The New York Times had a good editorial on May 20 headlined "Gas Prices and Political Pandering." The paper slammed Republican rhetoric about domestic production and gas prices:

[Sen. Mitch] McConnell said his bill would bring relief at the pump by raising domestic output. That is fiction. Production will take years to come online and even then would have a tiny impact on prices set on the world market.

And they also pointed out that Obama was making similar arguments:

Last weekend, he, too, was out there pitching domestic production.... None will quickly lead to new drilling or have any effect on gas prices. Yet because his remarks were framed as a response to gas prices, he helped feed the Republicans' bogus narrative.

So who the heck is doing this bogus framing? Oh yeah--the New York Times, in its news section.  John Broder wrote this lead on May 15:

President Obama, facing voter anger over high gasoline prices and complaints from Republicans and business leaders that his policies are restricting the development of domestic energy resources, announced Saturday that he was taking several steps to speed oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters.

So the editorial page is where bogus narratives are questioned, while the news section is where they're propagated.

Today it's the New York Times (5/6/11) framing the story according to nonsensical GOP talking points:

House Passes a Bill to Expand Offshore Oil Drilling

JOHN M. BRODER

WASHINGTON -- With rising gasoline prices and skyrocketing oil company profits as a backdrop, the House approved a bill on Thursday to force the Obama administration to accelerate oil lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Virginia.

The 266-to-149 vote, largely along party lines, was a skirmish in the larger battle between Republicans and Democrats to capitalize on consumer anger over the price of gasoline, which has now passed $4 a gallon in most parts of the country.

Once again: Domestic drilling will do next to nothing to affect gas prices. (Mostly) Republican politicians want people to believe the opposite, and push policies to that end. But journalists should question the premise of these political maneuvers, not merely reinforce them.

NBC Nightly News on Saturday (4/29/11) had a pretty standard report on the politics of gas prices: Republicans blame Obama, and some Democrats are talking up the idea of raising taxes on oil companies.  "Democrats call the profits excessive, and portray Republicans as wedded to oil interests," correspondent Mike Viqueira explained.

Then NBC introduced an expert, who had this somewhat curious take:

VIQUEIRA: With Congress returning Monday from a two-week break, experts say there is little that Washington can do to lower the short-term price per gallon. In the end, what may bring down the high prices of gas is the high price of gas itself.

AMY JAFFE (Baker Institute Energy Forum Director): Consumers don't realize it, but we have a lot of power. When--last time when Americans stopped driving because they didn't like the high price, that actually did bring down the price of oil over time. And we probably will see that again.

Oil companies? Come on, the people have the real power!

So what's the Baker Energy Forum?  That would James Baker's institute at Rice University. And on the group's advisory board:

Shell
Chevron
ConocoPhilips
ExxonMobil
EnergyFutures Holding Corporation
Marathon Oil Corporation

The "Patrons" list includes Hess and GenOn Energy. The "Members" list includes the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

Next time NBC might want to mention who they're using for expert analysis--or better yet, find someone else to talk to about gas prices.