Maybe Don’t Take Travel Tips From the New York Times
The New York Times found a place where Americans don’t encounter the lack of gratitude they find in countries occupied by US troops. You may have heard of it.
Jim Naureckas
Attributing Weather Events to Climate Change Is the Easy Part
Climate change caused Typhoon Haiyan–in the basic and obvious sense that Haiyan would not have happened in the absence of climate change.
Music as a Weapon? It’s No Joke
Joking about pop music that’s so bad it’s painful helps obscure the all-too-serious use of sound as a weapon that causes actual pain.
Fight CNN’s Pro-Nuke Propaganda
Why is CNN airing a one-sided documentary praising nuclear power? Join FAIR in asking the news channel to offer viewers a real debate.
USA Today Forgets That Climate Is a Part of Wildfire Context
The word “wildfire” has come up 1,457 times in USA Today’s reporting–and it’s been accompanied by the phrase “climate change” 73 times.
Income Inequality? The TV Industry Is on Top of It
TV bosses are in the top 20 percent of big corporations in terms of how much more they make than their employees.
‘Searing Memories of Defaults’—and Selective Memory at the New York Times
It’s true that Mexico’s default on its debts in 1982 was followed by years of hard times. But Argentine and Russian memories of default are far less “searing”
Washington Post OKs Covering Your Spouse’s PR Client
The Washington Post responded to FAIR’s Action Alert about the Post’s Jerusalem bureau reporter, Ruth Eglash, whose husband’s links to the Israeli government pose a major conflict of interest. But the paper’s response–to the extent that it has any substance at all–seems to misconstrue what a conflict of interest is.
Apologizing for Inequality Is a Growth Industry
USA Today’s op-ed from a Manhattan Institute fellow makes is a dubious claim. But it doesn’t back up at all the sweeping assertion made in the headline.
Dems and GOP Agree: Independent Journalism Is Bad News
Filmmaker Charles Ferguson announced that he was no longer going to make a nonfiction film for CNN about Hillary Clinton. The reasons why he’s pulling out of the project are interesting–and disturbing.
Is Oil Industry Funding of a Fracking Study a Problem? Let’s Ask an Oil-Funded Expert
To find out whether oil industry funding might have influenced a study, the New York Times went to someone who works for a think thank with numerous oil industry funders–including at least three of the companies who funded the study in question.
The Price of Twitter Is Based on the Cost of You
On the verge of an IPO, Twitter is estimated to have a market value of $15-16 billion. What does that mean for our society?
UN Report Provides Information, Not ‘Intelligence’
The contrast between the two reports is striking: While Kerry’s report avoided providing specific details to back up its claims–“in order to protect sources and methods,” Kerry said–the UN report strove for maximum transparency.
NYT’s Bruni: Don’t Blame Bloomberg for Inequality—He Didn’t Mean It
As an op-ed columnist, Frank Bruni was a heck of a restaurant critic. That was demonstrated once again by his farewell (New York Times, 9/10/13) to outgoing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who Bruni thinks is getting a bum rap from the Democrats who are vying in the primaries today for a chance to […]
The Strange Thing About Cluster Bombs
When they’re used by official enemies, cluster bombs are weapons of indiscriminate terror. When they’re used by the United States, they’re not much worth talking about.
Which Syrian Chemical Attack Account Is More Credible?
Which account of the mass deaths in Syria should be given more credence: the U.S. government version introduced by Secretary of State John Kerry, or the article published by the Minnesota-based news site Mint Press? The government account expresses “high confidence that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack.” The Mint report bore the headline “Syrians in Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack.”
SoundBites September 2013
Meet the Press Release There is consumer product news tonight. The folks at Hamburger Helper say they’d like to be thought of more as just Helper, since more and more people are eating chicken, and there’s a Helper for that, too. General Mills say they just want to help dinner in America. They say a […]
When It Comes to State Violence, Too Much Is Never Enough
Time magazine’s Michael Crowley (9/9/13) offers an analysis of how the Syrian situation reflects on Barack Obama’s presidency: Whatever comes of Obama’s confrontation with Assad, an even more dangerous confrontation lies in wait—the one with Iran. If another round of negotiations with Tehran should fail, Obama may soon be obliged to make good on his […]
The Accelerating Assault on Journalism
U.S. soldier Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning’s 35-year sentence represents the harshest punishment issued to date for providing media with evidence of government wrongdoing (Forbes, 8/21/13). She is the first whistleblower to be convicted under the Espionage Act, ratifying the new reality that those who give the press information that the government wants to keep secret […]
Jeffrey Toobin, Expert on Bizarre Analogies
is Jeffrey Toobin right that the Nuremberg principles are only meant to apply to Nazi-like regimes, or are they applicable to the United States as well?
