Apr
01
2013

Keeping the Government's Secrets

Official/press collusion to keep public uninformed

Secrets and censorship, a redacted CIA document--Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Withholding important news over supposed national security concerns is nothing new. And in many cases, no official request is even needed—the decision-makers seem to have internalized the notion that keeping the government’s secrets is part of their job.

Apr
01
2013

It's Only the Future of the Planet

Keystone coverage treats climate change as at best a side issue

Tar Sands--Photo Credit: Jiri Rezac/Greenpeace

Issues like oil spills, land use rights, groundwater pollution etc. are all complaints made by critics of the Keystone XL pipeline. And looming over all of them is the way that tapping the tar sands will exacerbate climate change. But the media doesn't seem to care.

Apr
01
2013

Joe Biden, Aesthetic Populist

A track record of screwing the little guy

Biden breaking from Secret Service to shake NBC's Al Roker's hand during the 2013 inaugural parade.--Photo Credit: NBC

Joe Biden’s popularity stems from his perception of “folksiness.” In reality, though, Biden’s record is anything but working class–friendly.

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 [...]

Mar
06
2013

In Death as in Life, Chávez Target of Media Scorn

His independence, help for Venezuela's poor will not be forgiven

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Venezuela's left-wing populist president Hugo Chávez died on Tuesday, March 5, after a two-year battle with cancer. If world leaders were judged by the sheer volume of corporate media vitriol and misinformation about their policies, Chávez would be in a class of his own.

Mar
01
2013

The Self-Defense Self-Delusion

Owning guns doesn't actually help stop gun violence

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There are instances where guns are successfully used for self-defense or protection, but those are isolated anecdotes, vastly outweighed by the numbers of gun crimes, and the fact that a gun in your home is far less likely to successfully defend against an attacker than it is to kill or harm you or a family member.