FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
Author and activist Ali Abunimah on the media’s familiar narratives regarding conflict in the Gaza Stip. Also this week: Why is the media ignoring a significant report from the Global Policy Forum that analyzes the impact of U.S. occupation on Iraq, with co-author Céline Nahory.
Mainstream media were all together in cheering the Bush White House’s renewed commitment to fighting AIDS. The only trouble was, the key numbers at the center of the conversation turn out to be not as they appear.
This week on CounterSpin: Elizabeth de la Vega, author and former federal prosecutor, helps to put the Scooter Libby trial in context. Also on the show: Why does the media seem out to get John Edwards, with FAIR founder Jeff Cohen.
Labor reporter Nancy Cleeland joins CounterSpin to discuss why she’s leaving the Los Angeles Times. Also on the program: Deepa Kumar of Rutgers University shares about her new book Outside the Box: Corporate Media, Globalization and the UPS Strike.
This week on CounterSpin: Journalist Deepa Fernandes joins to talk about the immigration conversation that is currently unfolding on Capitol Hill, and what the press is missing. Also on the program: How do workers and the environment factor into trade agreements, with Laura Carlsen of the Americas Program of the International Relations Center.
Iraq and the hyperfixation on “benchmarks,” with David Swanson of AfterDowningStreet.org. Also this week: A conversation about CNN’s Lou Dobbs with Mark Potok from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
This week on CounterSpin: Joyce Battle of the National Security Archive joins to discuss a new report that sheds light on U.S. propaganda efforts in Iraq. Also on the show: Journalist Caryl Rivers shares about her new book Selling Anxiety: How the News Media Scare Women.
Freelance journalist David Enders joins the show to cut through all the partisan bickering and talk about what’s actually happening in Iraq. Also this week: A dispute at the Los Angeles Times regarding the Armenian genocide, with Harut Sassounian of the California Courier.
This week on CounterSpin: Did inadequate reporting help pave the way for the recent Supreme Court ruling on abortion? Women’s health advocate Gloria Feldt weighs in on this question. Also on the program: Professor David Kotz of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst joins to discuss Boris Yeltsin’s real legacy.
Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute talks rich people and taxes. Also this week: Reporter Sunday Dare joins CounterSpin to talk about what’s missing from U.S. media coverage on the upcoming presidential election in Nigeria.
The recent firing of talk host Don Imus by MSNBC has called attention to the culpability of big media companies and other journalists who profited from Imus’ bigotry. Journalist Richard Prince joins the show this week to discuss the situation. Also on the program: Investigative reporters Carlo Bonini and Giussepe D’Avanzo talk about their work in exposing the Niger-uranium hoax, and explain the Italian connection to the infamous pre-war reporting about Iraq’s aluminum tubes.
This week on CounterSpin: Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies discusses the British captive story and what lessons should be learned by US media in the wake of the release. Also on the show: How corporate media obscures economic issues with Dean Baker whose blog, Beat the Press, seeks to unravel some of the unexplained jargon and clarify economic news.
This week on CounterSpin: Erik Leaver talks about mainstream media’s reaction to the war spending bill that’s just made its way through the Senate. Also on the show: Mike Farrell joins to discuss his new book Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist.
This week on CounterSpin: The growing media popularity of nuclear power as a solution to global warming, with Diane Farsetta of the Center for Media and Democracy. Also on the program: E.J. Graff discusses how media leaned into the misleading “opt-out” myth and shares about her new article on the topic, which appears in the March/April issue of Columbia Journalism Review.
Columbia professor Mahmood Mamdani joins CounterSpin to discuss how the U.S. press oversimplifies the story of Darfur. Also this week: Karen Greenberg describes a recent trip to Guantánamo and shares about her recent essay on the experience.
Reporter Bob Parry of Consortium News discusses the Scooter Libby verdict, and the limits of what trials like this reveal to the public. Also on the program: Paul Porter of Industry Ears joins to talk about payola and the radio business.
This week on CounterSpin: While a Washington Post series has made the deplorable state of veterans’ health care a hot-button topic, we’ll speak with Salon.com reporter Mark Benjamin, who has been documenting sub-standard care for veterans for the past 4 years. Also on the show: DC-based media activist Sam Husseini discusses his new project WashingtonStakeout.com, which seeks to ask politicians the hard questions.
This week on CounterSpin: University of Wisconsin history Professor Alfred McCoy joins to talk about the shifting narratives surrounding torture, which have emerged in tandem with recent media portrayals of torture as effective and regrettably necessary. Also on the show: Was Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent trip to the Middle East really as big of a success as the media is making it out to be, with author Ali Abunimah.
This week on the show we’ll hear from FAIR senior analyst Steve Rendall about Air America and what this experiment can tell us about the future of progressive talk. Also on the show: Founder Jeremy Weir Alderson on the upcoming Annual Homelessness Marathon, a radio project that’s been going for 10 years now.
This week on CounterSpin: How US media is pushing propaganda to manufacture consent for war against Iran, with University of Michigan Professor Juan Cole. Also on the show: Journalist and photographer Ann Jones joins to talk about Afghanistan, which was pushed to the media back-burner even before the invasion of Iraq had begun.
