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Adam Johnson

Adam Johnson

Adam Johnson is a contributing analyst for FAIR.org.

FAIR
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June 11, 2018
CNN’s Warm Welcome to Far-Right Pundit Shows No Limit to Trumpwashing
Adam Johnson

CNN’s Warm Welcome to Far-Right Pundit Shows No Limit to Trumpwashing

Ralph Peters has been one of the most bloodthirsty hawks and overtly anti-Muslim trolls in US media. But now that he dislikes Trump for being mean to his friends in the US intelligence community, he can find a home again on CNN as a Respectable, Reasonable Republican.

FAIR
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June 11, 2018
NYT Carries IDF Attack on Murdered Medic–Reveals It’s a Smear in 20th Paragraph
Adam Johnson

NYT Carries IDF Attack on Murdered Medic–Reveals It’s a Smear in 20th Paragraph

The IDF video deceptively edited Razan al-Najjar’s comments to distort what she said—a fact not noted by the New York Times report until the third paragraph from the end.

FAIR
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June 8, 2018
Media Treat Trump Administration’s Partisan Fear-Mongering as Objective ‘Government’ Report
Adam Johnson

Media Treat Trump Administration’s Partisan Fear-Mongering as Objective ‘Government’ Report

The average reader would come away thinking some dispassionate government body was issuing a warning about Social Security and Medicare based on verifiable and objective fact, as they would issue a warning about the Zika virus or an oncoming hurricane.

FAIR
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June 6, 2018
With Literal Nazis Running for Office, NYT Suggests Candidate’s Israel Criticism Is Antisemitic
Adam Johnson

With Literal Nazis Running for Office, NYT Suggests Candidate’s Israel Criticism Is Antisemitic

The New York Times story isn’t about “charges of antisemitism,” it’s about criticism of Israel. The headline ought to have said, “Democratic Candidate Questioned About Criticism of Israel.”

FAIR
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May 31, 2018
WaPo Editors: We Have to Help Destroy Yemen to Save It
Adam Johnson

WaPo Editors: We Have to Help Destroy Yemen to Save It

The Washington Post vaguely acknowledges Washington’s role in the bloody siege of Yemen, but insisting that the US should remain involved in the bombing for the sake of humanitarianism.

FAIR
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May 23, 2018
Promoters of Saudi Prince as Feminist Reformer Are Silent on His Crackdown on Women
Adam Johnson

Promoters of Saudi Prince as Feminist Reformer Are Silent on His Crackdown on Women

During his US PR tour in March, Saudi prince and de facto ruler of the absolute monarchy Mohammed bin Salman (often referred to as “MBS”) touted the progress the kingdom was making in the area of “women’s rights”—namely letting women drive and combatting nebulous reactionary forces that were somehow separate from the regime. Since then, […]

FAIR
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May 21, 2018
Media Ignore Government Influence on Facebook’s Plan to Fight Government Influence
Adam Johnson

Media Ignore Government Influence on Facebook’s Plan to Fight Government Influence

The outlets that covered Facebook’s partnership with the Atlantic Council failed to examine the motives of the DC think tank, its funders, or the broader premise that “fake news” and “foreign meddling” were something in need of combating.

FAIR
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May 16, 2018
NYT Edit Board Are Last Humans on Earth Who Believe US Neutral in Israel/Palestine Conflict
Adam Johnson

NYT Edit Board Are Last Humans on Earth Who Believe US Neutral in Israel/Palestine Conflict

It’s difficult to imagine any of the seemingly knowledgeable and healthy adults at the New York Times editorial board actually thinking the US has been “neutral” in its dealings with Israel and Palestine.

FAIR
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May 9, 2018
CNN’s Iran Fearmongering Would Make More Sense Coming Directly From Pentagon
Adam Johnson

CNN’s Iran Fearmongering Would Make More Sense Coming Directly From Pentagon

Hours after Trump pulled out of the Iran deal, CNN’s Barbara Starr rushed to publish an anonymously sourced and transparently propagandistic press release for the Trump administration and Pentagon. Wouldn’t it be easier if Starr just skipped the middleman and worked at the DoD directly?

FAIR
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May 7, 2018
Giuliani Takes Cash to Speak to Terrorist Cult; Media Find This Unnoteworthy
Adam Johnson

Giuliani Takes Cash to Speak to Terrorist Cult; Media Find This Unnoteworthy

When a number of major outlets reported on a speech Trump advisor Rudy Giuliani gave at an MEK conference, the outlets failed to note that the group is widely loathed inside Iran, and seen as an illegitimate cult by experts across ideological lines.

