Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: Sighs of relief as BP's Macondo well appears to be sealed, and some stories are already headlined "After the Spill." Our guest says it's no time to celebrate, and "after" isn't the right word. We'll hear from marine conservationist Rick Steiner. Also on the show: The right-wing storyline about a radical al Qaeda-supporting imam's proposal to build a mosque on the 9/11 ruins in Manhattan is false in virtually every aspect. The media haven't been totally remiss in fact-checking some of the falsehoods, but how does this story fit in with the larger context [...]
Search Results for: John K. Wilson
Aug
01
2010
Who Gets to Review and Be Reviewed?
Authors, book critics drawn from narrow pool
When it comes to political books, the New York Times Book Review and the C-SPAN book show After Words share an exceedingly narrow view of whose books deserve review—and who is fit to discuss them. A FAIR study found that these important media venues for discussion of newly published books were overwhelmingly dominated by white and male authors, reviewers and interviewers. FAIR’s study examined every episode of After Words from March 2008 to January 2010, and the reviews of politically themed books in the New York Times Book Review from January 2009 to February 2010. In total, the study counted [...]
Apr
01
2010
Glenn Beck Gets Progressively More Paranoid
Fox News’ lunatic fringe, now even loonier
By Peter Hart
Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck had a surprising 2009 (Extra!, 6/09), becoming a high-profile advocate for the right-wing Tea Party movement and attracting millions of viewers to his late afternoon cable talk show. How does one top that? By spinning out elaborate theories about the “progressive” assault on the Constitution and the country, hinting that the left’s disenchantment with Barack Obama could very easily manifest itself in violence—that’s how. Beck’s ruminations make no logical sense, and the proposals he attacks do not bear even the faintest resemblance to the political agenda of the White House or congressional Democrats. But [...]
Jul
24
2009
David Swanson on healthcare reform, Harold Meyerson on California's budget crisis
Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: "Obama May Have To Wait for Health Reform" explained one July 22 headline. Leave it to corporate media to take a life-and-death issue for millions of Americans and reduce it to an item on a president's wish list. But if they're going to mainly cover healthcare policy as inside the Beltway politicking, how good a job are they doing even of that? We'll hear from activist and author David Swanson about the current state of play in healthcare reform efforts and what the media may have to do with it. Also on the show: [...]
Aug
01
2008
The 'Pledge' That Wasn't
Misrepresenting Obama's public financing promise
When Barack Obama decided to reject public financing in the general election, corporate media and Republican partisans made an identical attack, claiming that Obama broke a promise to take public funding. Unfortunately, this claim was demonstrably untrue: Obama hadn't made an unconditional promise to take public financing. The New York Times (6/20/08) referred to Obama's "decision to break an earlier pledge to take public money." NPR (All Things Considered, 6/19/08) reported, "Earlier, Obama had said he would participate in public financing if his Republican rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, did the same." NPR's Weekend Edition host Scott Simon (6/21/08) went [...]
Jun
19
2008
Remembering Russert
What media eulogies remember--and forget
NBC's Meet the Press anchor and Washington bureau chief Tim Russert died of a heart attack on June 13. The outpouring from media and political elites only underscored Russert's status as one of most important figures in mainstream journalism. But amidst all of the accolades, critical assessments about Russert's record were scarce. It would be difficult to imagine anyone more admired by fellow journalists. "He was the preeminent political journalist in America," declared pundit Al Hunt (6/15/08). "He was an American character right from Mark Twain," offered NBC colleague Chris Matthews (6/15/08). "He had an authority and insight in covering [...]
