FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
A new machine is scaring the corporate daylights out of television broadcasters and cable networks. It’s called a "personal video recorder," and it can do a lot of things that VCRs can’t. One of those technical advances is truly wondrous — the ability to filter out commercials before they reach TV screens. Such ad-zapping potential […]
Did the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination use cocaine many years ago? And should journalists insist on finding out? Fiercely debated inside the national media’s echo chamber, such questions tell us that candidates and the media are trying, in their own ways, to dance past engagement with real issues. Obsessions with drug use and […]
The news that actor Warren Beatty might run for president in 2000 has raised eyebrows across the country. Starring in "Bulworth" last year, he portrayed a senator who began to speak disturbing truths in the form of rap lyrics. But what if today’s leading journalists followed the example that Beatty set in the movie? They […]
Is it really possible for broadcasting and democracy to mix? In theory, yes. But right now, the prospects look bleak. Most Americans live in areas where just a few media conglomerates dominate. Overall, what’s on the airwaves is more like centralized monotony than democratic discourse. Over 4,000 commercial radio stations have been sold since the […]
It could become a notable media crime of the century — the killing of the strongest progressive radio station in the United States. Or it may turn out to be a case of attempted murder, ultimately averted by the determined struggle of a vibrant 50-year-old named KPFA. With its back against the wall, the nation’s […]
By the time searchers found the body of John F. Kennedy Jr., countless journalists had already identified him as a profound symbol of the nation. "Now America Can Bury Its Fallen Favorite Son," declared the top headline on Time magazine’s web site. Such pronouncements were all over the news, foisting a glut of hyped-up mythology […]
Last Wednesday afternoon, radio journalist Aileen Alfandary stood on the sidewalk in front of the building where she has worked for many years. She looked out of place. The deadline for the KPFA evening news was fast approaching — but all the doors were locked. I asked Alfandary to describe what had happened to her […]
Fascination with fame is nothing new. Long ago, the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus observed that "the desire for fame is the last infirmity cast off even by the wise." But celebrity mania is at new heights as this millennium nears its end. Now more than ever, media glitz is much admired. In theory, a person […]
Across the country, PBS stations are in denial. And if we think the programming they provide is worthy of the name “public television,” then maybe we’re in denial, too. Targeting an upscale audience, elaborate commercials are now routine on PBS — but we’re supposed to look at them as “enhanced underwriter credits.” Every weeknight, the […]
Every modern presidential contest generates a lot of discussion about how the nation’s most prominent journalists cover major candidates. But there’s not much analysis of how candidates get along with the media conglomerates that employ those journalists. Politicians have long feared media power. And they’ve usually watched their steps to avoid tangling with it. Franklin […]
This summer began with a large shadow hanging over one of the nation’s pioneering radio stations. Half a century after listener-supported KPFA took to the airwaves in the San Francisco area as a unique experiment in media independence, the battle raging over its future is ominous — yet inspiring. KPFA Radio provides an eclectic mix […]
Many of us can dimly remember classic Greek plays about revenge. In those ancient tragedies, sorrow and rage fuel an endless spiral of anguish and retribution. The themes are apt to seem as modern as recent events in the Balkans. But here at home, mainstream news outlets tell us that U.S. foreign policy stands apart […]
Once upon a time, in early June of 1999, the man on the throne displayed his moral finery as he complained that "children are being fed a dependable daily dose of violence." The emperor added: "This desensitizes our children to violence and to the consequences of it." Courtiers and scribes exclaimed that the monarch was […]
A few days ago, the president of the United States openly violated the War Powers Act — and the national media yawned. The war powers law, enacted in 1973, requires congressional approval if the U.S. military is to engage in hostilities for more than 60 days. As that deadline passed on May 25, some members […]
The media spin about the changing of the guard at the Treasury Department has been consistent: It’s too bad that the superb Robert Rubin chose to resign. But Larry Summers is capable of walking in his footsteps. Time magazine lauded Rubin as "perhaps the most popular treasury secretary in the postwar era." As for his […]
Nearly two months have passed since the beginning of NATO’s air war against Yugoslavia. After a shaky start, Washington’s spin machinery has done much to promote a war agenda — with crucial assistance from major U.S. news media. Early on, top officials of the Clinton administration seemed to be playing catch-up. “The problem is they […]
Hi! My name is CBU-87/B, but let’s not be formal. A lot of my friends call me Cluster Bomb. I’ve been busy lately, doing what I’m supposed to. And I sure appreciate the careful treatment that I receive from the American news media. My pals at the Pentagon put me in the category of a […]
Many middle-aged Americans have fond childhood memories of Mad Magazine. While its grinning young icon Alfred E. Neuman served as a zany alter ego for millions of baby boomers, the magazine was an artful "tour de farce" — and an escape from the strictures of conformity in the 1950s and 1960s. Although Mad Magazine may […]
Some disturbing patterns seem to dominate American journalism: Candor loses out to caution, integrity drowns in expediency and independence falls as income rises. At the peak of the news profession, the most lauded reporters often rely on official sources and defer to powerful institutions. As Sam Donaldson commented a dozen years ago: “I preach a […]
For many weeks now, the suffering of refugees from Kosovo has filled our TV screens. Empathy seems to motivate much of the public support for the ceaseless bombing of Yugoslavia. Fortunately, Americans can be stirred by moral outrage. Unfortunately, that outrage has been manipulated by a constellation of forces that could be described as a […]