FAIR
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May 7, 2018
What Do US Pundits Know About North Korea That 88% of South Koreans Don’t?
Adam Johnson

What Do US Pundits Know About North Korea That 88% of South Koreans Don’t?

According to a recent poll, 88 percent of the South Korean public viewed the recent peace summit as a success. Reading US media, one would hardly know this.

FAIR
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May 2, 2018
10 of the Most Sociopathic Washington Post Columns
Adam Johnson

10 of the Most Sociopathic Washington Post Columns

For casually threatening economic ruin, inciting violence against entire populations, pushing for bombing faceless Muslims, or downplaying racism and child rape, there’s no better outlet than long-time echo chamber of power-serving conventional wisdom, the Washington Post.

FAIR
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May 1, 2018
Laundering a Massacre by Labeling It a ‘Clash’
Adam Johnson

Laundering a Massacre by Labeling It a ‘Clash’

As FAIR has noted before (e.g., Extra!, 1/17; FAIR.org, 4/2/18), the term “clash” is almost always used to launder power asymmetry and give the reader the impression of two equal warring sides. It obscures power dynamics and the nature of the conflict itself, e.g., who instigated it and what weapons if any were used. “Clash” […]

FAIR
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April 23, 2018
MSNBC’S Creepy Comcast Commercial Is Sinclair Lite
Adam Johnson

MSNBC’S Creepy Comcast Commercial Is Sinclair Lite

Comcast corporate forced its nominally independent pundits and news anchors of Morning Joe to air a cultish 8-minute commercial for Comcast’s “Comcast Cares Day,” the lowlight of which was MSNBC host Al Sharpton comparing Comcast to Nelson Mandela.

FAIR
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April 19, 2018
Public Radio’s McCarthyite Smear of Black Activists Shows Danger of Russia Panic
Adam Johnson

Public Radio’s McCarthyite Smear of Black Activists Shows Danger of Russia Panic

The Russia-Is-Everywhere-and-Out-to-Get-US narrative has reached its inevitable, sleazy nadir: the smearing of a black activist by an NPR affiliate for the crime of going on a Russian government–funded radio station a handful of times.

FAIR
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April 18, 2018
Out of 26 Major Editorials on Trump’s Syria Strikes, Zero Opposed
Adam Johnson

Out of 26 Major Editorials on Trump’s Syria Strikes, Zero Opposed

A survey by FAIR of the top 100 papers in the US by circulation found not a single editorial board opposed to Trump’s April 13 airstrikes on Syria. Twenty supported the strikes, while six were ambiguous as to whether or not the bombing was advisable. The remaining 74 issued no opinion about Trump’s latest escalation of the Syrian war.

FAIR
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April 13, 2018
Few to No Anti-Bombing Voices as Trump Prepares to Escalate Syria War
Adam Johnson

Few to No Anti-Bombing Voices as Trump Prepares to Escalate Syria War

The curators of American public opinion at the three most influential broadsheets in the United States have decided that dissent from the build-up to new airstrikes on Syria is not really an opinion worth hearing.

FAIR
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April 9, 2018
Snipers Shooting Unarmed People at 100 Meters Isn’t a ‘Clash’
Adam Johnson

Snipers Shooting Unarmed People at 100 Meters Isn’t a ‘Clash’

The term “clash” is almost always used to to launder power asymmetry and give the reader the impression of two equal warring sides.

FAIR
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April 5, 2018
Media Warn of ‘Russian Bots’—Despite Primary Source’s Disavowal
Adam Johnson

Media Warn of ‘Russian Bots’—Despite Primary Source’s Disavowal

Online conflict is neatly dismissed as a Kremlin psyop, the narrative of Russia interference in every aspect of our lives is reinforced, and one is reminded to be “aware” of Russian trolls online.

FAIR
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April 2, 2018
NPR Runs IDF Playbook, Spinning Killing of 17 Palestinians
Adam Johnson

NPR Runs IDF Playbook, Spinning Killing of 17 Palestinians

A segment on Israel killing 17 Gaza protesters illustrates how NPR consistently deflects blame for Israeli violence—either shifting blame onto Palestinian victims or dispersing it through false parity.

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FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation. We work to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints. We expose neglected news stories and defend working journalists when they are muzzled. As a progressive group, we believe that structural reform is ultimately needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting and promote strong non-profit sources of information.

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