FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
in a piece all about the “mismatch between public perceptions and actual cases,” the entity most charged with matching sure these match–the news media–doesn’t get much scrutiny
In theory, factchecking is one of the most important functions of journalism. In practice, systematic efforts by corporate media to “factcheck” political statements are often worse than useless.
Generally, news outlets don’t explain why they aren’t calling Roof a terrorist suspect–they just rarely use the word. But the Washington Post’s Philip Bump gave it a shot in a piece headlined “Why We Shouldn’t Call Dylann Roof a Terrorist.”
The day after the Boston Marathon bombing, 34 percent of newspaper stories used the word “terrorism.” With the Charleston church massacre, the comparable figure was 7 percent.
California’s drought is caused by lower-than-normal precipitation coupled with higher-than-normal temperatures, not by people eating too many grapes (24 gallons for a bunch) or mandarin oranges (42.5 gallons for three).
Virtually every organized Democratic constituency made it clear that defeating fast track was a top priority. Yet all these movements tended to drop out of establishment media accounts of the fast track fight, leaving labor as the lone opponent.
Beltway reporters, trained to focus on process, may support a policy just because it’s billed as bipartisan. But regular people don’t like policies that they see as harming their interests simply because politicians from both parties advocate them.
CNN has announced the formation of a new unit that will take money from corporations to produce “news-like content” that is actually PR designed to burnish its clients’ images. The name CNN gives to this mercenary enterprise? “Courageous.”
While a USA Today headline declares “NSA Data Collection Ended,” the vote that the headline is referring to didn’t end the NSA phone data collection program; it restarted it.
The New York Times reports that “some of Mr. Sanders’ policy prescriptions — including far higher taxes on the wealthy and deep military spending cuts — may eventually persuade Democrats that he is unelectable in a general election.”
The idea that the establishment’s favorite right-wing presidential candidate and the head of the CIA qualify as “interesting people from all segments of American life” can only make sense in the insular world of Beltway journalism.
Sen. Bernie Sanders announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination last week–but Meet the Press’s Chuck Todd, who’s “obsessed with elections,” didn’t seem to notice.
“Why is there so much anger?” If you were wondering that before you read the Washington Post’s “primer,” you’re probably still wondering.
“Have Democrats Pulled Too Far Left?” asks a New York Times op-ed. This question is always answered affirmatively by corporate media, but the column still manages to surprise with its degree of intellectual dishonesty.
“Current and former US officials” spoke without authorization to AP about the PATRIOT Act’s Section 215–thereby committing the very crime that this “compromise” bill would punish with a 10-year prison sentence.
To hear some conservative pundits tell it, there’s something wrong about being asked to reflect on war–and questioning whether we could have avoided it a metaphysical impossibility.
“My hope is that we can move away from a model of asking listeners for money and join the free market,” host of public radio’s This American Life Ira Glass declared last month: “Public radio is ready for capitalism.”
In a crime story that would be huge news if the perpetrator Muslims–rather than someone who hates Muslims–Robert Rankin Doggart was caught talking about wiping out a Muslim community in upstate New York.
Rails are meant to keep a vehicle on a predetermined track. It’s not much of compliment to compare a journalist to a smoothly operating train, always showing up at the official stations.
A Wall Street Journal article left out arguably the most interesting part of the story: The NYPD’s backing away from stop-and-frisk and reduced interest in small-time busts was accompanied by a 5 percent reduction in major crimes.
