got so sick of getting calls that by midday she was tersely telling people to email their complaints and hanging up on them.

We did it. YOU have the power to hold the press accountable for their reporting.