Search Results for: Mary Johnson

May
01
2011

Idahomophobia

In a conservative media market, anti-LGBT bias thrives

Homophobia poster--Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons/Mike_fleming

Media coverage of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues has come a long way since the days when the New York Times referred to gay people as “perverts” (12/16/50) or the New York Post (10/17/90) published an op-ed claiming that “our promiscuous homosexuals appear literally hellbent on Satanism and suicide.” Though stereotyping and sensationalism remain a problem, particularly for coverage of transgender people (see Extra!, 11-12/07), hard work by activists has succeeded in gradually shifting national media coverage to largely embrace a much more fair and respectful approach to LGBT stories and people. In some local media markets, however, [...]

Mar
01
2011

11th Annual Fear & Favor Report

How power shapes the news

U.S. media consumers are used to magazines where ads outnumber stories, to on-air hosts who contractually consume brand-name drinks, to “consideration provided by” this and “brought to you by” that. But when it comes to the news, many still maintain at least the kernel of expectation that reports in the paper or on TV have more to do with journalistic judgment than with anything else. The Fear & Favor report is about some of the things that come between that image and reality on a daily basis. From pushy advertisers to heavy-handed owners and local power players, there are a [...]

Dec
01
2010

SoundBites

December 2010

Heads GOP Wins, Tails Dems Lose The Sunday after the midterm elections (11/7/10), Meet the Press featured two conservative Republican guests, Sen. Jim DeMint (S.C.) and Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.). That’s only natural, right, because the GOP did so well in the elections? Flash back to November 12, 2006, when Meet the Press’s then-host Tim Russert announced: Our issues this Sunday: The voters send a loud and clear message to the White House, and give the Democrats control of the House and the Senate for the first time in 12 years. What now for the Republicans? We’ll ask a man [...]

Jul
30
2010

Daniel Ellsberg on WikiLeaks, A.C. Thompson on New Orlean police shootings

Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: The release of tens of thousands of Afghan War documents by the organization WikiLeaks has met with some confusion in the media, who seem to want to downplay its importance but who also insist that WikiLeaks and its founder are dangerous and irresponsible. Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked The Pentagon Papers to the press 40 years ago, will join us with his thoughts on the WikiLeaks revelations. Also on the show: If tens of thousands of displaced people have been unable to convince journalists that hurricane Katrina is not a finished story, the recent indictments [...]

Mar
01
2010

'America Was Safer Under Bush'

Journalists accept GOP’s screwy terrorism scorecard

Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons/Karsun Designs

That George W. Bush kept America safer from terrorism than Barack Obama is a conservative article of faith these days—and corporate media seem little inclined to challenge the blatant falsehoods used to advance this childish GOP talking point. The most prominent example came on Good Morning America (ABC, 1/8/10) during a discussion of the failed Christmas Day “underwear bomb” plot, when former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani told anchor George Stephanopoulos: “We had no domestic attacks under Bush. We’ve had one under Obama.” Get that? So-called terrorism expert Giuliani, who can barely finish a sentence without mentioning September 11 [...]

Feb
12
2010

Sikivu Hutchinson on Tea Party movement, Carl Conetta on Pentagon spending

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Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: Journalists are lining up to tout the Tea Party movement's relevance and strength, but show little interest in probing its deep contradictions or finding out what actually makes the activists tick. That's why they can describe as populist a movement closely, if fitfully, allied with the corporate-dominated GOP. In her report "Mainstream Media's Tea Party Tryst," Sikivu Hutchinson digs a little deeper. Hutchinson, the editor of BlackFemLens.org and a contributor to Black Agenda Report, will join us to talk about the Tea Party movement. Also on CounterSpin today, before the recent snow storms hit [...]

Oct
23
2009

Kristin Thomson on the Performance Rights Act; Jennifer McLennan on Open Access

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Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: The Performance Rights Act would require broadcasters to pay royalties that would be split between recording artists and record companies. The bill has just passed through house and senate committees, and will presumably be debated and voted on. The legislation, naturally faces strong opposition from the broadcasting industry, who say it will hurt stations and artists alike. Kristin Thomson, of the Future of Music Coalition, a group that supports the bill, will join us to discuss the Performance Rights Act. Also on the show: October 19th marked the beginning of the first international Open [...]

Apr
24
2009

Glenn Greenwald on torture, Rose Aguilar on tent cities

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Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: While it’s pretty clear that Bush-era torture occurred, and that U.S. and international treaties oblige the U.S. to investigate, the hot media discussion centers not on when investigations will begin, but on whether President Barack Obama—not the Justice Department—thinks they should go forward. We’ll talk to Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com about the torture story. Also on CounterSpin today: Media are flocking to so-called tent cities to try and put a human face on the recession and housing crisis. That sounds laudable, but are the media getting the story wrong? We'll talk to journalist Rose [...]

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