Peter Hart
NYT Buries the Lead on Iran
Part of being a journalist–the most important part, perhaps–is deciding which information is most relevant to readers. So take a look at today’s New York Times piece (9/14/12) on Iran’s nuclear program. The focus is on Israeli threats and where it says it is drawing its “red line” for military action. But this focus is […]
Brought to You by…Big Oil?
The Washington Post had a two-page spread in its September 11 edition devoted to a “debate” on energy policy. But industry critics were missing from the picture. Why? Perhaps because the oil industry, undisclosed to Post readers, was sponsoring the discussion.
WaPo’s ‘Lively Debate,’ Brought to You by Big Oil
FAIR’s new action alert shows how the Washington Post failed to disclose to readers that a two-page spread on the election-year energy debate was based on events the paper co-sponsored with the American Petroleum Institute. We’re asking people to write to the Post‘s ombud about this conflict. Please feel free to share your letter in […]
Are Chicago Teachers Really Rooting for Student Failure?
You can get away with almost anything if you’re attacking teachers’ unions in the corporate media. New York Times columnist Joe Nocera (9/11/12) explains that while the so-called “reform” movement hasn’t come up with the right answers on schools: On the other hand, the status quo, which is what the Chicago teachers want, is clearly […]
NYT Gives Emanuel’s Side on Chicago Strike
Labor actions like the current strike by the Chicago Teachers Union usually involves two sides presenting very different takes on the important issues that separate them. The New York Times story on the strike (9/10/12) by Monica Davey gives a fairly comprehensive account of what the school district thinks about its offers to the union. But […]
Iran Coverage Offers Confusion Over Clarity
On NBC‘s Meet the Press (9/9/12), Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and host David Gregory had a discussion about the failures of the Obama administration’s foreign policy that included this: ROMNEY: The president has not drawn us further away from a nuclear Iran. And in fact Iran is closer to having a weapon, closer […]
FAIR TV: Iran Misreporting, Labor Day and CNN’s Unbelievable Romney
The new episode of FAIR TV is here, featuring misreporting on Iran’s nuclear energy program, NewsHour lecturing labor leaders on Labor Day, and some of the most embarrassing biographical puffery for a presidential candidate you’re likely to ever hear. Please share it with your friends, and let us know what you think in comments below.
NYT Still Has a Torture Problem
What do you call it when prisoners are slammed into walls, forced to wear diapers, placed in stress positions and subjected to drowning? You call that torture–unless you’re the New York Times, and the United States is accused of being the torturers. A new report from Human Rights Watch indicates the group has found another […]
AP’s Mostly Factless Factcheck
One of the problems with media “factchecking” is the notion that all things must be “checked” equally. If you factcheck a Republican and find three whoppers, your fact check of a Democrat better work real hard to find a comparable level of spin or dishonesty. Which is exactly how Associated Press reporters Matt Apuzzo and […]
Newsweek: Obama Needs to Be Clinton
A few weeks ago Newsweek got a lot of attention for Niall Ferguson’s factually challenged cover story slamming the Obama case for re-election. This week, in true corporate media style, we get the “other” side: An argument that Obama should move the Democratic party to the right. Peter Boyer’s piece, “Why Barack Needs Bill,” recycles […]
Ryan’s Lies… I Mean, His ‘Overreaches’
Paul Ryan’s RNC convention speech kicked off a lot of discussion about how and when journalists should do factchecking. Some reporters noted that, for instance, the people you factcheck can push back; other pieces wondered if it was making any difference at all. There are plenty of factchecking operations, but there seems to be a […]
Burying the Most Important News on Iran’s Nuclear Program?
The release of a new International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran was greeted as an ominous development by some major outlets. But are they playing down what could be the most important news in the report? The IAEA’s latest made it to the New York Times (8/30/12) under the headline, “Inspectors Confirm New Work […]
He Didn’t Say It: The RNC’s Bogus Theme
One of the main themes of the Republican convention is “We Did Build It,” a dishonest twist on something Barack Obama said about public spending on infrastructure. We’ve already gone through this, in part to point out that many outlets chose to repeat the dishonest manipulation of Obama’s words instead of explaining what he had […]
Hilarious Bill O’Reilly Spoof Site…. Right?
It appears someone has posted a hilarious send-up of Fox News host Bill O’Reilly. On his site there’s a Talking Points commentary so wrong-headed and contradictory that it has to be a joke–and a pretty convincing one. “As you may know, we cover politics a bit differently here. We are not much on party propaganda […]
Paul Ryan and Jesus Christ
Flipping open the new issue of Time (9/3/12), a piece by Michael Crowley begins: Paul Ryan may be America’s most famous budget wonk. Oh good grief. Crowley’s point is not just to praise Ryan’s devotion to spreadsheets. No, this piece is about the influences that made Paul Ryan the wonk he is today: But he’s […]
Politicians Lie–and Reporters Can’t Report That
There’s an interesting Politico story (8/22/12) about Andrea Seabrook, who until recently was a Capitol Hill reporter for NPR. She’s moved on to a new independent reporting project, but it’s what she said about her previous gig that’s most revealing: “I realized that there is a part of covering Congress, if you’re doing daily coverage, […]
NY Times and the Myth of ‘U.S. Ideals’
There’s nothing quite like the demise of a U.S-allied dictator to get the Paper of Record talking about the “clash” between U.S. “ideals” and the actual policies the country carries out. Today’s New York Times (8/22/12) carries the headline “Ethiopian Leader’s Death Highlights Gap Between U.S. Interests and Ideals,” under which Jeffrey Gettleman lays out […]
Another Liberal Media Hit Job on Paul Ryan
Time magazine’s Michael Crowley, from the new issue: In naming Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan as his running mate on August 11, Romney chose someone as deep as Palin was shallow, a studious wonk known for his mastery of that most substantive of all issues: the federal budget. For Crowley, this is actually toning down the […]
