FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
This week on CounterSpin we’ll talk to writer Rick Perlstein about why “Conservatives Still Don’t Get Martin Luther King.” Also on the program: Can journalists be forced to help the military make its case just for doing their job, with independent reporter Sarah Olson.
The New York Times complicity in calling for an escalation of the Iraq War, with CounterPunch proprietor and Nation magazine columnist Alexander Cockburn. Also this week: Matt Zimmerman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation on the conflict between ABC and a San Francisco blogger who decided to expose the nasty rhetoric featured on a local Disney-owned radio station.
On this special Best of CounterSpin, program we look back over some of what was news for the mainstream media in 2006—and some of what wasn’t news, but should’ve been.
This week on CounterSpin: A special conversation with media historian and scholar Robin Andersen whose new book A Century of Media, A Century of War traces media gullibility, official deception and propaganda through the years.
A conversation about Iraq’s oil with Antonia Juhasz, author of the book The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time. Also on the show: How is radio concentration impacting musicians, programmers, and the public, with Jenny Toomey and Peter DiCola of the Future of Music Coalition.
Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies joins CounterSpin to discuss how U.S. press has remembered Augusto Pinochet and his legacy. Also on the show: While the U.S. Latino population continues to grow, the number of local Spanish language television newscasts will soon be shrinking, per a recent announcement by NBC Universal. We’ll talk about what it means to lose local news with Rafael Olmeda, the president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
This week on CounterSpin: The recent report from the Iraq Study Group, with Tom Englehardt of the Nation Institute. Also on the program: How unenthusiastic media coverage creates a major gap in the world’s collective understanding of AIDS and the conversation here in the US, with MADRE’s Yifat Susskind.
As reports from Iraq become increasingly dire, US policy makers and their media enablers look to point fingers and deflect blame. This week journalist Gary Younge joins CounterSpin to discuss Iraq and the political endgame. Also on the show: Author Ali Abunimah shares about his new book One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse.
This week on CounterSpin: Robert Parry of ConsortiumNews.com discusses the recent Robert Gates nomination. Also on the show: Barbara Kopple shares about her new film Shut Up and Sing, which explores the astonishing campaign against the Dixie Chicks following the infamous 2003 comment about Bush.
Glen Ford of the Black Agenda Report joins to discuss media coverage of Obama and what is missing. Also on the show: Elite media, the midterm elections, and “free trade” agreements, with Chris Slevin of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch.
What is really behind the Democratic victories this midterm election, with the Nation’s John Nichols. Also on the show: Clarissa Martinez of the National Council of La Raza joins to discuss the impact of Latino voters and why we aren’t hearing more about it from the media.
Charges of voter disenfranchisement versus charges of voter fraud and how the media handles these conversations, with Justin Levitt of the Brennan Center for Justice. Also on the show: The Nation writer Richard Kim joins to discuss same sex marriage and so-called values voters.
How is media concentration impacting media content? Gloria Tristani, former FCC commissioner, joins CounterSpin to discuss the results of recent academic studies that look to answer this question. Also this week: Diane Farsetta of the Center for Media and Democracy on video news releases and the FCC.
This week on CounterSpin: Journalist Daniel Davies joins for a discussion on a recent study by The Lancet, which found that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died as a consequence of the war. Also on the show: The FCC’s war on “indecency,” with Peggy Charren.
This week on CounterSpin: We’ll discuss a new FAIR study of PBS’s flagship news program, the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, which, despite describing itself as “evenhanded” and “inclusive of all perspectives,” unfortunately fails rather resoundingly on both counts.
Arianna Huffington of Huffingtonpost.com joins the show to discuss Bob Woodward’s new book and poses the question: Is this just a weak attempt by Woodward to salvage his reputation? Also this week: Sarah Anderson of the Institute of Policy Studies analyzes corporate media’s embrace of retailing giant Wal-Mart.
This week on CounterSpin: Despite the recent significant decision by Congress to pass legislation that recognizes some forms of detainee abuse as torture, the media is focused on all the wrong things. Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights joins the show to discuss the situation. Also on the program: Hannah Sassaman of Prometheus Radio Project about the FCC and its habitual suppression of research on media ownership.
This week on CounterSpin: FAIR founder Jeff Cohen discusses his new book Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media.
Journalist Robert Parry joins the show to bring us the latest on the coverage of the Plame Wilson affair. Also this week: John Stauber discusses the recent decision by The Washington Post to bring a Bush loyalist to its op-ed page.
Sheldon Rampton, research director of the Center for Media and Democracy, on the upcoming ABC docudrama The Path to 911. Also this week: Wayne Barrett discusses his new book Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11.
