Counterspin - FAIR's weekly radio show

CounterSpin is FAIR's weekly radio show, hosted by Janine Jackson, Steve Rendall and Peter Hart. CounterSpin is heard on more than 130 noncommercial stations across the United States and Canada. CounterSpin provides a critical examination of the major stories every week, and exposes what the mainstream media might have missed in their own coverage.

May
17
2013

Marcy Wheeler on AP/DOJ, Robert Greenwald on the War on Whistleblowers

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Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: The Justice Department's investigation of the AP poses a threat to freedom of the press and the public's right to know, but the story itself, about a supposed al Qaeda bomb plot thwarted by the CIA, has taken some interesting turns, calling into question the facts of the bomb plot story, and the Justice Department's rationale for investigating AP. We'll talk with Marcy Wheeler of Emptywheel, who has been out in front on this story from early on.   Also on CounterSpin today: The AP story is a reminder, if one were necessary, that [...]

May
10
2013

Peter Hart on Syria and Sarin, Dilip Hiro on Afghan Corruption

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Peter Hart talks about Syria and chemical weapons claims, and author Dilip Hiro joins the show to talk about how stories about Afghan corruption fail to explain the U.S. role in creating that corruption.

May
03
2013

Mark Hertsgaard on BP Cover Up, Jamilah King on Obama Phones

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This week on CounterSpin: A whistleblower report confirms what many already sensed: In the wake of the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP was more interested in appearances than in the health and safety of people or ecosystems. Journalist and author Mark Hertsgaard is the environmental correspondent for The Nation magazine. He'll join us to discuss his article on the extent, and the impact, of BP's cover up.

lAlso on CounterSpin today, the right has managed to manufacture a controversy over something they call an "Obama Phone." The story is basically bogus, but it's having real world effects nonetheless. We'll talk to Jamilah King from Colorlines about that.

Apr
26
2013

Beau Grosscup on Defining Terrorism, Hugh Kaufmann on Texas Explosion

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This week on CounterSpin: The Boston bombings were labeled as terrorist attacks almost from the start. But what does that label mean, and how is it used? We'll talk to Cal State University of Chico professor Beau Grosscup about how the term is used—and perhaps misused.

Also on CounterSpin today, much of the town of West, Texas was destroyed in an explosion at the West Fertilizer plant on April 18.Famed EPA whistleblower Hugh Kaufman joins us to critique media portrayals of the disaster as merely a matter of regulatory oversights.

Apr
19
2013

Nicole Woo on Chained CPI, Erin Grant on Gosnell case

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Millionaire pundits are celebrating cuts to Social Security benefits; we'll ask the Center for Economic & Policy Research’s Nicole Woo what the real world effects of that ‘tweak’ are likely to be. And the trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, wo ran an illegal abortion clinic in Philadelphia, has been covered in gruesome detail since Gosnell's arrest in 2011> But what's been missing from that reporting? We’ll hear from Erin Grant, a Philadelphia abortion provider, and contributor to RH Reality Check, about that.

Apr
12
2013

Laura Flanders on Margaret Thatcher, Pardiss Kebriaei on Guantanamo

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Margaret Thatcher's death brought a wave of gushing coverage of the former prime minister-- but journalist Laura Flanders remembers a different Thatcher legacy; she'll join us to talk about it. And detainees at Guantanamo have engaged in a life-threatening hunger strike for months. We’ll talk about the effort to shed light on it with Pardiss Kebriaei, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Apr
05
2013

Tim Shorrock on North Korea, Lee Fang on 'The Right Leans In'

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While corporate TV panics over North Korea, Tim Shorrock points out what's missing from the story. And the Lee Fang tells us how the right is mobilizing at the state-level-- they're even creating media outlets to spread their message.

Mar
29
2013

David Moon on Aaron's Law, Beth Schwartzapfel on Prison Access

Aaron Swartz (cc photo: Daniel J. Sieradski)

Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: Internet activists are trying to rein in abusive aspects of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, or CFAA, with a law dubbed "Aaron's Law"--named in honor of activist Aaron Swartz. But new developments in the House threaten to make the law even more abusive. We'll talk with David Moon from the group Swartz founded, Demand Progress.   Also on the show: With millions of Americans in prison, and seemingly more each day, one might imagine that what goes on in prison would be a topic for sustained journalistic inquiry. Yet there are only a [...]