The 2010 midterm elections were the first since the Supreme Court’s 5-4 Citizens United decision allowed unlimited corporate funding of political broadcasts in elections. As was widely predicted at the time, spending hit unprecedented highs this election cycle, including record sums on television ads. In the words of the Associated Press (10/29/10), Citizens essentially constituted a “stimulus package” for broadcast and cable media corporations, which saw major increases in revenue, thus benefiting from the ever-deepening relationship between money and politics. In fact, media corporations raked in a record $3 billion this midterm election cycle, not only breaking the previous midterm [...]
Search Results for: Michael Corcoran and Stephen Maher
Jan
01
2011
Media Don't Bite the Ruling That Feeds Them
Citizen United fills airwaves—and corporate coffers
Oct
01
2010
Media Continue Bank Bailout Advocacy
Shunning progressive critics while hailing success of TARP
For corporate media, the verdict is already in: The Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), the unpopular program that redistributed some $700 billion of U.S. taxpayer funds upwards, to the very financial institutions that contributed to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, is an unabashed success. It is hardly stunning that corporate media would react favorably to one of the biggest boons for big corporations in U.S. history. When the bailout initially failed to make it through Congress in 2008 due to House opposition, journalists quickly accepted and reinforced the narrative that the unpopular legislation—which gave unprecedented power to [...]
Jul
01
2010
The Flotilla Story U.S. Media Won't Report
Ignoring evidence that counters Israeli claims
At a June 10 press conference (Cultures of Resistance, 6/10/10), passengers from the Mavi Marmara released new footage of the Israel Defense Forces’ deadly May 31 raid on the ship, which killed nine activists attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza in defiance of the Israeli blockade. Days earlier, another video was released allegedly showing the IDF beating and then executing a U.S. citizen, although the identity of the passenger in the video has not been confirmed (Informed Comment, 6/10/10; Tikkun, 6/10/10). Obviously, two videos alone could not possibly tell the whole story of what happened that night, but they [...]
Jan
01
2010
NYT's Double Standard on Nuclear Proliferation
Hyping Iranian threat while ignoring Israeli defiance
The New York Times’ treatment of Iranian and Israeli nuclear programs in recent months is a clear example of the systematic double standard the “paper of record” displays in international coverage (Extra!, 8/09). The Times has devoted tremendous space and resources to covering Iran’s nuclear program. Even though, as the Times itself explained (9/26/09), there is “no evidence” that Iran is building a bomb, and despite Iran’s cooperation with international inspectors, the paper has continued to wave the specter of the “Iranian threat”—calling to mind the paper’s warmongering coverage leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 (Extra!, 12/09). [...]
Aug
01
2009
Iran vs. Honduras
The Times’ selective promotion of democracy
When the results of the June 13 Iranian elections were decried as fraudulent (charges that were later backed up by a detailed study by Chatham House—6/21/09), U.S. media instantly became the champions of the oppressed Iranians who took to the streets in protest. Cries of righteous solidarity echoed from virtually all mainstream outlets, and the large demonstrations were front-page news on every newspaper in the country each day. The Islamic regime’s harsh suppression of demonstrations was rightfully the focus of prolific news coverage and vigorous editorial discussion. As the pages of the New York Times informed Americans, a “genuine democratic [...]
