FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
Richard Kogan on the new Bush fiscal policy, which slashes spending on foot stamps, low-income childcare, and the like. Also: viewers have long suspected that television networks embrace a double standard when it comes to what ads they accept or reject. Now one group is calling for networks to clarify their policy once and for all.
Media has helped legitimize US interference in Iraq elections by declaring the elections “largely successful.” Author Frank Brodhead offers a different analysis. Also on the program: popular civil rights film Eyes on the Prize is currently being held hostage by copyright laws that do not allow it to be widely distributed around the country. Tiffiniy Cheng from the non-profit group Downhill Battle discusses the effort to bring back Eyes on the Prize.
Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies on Bush’s inauguration speech. Also: Michael Powell’s announced departure as FCC chair leaves an opening for George Bush to appoint a new FCC chair in March. Bob McChesney joins to discuss Michael Powell and the future of the FCC.
Why has media coverage of Social Security become so distorted, and is it improving? And Sheldon Rampton from the PR-watch group Center for Media & Democracy on conservative pundit Armstrong Williams and his recent visit to the White House.
Mark Danner joins CounterSpin to discuss his recent New York Times article entitled “We Are All Torturers Now.”
Elections this month in occupied Palestine and occupied Iraq prompt the question: do elections equal democracy? Also this week: Bush proposes stricter limits on medical malpractice lawsuits, alleging that a high percentage of claims are without merit. But how true are these accusations?
On this special CounterSpin program we’ll take a look back at some of the stories of the past year, hearing from just some of the range of journalists, activists, researchers and critics that joined us on the program, to help us decipher those stories, as well as to talk about the way those stories were covered and what that said about journalism.
Robert F. Kennedy on the media, the environment and George W. Bush. Also this week: Jules Boykoff joins CounterSpin to discuss what’s wrong with the media coverage of climate change, and how journalistic ‘balance’ can, in fact, result in bias.
FAIR founder Jeff Cohen discusses Gary Webb’s work and the backlash he suffered at the hands of an establishment media bent on protecting the powerful. Also on the show: Workers at the Youngstown, Ohio daily The Vindicator are on strike. Eileen Loh Harrist explains why management at New Orleans’ Gambit Weekly is encouraging its reporters to go to Ohio to break the strike.
What should we know about the massive changes to intelligence practices, recently approved by both houses of Congress? And why is the press ignoring the details? Also this week: George Bush has plans to solve the Social Security crisis by partially privatizing the system, but is Social Security really in crisis? And who stands to benefit from this plan?
Jim Lobe on Donald Rumsfeld’s recent trip to Latin America. Also this week: the October 1998 murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard provoked a national conversation about hate crimes and homophobia. But a recent 20/20 program reframed the case to argue that Shepard’s sexual orientation was not central to the crime. Chris Graham from the Advocate magazine joins CounterSpin to weigh in.
UN Professor Joy Gordon on the scandal surrounding the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq, and how the UN itself has been implicated. Also on the show: Howard Friel on his new book, The Record of the Paper, which explores the New York Times’s history of misreporting US foreign policy.
How did media bungle coverage of Yaser Arafat’s death? And a closer, more critical look at Alberto Gonzales and his radical views, with Michael Ratner.
How did the media’s emphasis on “moral values” swing the election in Bush’s favor? Also on the program: the media’s refusal to critically assess the civilian impact of the Iraq War.
The media’s reluctance to critically assess our flawed elections systems. Also on CounterSpin: journalist Dave Lindorff on how the New York Times killed his story about the device George Bush wore on his back during the presidential debates.
Recently The NY Times and CBS broke the news of hundreds of tons of explosive materials in Iraq that apparently cannot be accounted for, which stole the spotlight away from Bush and the election. The Bush team is now pushing back, accusing the liberal media of trying to defeat Bush. What can we say about the story, and the media’s response to these charges? Also on CounterSpin: what is the reason for so little environmental coverage during this election cycle?
With the election less than two weeks away, allegations of voter suppression are popping up all over– how is the press responding to these allegations? Also: journalist David Lindorff on the possibility of a new military draft.
The presidential debates are crucial in determining the outcome of an election. FAIR’s own Jim Naureckas on how effectively the media fact-checks the presidential debates. Also on the program: the largest owner of TV stations in the country is forcing its stations to carry an anti-Kerry film, in primetime, commercial-free, during the last days of the election campaign. Ben Scott of media reform group Free Press on this story.
What’s the state of the media debate over Iraq? And how biased is media discussion of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty?
The now-infamous report about George W. Bush’s National Guard service has been covered ad nauseam by the press. But why has CBS just decided to kill a critical story about the Bush administration’s justification for war in Iraq? Also this week: an official of the Environmental Protection Agency has recently directed staff to not talk to the press. More on that gag order, among other concerns, with Jeff Ruch.
