Talent pulls 'misleading' Senate ads
Published Oct. 27, 2006
Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., pulled campaign ads using "misleading" quotes from the Kansas City Star after the newspaper complained that the quotes were used out of context.
"At the meeting with our editorial board, he defended the ads," Editorial Page Editor Miriam Pepper said. She said Talent's staff later confirmed to the Star that the ads had been pulled.
The ads attempted to use the quotes as the opinion of the Star itself. The quotes, however, are not the opinion of the Star or its editorial board.
The Star learned of the quotes from a report by the ad verification Web site Factcheck.org. The organization's report, "Talent for Deception," claimed that four ads from Talent's campaign used out-of-context quotes from the Star about his opponent, State Auditor Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.
"Our examination reveals that the quotes actually come from rival Claire McCaskill's political opponents and critics, not from the Star's reporters or editors," the report states.
The report details four ads released during the past three weeks. The ads use quotes such as "spreading untruths," "'exaggerating' state audits" and "clearly violated ethical standards." Words including "false" and "embellish" were also quoted from the Star out of context.
"We were very worried about the ads that made things look like our opinion that really weren't," Pepper said.
The report states the "spreading untruths" quote actually comes from a story about former Missouri Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell, who was in charge of Gov. Bob Holden's campaign against McCaskill for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2004.
The quote about "'exaggerating' state audits" also comes from a profile of McCaskill that includes her critics' claims about her performance in office.
The report states the quote about McCaskill having "clearly violated ethical standards" comes from a Harvard professor's view of McCaskill's handling of a drug case in the early 1990s when she was Jackson County prosecutor.
"The Talent campaign ends two of the ads with the tagline, 'But there's more to the story,'" the report states. "We find that 'the story' so far has been filled with misinformation."
Representatives from Talent's campaign could not be reached for comment.
Pepper said the Star's credibility being put on the line made this an important problem.
"I think it's an important issue," she said. "When you use the newspaper name, it looks authoritative. But when you use the quotes out of context, it's just misleading. We're glad he decided to change the ads."
