CNN’s Debate on ‘Terror’ Omitted the Kind That Kills the Most Americans
None of CNN’s moderators, nor any of the nine candidates, mentioned the very real threat posed by white political violence.
Adam Johnson
Once Again, Media Terrorize the Public for the Terrorists
In the wake of the Paris attacks 10 days ago, much of the media have needlessly stoked fears and acted, entirely predictably, as the PR wing for terrorists.
Death-Squad Organizer Is NYT’s Source on Ben Carson’s Lack of Foreign Policy Smarts
In its effort to vet one of the leading GOP presidential candidates, Dr. Ben Carson, the New York Times didn’t properly vet its primary source in this vetting, former CIA officer Duane Clarridge—an indicted liar and overseer of Contra death squads in Central America.
Bezos’ Stake in Uber Goes Under the Radar at Washington Post
The Washington Post’s sole owner, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, is a major shareholder in Uber. While the Post occasionally mentions this glaring conflict when covering Uber, a large majority of its Uber-related articles make no mention of the boss’s stake.
Some Use Chalabi’s Death to Lay Blame for Iraq War at His Feet
While most in the media played it straight, noting Chalabi’s role in selling the Iraq War but putting in the proper context, a significant number of journalists and pundits turned his death into an opportunity to lay the blame for the Iraq War at his feet.
Turning Fake ISIS Plots Into Real ISIS Scares
The AP published a thrilling account of how the FBI, in concert with Moldovan authorities, “disrupted” a smuggling ring that was supposedly trying to sell “nuclear material” to ISIS and other terror organizations over a five-year span. The tale made news across the English-speaking world. There was only one problem: At no point did the multiple iterations of the AP’s reporting indicate that anyone belonging to or connected to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (aka ISIL or Daesh) had any contact with the smugglers.
For Halloween, NY Post Dresses Up ‘Anarchist Plot’ Warning as Journalism
Keeping up the tradition of seasonal scares, the New York Post published a story about a potential “Halloween Revolt”: an attack by anarchists on police nationwide.
Fox, Daily Beast Stories on Cubans in Syria Lack One Thing: Evidence of Cubans in Syria
A Cuban troop presence in Syria would be a blockbuster story indeed—undermining the easing of tensions between Cuba and the United States. There’s only one problem: The story is looking increasingly bunk.
Media Reports ISIS Nuclear Plot That Never Actually Involved ISIS
The AP published a thrilling account of how the FBI, in concert with Moldovan authorities, “disrupted” a smuggling ring that was supposedly trying to sell “nuclear material” to ISIS. The problem: At no point does AP’s reporting show that anyone connected to the scheme had any connection to ISIS.
‘Do Something’ About Refugees? US Has Done Plenty to Create Them
It didn’t take long for the universal and entirely justified outrage over a photograph of a dead three-year-old to be hijacked by the “do something” pundits.
Down the Memory Hole: NYT Erases CIA’s Efforts to Overthrow Syria’s Government
This past week, two pieces—one in the New York Times, another in Vox—didn’t just omit the fact that the CIA has been arming, training and funding Syrian rebels since 2012, they heavily implied they had never done so.
Comcast-Owned Vox Explains the Great Deal You’re Getting From Comcast
New media startup Vox blurring the lines between business and editorial by running a thinly disguised commercial for Comcast, the cable giant that recently invested $200 million in its parent, Vox Media.
The Syrian Refugee Crisis and the ‘Do Something’ Lie
The “do something” crowd wants us to “do something” about the refugee crisis and “solve” the “bigger problem,” which, of course, involves regime change. To create the moral urgency and to tether the refugee crisis to their long-standing warmongering, these actors have to insist the US has “done nothing” about Syria.
US Leads World in Credulous Reports of ‘Lagging Behind’ Russia
The New York Times maintained a long, proud tradition of uncritically repeating official claims that the US—despite having twice the population, eight times the military budget and a nominal economy almost ten times as large—is “lagging behind” Russia on a key military strategic objective.
‘Wolf’ Cry by FBI on 4th of July?
On the Monday before the Independence Day weekend, several mainstream media outlets repeated the latest press release by the FBI that the country was under a new “heightened terror alert” from “ISIL-inspired attacks” “leading up to the July 4 weekend.” Former CIA director (and consultant at DC PR firm Beacon Global Strategies) Michael Morell went […]
Katrina’s ‘Golden Opportunity’: 10 Years of Corporate Media Celebrating Disaster
Many pundits seem to feel New Orleans’ post-Katrina “miracle” was not just an incidental positive but was, all things considered, worth the 1,800 people killed and the 100,000 African-Americans permanently ejected from the city.
Got to Be Thwarting Something: FBI Claims It Stopped Unspecified Mayhem, Possibly on July 4
The holiday weekend came and went, with the FBI “terror warning” hyped by the media foreshadowing nothing more than for two false alarms and a handful of canceled Fourth of July plans. So it was curious, to say the least, when on Thursday the FBI asserted that “a number” of “ISIS-inspired” terror plots had been “thwarted.”
Zero for 40 at Predicting Attacks: Why Do Media Still Take FBI Terror Warnings Seriously?
A casual search reveals the FBI and DHS are a pitiful 0 for 40 warning of terror attacks—some of which were specifically about 4th of July threats, none of which materialized in any way.
Federal Documents Debunk Baltimore ‘Gang Threat’ Narrative
Vice has released devastating documents about the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI’s analysis of a “threat” released by the Baltimore Police to the media on April 27 that local “gangs” had gotten together and conspired to “take out cops.” The “credible threat,” used to justify an aggressive crackdown on protests against police violence, was reported on at the time from everyone from local news to national outlets like CBS News
Friedman Turns Baltimore Uprising Into Commercial for Wife’s Charter School
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman reached a new low, exploiting the Baltimore Uprising to run a rather shameless commercial for his wife’s charter school organization.
