Media Hype and Gaza’s ‘Terror’ Tunnels
CNN and NY Times hype Israeli claims about Hamas tunnels–and omit some important facts.
Peter Hart
Why Is Israel Attacking Gaza?
Journalism about the current violence is bound to focus on the death and destruction in Gaza. But there remains ample space to ask whether the war was launched to punish Hamas for something it had nothing to do with.
CBS Host: Palestinians Force Israel to Kill Kids
CBS host Bob Schieffer shares his theory that Palestinians want their kids to be killed.
FAIR TV: Palestinian Lives, Iran Facts, ABC’s Walmart Promo
This week on the show: Media figures demonstrate their concern for Israeli lives–and their lack of concern for Palestinians. Plus NBC host David Gregory makes a claim about Iran–and an Iranian official is there to challenge him. And ABC‘s Walmart report: Is it journalism or infomercial? Watch:
NYT Rewrites Gaza Headline: Was It Too Accurate?
The New York Times rewrote a headline about Palestinian kids being killed on a beach to remove the fact that they were killed.
Dear USA Today: Civilian Drone Deaths Aren’t ‘Charges’
It is a fact that drone strikes kill civilians– not, as USA Today put it, a “charge.”
STUDY: Cable News: A White Man’s World
A new FAIR study reveals that when it comes to primetime cable news debates, it’s a white man’s world.
Surveying six primetime programs on CNN,Fox News and MSNBC, the study finds that 84 percent of the 1,015 guests appearing in interview or discussion segments in a five-week period were white, while 72 percent were men.
CBS Host Feels for Frightened Israelis—But Not Dead Palestinians
CBS host Bob Schieffer conveyed genuine concern for Israelis threatened by rockets fired from Gaza. But his empathy did not extend to Palestinians killed by Israel.
Note to David Gregory: The US Is Not the World
NBC’s Meet the Press host makes some misleading claims about Iran–thankfully an Iranian official is there to challenge him. Unfortunately, the show then tapped Jeffrey Goldberg to offer a ‘reality check’ on Iran’s nuclear program.
Cokie Roberts: More People Should Fear the United States
ABC pundit Cokie Roberts thinks more countries should fear the United States.
Why ABC Thought Suffering Palestinians Were Israelis
ABC misidentified a suffering Palestinian family as being Israeli. It shouldn’t be seen as just an honest mistake.
Obama, Inequality and Wall Street Donors
Is Obama’s decision to stop talking about inequality really about a debate within the Democratic Party? Or is it about not losing Wall Street donors?
Meet the CEO Bold Enough to Kill Thousands of Jobs
CBS–which has a record of doing puff pieces about corporate CEOs–wants viewers to believe that an overpaid CEO who’s bold and risky enough to try and fix a company by firing tens of thousands of employees deserves a lot of attention.
On US TV, Israel is ‘Striking Back’
Israeli airstrikes in response to the murder of 3 teenagers are framed as retaliation–even though those targeted may very well have had nothing to do with the tragedy.
The Deeply Held Religious Principle Hobby Lobby Suddenly Remembered It Had
Coverage of the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court ruling should note that the company used to provide the kind of coverage it now deems a violation of its religious beliefs.
Repeal the Bill Kristol Permanent Punditry Act!
The Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel confronted Bill Kristol on ABC about his disastrous Iraq War advocacy. One has to wonder why Kristol was there in the first place.
Who Gets to Speak on Cable News?
A survey of major cable news discussion programs shows a stunning lack of diversity among the guests.
This Sunday, a Different Kind of Iraq War Booster: Bill Clinton
NBC Meet the Press taps Bill Clinton to talk Iraq. But will viewers know that Clinton was also a crucial supporter of the invasion?
