National media focus on 2nd Amendment over 4th Amendment.
- Yes, You Can Be for Press Freedom and Still Think Journalists Ought to Do Their Jobs Well Jim Naureckas
- What an Anonymous U.S. Official Says About Iranians in Syria Peter Hart
- Problems at PBS, From Rose to Koch Peter Hart
- Bum Rap: The U.S. Role in Guatemalan Genocide Peter Hart
- You're to Blame for Factory Deaths. Well, You and Walmart Jim Naureckas
- FAIR TV: The IRS & Obama's Scandal Trifecta, Matthews Praises Reagan, Newseum Scandal Peter Hart
- Is There Really a 'Scandal Trifecta'? Peter Hart
May
01
2013
When Bigotry Is 'Balance'
Media still worried homophobes aren't being heard
By Julie Hollar
As the Supreme Court finished hearing oral arguments on two same-sex marriage cases, the Wall Street Journal editorial page (3/27/13) proclaimed what has become a mantra of the right on this subject: The liberal media frame opponents of marriage equality as bigots. America’s cultural and media elites are attempting to browbeat the High Court into coercing the country into recognizing same-sex marriage by casting opponents as bigots for holding a position that President Obama held less than a year ago. Murdoch’s Journal is woefully misguided on two counts. It’s hard to make the case that the most prominent arguments against [...]
Apr
26
2013
Beau Grosscup on Defining Terrorism, Hugh Kaufmann on Texas Explosion
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
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
16
2013
Social Security Cuts Are Media's 'Center'
The White House plan to cut Social Security benefits has been praised by major media as a brave move towards the "middle" by Obama, as well as an effort to use a more "accurate" measure of inflation. Neither claim is credible. Part of the White House plan is to change how inflation is calculated, by switching to the "chained consumer price index." This results in a small reduction in benefits that compounds over time, so the cuts get larger as retirees get older. Many in the media depicted this as a bold centrist move. An Associated Press dispatch (4/5/13) began: [...]
Apr
12
2013
Laura Flanders on Margaret Thatcher, Pardiss Kebriaei on Guantanamo
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'
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.
Apr
01
2013
Keeping the Government's Secrets
Official/press collusion to keep public uninformed
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.
