FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
When super-pundit Robert Novak stormed off the set of a live CNN show Thursday — just after uttering what the New York Times delicately calls “a profanity” — it was an unusual episode of TV punditry. With rare exceptions, the slick commentators of televisionland keep their cool. But we’d be much better off if they […]
On Tuesday, big alarm bells went off in the national media echo chamber, and major U.S. news outlets showed that they knew the drill. Iran’s nuclear activities were pernicious, most of all, because people in high places in Washington said so. It didn’t seem to matter much that just that morning the Washington Post reported: […]
After eight years in the White House, Dwight Eisenhower delivered his farewell address on January 17, 1961. The former general warned of “an immense military establishment and a large arms industry.” He added that “we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.” One way or another, […]
The acclaimed New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has often voiced enthusiasm for violent destruction by the U.S. government. Hidden in plain sight, his glee about such carnage is worth pondering. Many people view Friedman as notably articulate, while others find him overly glib, but there’s no doubt that he is an influential commentator with […]
Midway through July, the Karl Rove scandal was dominating the national news — until the sudden announcement of a Supreme Court nominee interrupted the accelerating momentum of the Rove story. Since then, some anti-Bush groups and progressive pundits have complained that the White House manipulated the media agenda. But when it comes to deploying weapons […]
After he died on July 18, front pages focused on the failures of William Westmoreland as commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam. Overall, the coverage faulted him for being a big loser, not a mass killer. The Washington Post noted that Westmoreland “was called a war criminal.” But the deaths of thousands of Vietnamese people […]
When the French government suggested a diplomatic initiative that might interfere with the White House agenda for war, the president responded by saying that the proposed scenario would “ratify terror.” The date was July 24, 1964, the president was Lyndon Johnson and the war was in Vietnam. Four decades later, the anti-terror rationale is not […]
Judy, it’s been so many wars since we’ve talked. Now people are hailing your dedication to the principle of journalistic independence. For many, you will always be the courageous reporter who went to jail. But I’ll always remember what happened when we met under hot lights and you showed your stuff. Far from today’s headlines, […]
Am I the only U.S. citizen who finds the annual Fourth rituals to be cloying and deceptive? Yeah — just me and probably tens of millions of other people. Ever since the Vietnam War, the Fourth of July has seemed to be a celebration of the past in the midst of a distinctly un-glorious present. […]
On the propaganda front, it’s been another tough week for Washington’s war makers. But for them, where there’s hope there’s death. Let’s address the Iraq war directly: It’s too soon to know whether the Bush administration’s new PR offensive will do anything for you in terms of public opinion. But rest assured that the U.S. […]
Forget it! That seems to be an unstated motto for American media coverage of the Iranian presidential election. The axiom comes down to: “Don’t let history get in the way of spin.” Evasion smooths the way to the next war. For maximum propaganda effect, the agenda-setting must be decoupled as much as possible from clear […]
In his memoir of Vietnam, former war correspondent Jacques Leslie recalls visiting an American aircraft carrier in the South China Sea, when suddenly “I was engulfed in technology, released to a vast metallic universe where nothing grew, where doubt had no place.” The young reporter for the Los Angeles Times found that “the press officers […]
Iran’s most repressive clerics and the USA’s most militaristic neocons share a common interest: They’re very eager to see the failure of Iranian activism for democracy and human rights. On the surface, no outlook could be farther from Washington’s reigning mentality than the ayatollah-led chant of “Death to America” that I heard at a big […]
You wouldn’t know it from the media focus on Deep Throat last week, but the lies that Richard Nixon told about the Watergate break-in were part of his standard duplicity for the Vietnam War. It wasn’t just that the Nixon administration engaged in secret illegal actions against a wide range of peace advocates — including […]
On February 27, 1968, I sat in a small room on Capitol Hill. Around a long table, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was in session, taking testimony from an administration official. Most of all, I remember a man with a push-broom moustache and a voice like sandpaper, raspy and urgent. Wayne Morse did not resort […]
Some activists are now urging Congress to open an inquiry about the option of impeaching the president. But any such effort will face huge obstacles — and they have nothing to do with legal standards for impeachment. This is all about media and politics. Five months into 2005, the movement to impeach President Bush is […]
The endless show that seems to fill America’s every waking moment — and many of its nightmares — could be called “Media Jeopardy!” Before proceeding, here’s a reminder of the rules: Listen to the answer and then try to come up with the question. Let’s get started. The first category is “Media Untouchables.” * They’re […]
Memorial Day weekend brings media rituals. Old Glory flutters on television and newsprint. Grave ceremonies and oratory pay homage to the fallen. Many officials and pundits speak of remembering the dead. But for all the talk of war and remembrance, no time is more infused with insidious forgetting than the last days of May. This […]
Media activism has achieved a lot. But I don’t believe there’s anything to be satisfied with — considering the present-day realities of corporate media and the warfare state. War has become a constant of U.S. foreign policy, and media flackery for the war-makers in Washington is routine — boosting militarism that tilts the country in […]
The battle over the filibuster is now one of the country’s biggest political news stories. The Bush administration seems determined to change Senate rules so a simple majority of senators, instead of three-fifths, can cut off debate and force a vote on the president’s judicial nominees. Both sides claim to be arguing for procedural principles. […]
