Buzzwords and phrases like “accountability,” “Common Core” and “school choice” abound in media coverage of candidates’ education policy, with little explanation provided to actually unpack what it means that a candidate is pro or con these things.
Jul 10 2015
Chinese Stocks Return to February’s Values; WaPo Sees Threat to Regime
By Dean Baker
The media seem to think it’s a really huge deal that investors in China’s stock market have not made any money since February. The Washington Post told readers that it could even threaten the regime’s legitimacy.
Jul 10 2015
Costas Panayotakis on Greek ‘No’ Vote, Rachel Nolan on Dominican Displacement
By CounterSpin
The New York Post headline “Greek Tragedy: Nation Commits Economic Suicide” was only yelling what was spoken elsewhere: that Greek voters invited ruin with their “No” vote on an austerity referendum.
Jul 09 2015
Got to Be Thwarting Something: FBI Claims It Stopped Unspecified Mayhem, Possibly on July 4
By Adam Johnson
The holiday weekend came and went, with the FBI “terror warning” hyped by the media foreshadowing nothing more than for two false alarms and a handful of canceled Fourth of July plans. So it was curious, to say the least, when on Thursday the FBI asserted that “a number” of “ISIS-inspired” terror plots had been “thwarted.”
Jul 09 2015
BP Deal: Path to a ‘Cleaner Gulf’–or Guaranteed Future Disasters?
“BP Deal Will Lead to a Cleaner Gulf” is the headline the New York Times put over an editorial that, in its tone and substance, makes a pretty good illustration of why it almost assuredly won’t.
Jul 06 2015
After Greece Cuts a Quarter of Its Budget, WaPo Asks if It’s Willing to ‘Trim Spending’
from 2010 to 2015, Greece has cut government spending from roughly 13 billion euros to 10 billion euros–a cut of 23 percent.
In the Washington Post’s eyes, though, Greece has not yet demonstrated the willingness to “trim its spending”
Jul 03 2015
James Loewen on Racism and US History
By CounterSpin
The Fourth of July weekend will doubtless feature media chatter about what America “stands for,” and how our history has shaped us. But much of the talk will bear little relationship to the country’s actual history, which is roughly a million times more complicated and conflict-riddled than the image we are usually presented.
Jul 02 2015
NPR Ombud Responds on ‘All-Corporate Lobbyist’ Alert
Report not as one-sided as FAIR claimed, Jensen said--but opposition voice would have strengthened it
Elizabeth Jensen talked to Neal Carruth, a senior editor on NPR’s business desk, who said that had the piece by Yuki Noguchi been longer, it “could have devoted more space to the opposition’s views regarding the business community’s win.” But, he said, “the piece did not ignore the opposition.”
