FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
Now that California’s electorate has rewarded a dramatic recall effort, some sequels are likely elsewhere in the near future. It’s a good bet that political operatives in many states will try to learn from this fall’s Golden State extravaganza. Media strategists were key to the recall drive that ended in triumph for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s savvy […]
Strong critics of U.S. foreign policy often encounter charges of “anti-Americanism.” Even though vast numbers of people in the United States disagree with Washington’s assumptions and military actions, some pundits can’t resist grabbing onto a timeworn handle of pseudo-patriotic demagoguery. In a typical outburst before the war on Iraq last spring, Rush Limbaugh told his […]
Here’s the real-life plot: A famous documentary filmmaker puts out a letter to a retired four-star general urging him to run for president. The essay quickly zooms through cyberspace and causes a big stir. For Michael Moore, the reaction is gratifying. Three days later, he thanks readers “for the astounding response to the Wesley Clark […]
Presidential candidates have become fond of asking whether Americans are better off now than they were four years ago. Looking back at a sensational Time magazine story that appeared in late September 1999, we might want to ask a similar question: “Are media values better than they were four years ago?” The enthralling title of […]
Without a hint of intended irony, the “NewsHour” on PBS concluded its Sept. 9 program with a warm interview of Henry Kissinger and then a segment about a renowned propagandist for the Nazi war machine. Kissinger talked about his latest book. Then a professor of German history talked about Leni Riefenstahl, the path-breaking documentary filmmaker […]
When I hear pundits warn that Iraq is becoming a “quagmire,” I wince. “Quagmire” is a word made famous during the Vietnam War. The current conflict in Iraq comes out of a very different history, but there are some chilling parallels. One of them has scarcely been mentioned: These days, the editorial positions of major […]
The superstar columnist George Will has an impressive vocabulary. Too bad it doesn’t include the words “I’m sorry.” Last year, Will led the media charge when a member of Congress dared to say that George W. Bush would try to deceive the public about Iraq. By now, of course, strong evidence has piled up that […]
A national media spotlight has focused on the battle between the Constitution of the United States and some religious fundamentalists who viewed themselves as angels of Montgomery. The removal of a big Ten Commandments monument from an Alabama courthouse on Wednesday was good news for people who prefer democracy to theocracy. But as the holy […]
The “Bulworth” movie — with Warren Beatty playing a senator who begins to speak disturbing truths in the form of rap lyrics — caused quite a stir when it came out five years ago. At the time, I wondered aloud in a column about what might happen if leading journalists followed that fictional example. I’m […]
Contrary to media cliches about “the silly season,” this is a time of very serious — and probably catastrophic — political maneuvers. From California to the U.N. building in New York City to the sweltering heat of Iraq, the deadly consequences of entrenched power are anything but humorous. Can you remember watching a movie when […]
For America’s newspapers, the New York Times is a pacesetter. And this summer, with the Times expanding its daily “Corrections” slot on page two, some other papers seem open to more rigor in setting the record straight. This is commendable. But the limitations of the genre leave much to be desired. Traditionally, published corrections focus […]
We’re living in an era when news coverage often involves plenty of absurdity. That’s the case with routine U.S. media spin about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So, on the July 29 edition of NPR’s All Things Considered program, host Robert Siegel and correspondent Vicky O’Hara each recited scripts referring to a “security barrier” that Israel’s government […]
For the 2004 presidential race, the Green dye is cast. "The Green Party emerged from a national meeting … increasingly certain that it will run a presidential candidate in next year’s election, all but settling a debate within the group over how it should approach the 2004 contest," the Washington Post reported on July 21. […]
The superstar columnist George Will has an impressive vocabulary. Too bad it doesn’t include the words “I’m sorry.” Ten months ago, Will led the media charge when a member of Congress dared to say that President Bush would try to deceive the public about Iraq. By now, of course, strong evidence has piled up that […]
While President Bush’s re-election campaign accumulates an unprecedented pile of dollars, the country’s news media are deep in a rut of reporting about the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. With the next national Election Day scarcely 15 months away, most signs point to a new triumph for the politics of money. Rather than focusing […]
The corporate Democrats who greased Bill Clinton’s path to the White House are now a bit worried. Their influence on the party’s presidential nomination process has slipped. But the Democratic Leadership Council can count on plenty of assistance from mainstream news media. For several years leading up to 1992, the DLC curried favor with high-profile […]
Early summer has brought a flurry of public discussion about a topic previously confined to political margins — the possibility of impeaching President George W. Bush. The idea is still far from the national media echo chamber, but some rumblings are now audible as people begin to think about the almost unthinkable. A few generations […]
LONDON — The people of Britain and the United States are living in parallel, yet substantively different, media universes. Bonds of language and overlaps of mass culture are obvious. But a visit to London quickly illuminates the reality that mainstream journalism is much less narrow here than in America. One indicator of a robust press: […]
By now, millions of Americans are sick and tired of the spam that’s flooding their in-boxes with unwanted e-mail messages — mostly offering products, services and scams that tell of big bargains, implausible windfalls, garish porno and dumb scenarios for bodily enhancements. In 2003, we’re routinely slogging through large amounts of junk e-mail. These are […]
National Public Radio deserves credit for finally airing a candid summary of how media spin works at the top of the Executive Branch. In late May, listeners across the country heard: "Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesperson, announced that he would be leaving his post sometime this summer. When asked why, Mr. Fleischer denied he […]
