‘Wars Are Not Fought to Liberate Women’
“We create this distinction between misogynists who are enemies and misogynists who are friends, but to Afghan women, there is no difference.”
Peter Hart
The 2014 P.U.-litzers
It’s that time of year again– let’s revisit some of the smelliest journalism of the past year.
USA Today Wants You to Think Killings of Police Are on the Rise
USA Today could have averaged several recent years to see if there was a meaningful trend. But instead the newspaper decided to feed the narrative that police officers are under attack.
More Pointless Campaign 2016 Journalism
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced that he sort of could be running for the Republican presidential nomination. Of course, that drew substantial media attention.
Dana Milbank and the Bias of Centrism
To argue that Elizabeth Warren is the left equivalent of Jim DeMint, one must exhibit no interest in the substance of politics.
Fox’s O’Reilly: ‘All the Wolves Have Been Muslims’
Every lone wolf terrorist has been Muslim, says the no spin Fox host.
NBC: Someday We Might Learn That Drones Kill Civilians
Meet the Press covers US drone attacks. But why do they want viewers to think it’s too hard to know how many innocents have died?
‘Disruptive, Demanding’ Elizabeth Warren vs. ‘Can-Do’ Pragmatists
Media coverage portrays populist Democrats as presenting a “threat” to pragmatic centrism.
FAIR TV: US Victimology, Equal Time for Torturers and Hypocritical Factchecking Lectures
This week: ABC World News prepared viewers for the Senate report on CIA torture…by warning that its publication could harm Americans. Plus TV news covers the torture report by giving a platform to torture advocates. And a pundit who was dead wrong about the Iraq War shares his thoughts about the need for Rolling Stone to […]
Equal Time for Torturers?
The December 9 release of the executive summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA torture prompted substantial media coverage. But the network newscasts seemed to be guided by the need to apply something like an “equal time” rule for the torturers.
Washington Post Does Not Call It Torture When We Torture
The Washington Post doesn’t call torture by its name because that would be ‘contentious.’
And Now, to Discuss Police Killings: Rush Limbaugh?
“Rush Limbaugh talks race relations.” You know, that Rush Limbaugh–the guy who once quipped, “Have you ever noticed how all newspaper composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”
Torture Enablers Spin Unreleased Senate Report
The Senate’s report on CIA torture will be released in a matter of days, so why the need to give defenders of torture a platform to excuse themselves in advance?
Wrong-on-Iraq Pundit Gives Lessons in Media Accountability
There are reporters at outlets like the Washington Post who raised real questions about Rolling Stone’s story about rape at the University of Virginia. And then are also those like National Review editor Rich Lowry,
Chris Christie, Keystone and Canada
A story in the New York Times about the Keystone pipeline isn’t really about the Keystone pipeline.
In NYT’s Retelling of Eric Garner’s Death, the Officer’s Arm Has a Mind of Its Own
If only police officer Daniel Pantaleo had been able to somehow control his own arm, Eric Garner would not have died.
Disney Newscast Finds Trailer for Upcoming Disney Film Especially Newsworthy
Why is ABC World News Tonight so excited about the new Star Wars movie? There’s at least one reason.
For Fox News, ‘Bad Guy’ Michael Brown Makes Obama a ‘Three-Time Loser’
How Fox News covered the Ferguson grand jury announcement.
The ‘Center’ Always Holds
With the Democrats suffering substantial losses in the 2014 midterm elections, pundits and political journalists offered the same advice as always: Move to the right.
