FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
We’ve rather amply documented Bill O’Reilly’s record of misinformation on Arizona, immigration and crime. It’s not surprising–but nonetheless worth documenting–that O’Reilly would bend reality in order to bash immigrants and defend the new Arizona law. But the way the New York Times handled the matter is worth a look. The paper’s June 19 piece, “On […]
It’s not a huge surprise that a correspondent for a newspaper that supported the coup that ousted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez would dislike a film that offers a more sympathetic view of Chavez’s politics. That said, Larry Rohter’s review (New York Times, 6/26/10) of the new Oliver Stone film South of the Border still manages […]
In the wake of the Rolling Stone/Stanley McChrystal controversy, one might think that there could finally be some space to have a debate about the Afghanistan war–especially considering that the magazine article was really about fundamental questions about the war itself (FAIR Media Advisory, 6/25/10). The Washington Post (6/27/10) ran one of its often–terrible Topic […]
It’s not that surprising that some in the corporate media, driven either by admiration for ousted Gen. Stanley McChrystal or disdain for Rolling Stone‘s scoop, have rushed in to defend or explain away his behavior. In Saturday’s Washington Post (6/26/10), anonymous military sources tell the newspaper that the comments from McChrystal and his staff were […]
FAIR has a new Action Alert (6/24/10) on recent reports in the NY Times and WashingtonPost suggesting that voters are more concerned with the budget deficit than job creation.Please post copies of your letters to the papers, or responses on the alert, in the comments thread below.
The Washington Post (6/23/10) allows an anonymous voice inside the White House to spill the beans on the decision to replace Gen. Stanley McChrystal with Gen. David Petraeus: Said a senior administration official, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House deliberations: “It’s as seamless as it could be, […]
There’s been a discussion (some of it neatly summarized on the Daily Show) of elite journalists’ reaction to the explosive comments made by Gen. Stanley McChrystal and his staffers to Rolling Stone freelancer Michael Hastings. One admission came via a Politico story, captured by NYU’s Jay Rosen (6/24/10): And as a freelance reporter, Hastings would […]
At the end of 2009, the Washington Post published an article that was produced by the Fiscal Times. As FAIR noted in an Action Alert (1/6/10): The article, headlined “Support Grows for Tackling Nation’s Debt” (12/31/09), was a product of the Fiscal Times, described in an accompanying note as “an independent digital news publication reporting […]
The Washington Post‘s Howard Kurtz (6/21/10) write aboutthe investigative journalism produced by the Center for Public Integrity, and wonders about its independence: The center has also received grants–including $300,000 last year–from the Open Society Institute founded by liberal philanthropist George Soros, sparking questions about whether its news agenda leans to the left. “We have a […]
Senate Democrats are having trouble passing a spending bill that would, among other things, extend unemployment benefits and deliver much-needed financial aid to cash-starved states. Today the New York Times (6/18/10) explained the legislative logjam this way: The spending and tax measure has become caught up in intensifying politics around deficit spending as members of […]
Today’s Los Angeles Times (6/16/10) has this headline: Debate Grows Over Afghanistan Withdrawal Plan The lead: Recent setbacks in Afghanistan have intensified debate over the wisdom of the Obama administration’s plan to begin withdrawing U.S. military forces next summer and highlighted reservations among military commanders over a rigid timeline. Debating the war—let’s have at it. […]
This USA Today headline (6/16/10) seemed like the kind of thing one might stop to read: Top Officer Sees Military Caution as Backfiring The lead: Commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan have been reluctant to launch more secret operations because of an excess of caution about violating military rules and international law, a top Army officer […]
There’s been plenty of commentary about Monday’s front-page New York Times story (6/14/10) announcing, “U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan.” Reporter James Risen‘s lead: The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and […]
The AP has a story today (6/14/10) noting the continuing problems Al Jazeera English is experiencing in getting on American television: Frustrated by its continuing inability to crack the American television market, Al Jazeera English‘s new strategy is to make itself available for free on every other possible screen. The Qatar-based news network said its […]
Last October we noted (“Iraq All Over Again?,” Media Advisory, 10/7/09) that reporters and corporate pundits were often treating allegations about Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions as if they were facts. There have been no verifiable discoveries of an Iranian nuclear weapons program; the main question thus far concerns uranium enrichment, some of which could hypothetically […]
People have interpreted the Helen Thomas controversy any number of ways.Some were disappointed in her remarks, since they are overshadowing the fact that for years she’s asked questions about issues that the rest of the press corps didn’t care about. Others have suggested that Thomas’ questions about war and the killings of civilians were a […]
New York Times columnist Tom Friedman argued yesterday (6/13/10) that, when it comes down to it,we’re all to blame for the BP disaster. And that’s not all we’re to blame for: We cannot fix what ails America unless we look honestly at our own roles in creating our own problems. We–both parties–created an awful set […]
In much of the coverage of Gaza, there is a media shorthand that is used torecall some of the most important recent history. Like in today’s New York Times (6/11/10): Israel imposed the embargo, allowing in charitable goods and letting out people with medical emergencies. It invaded in late 2008 to stop a flow of […]
In a June 8 piece about a liberal summit in D.C. this week,the New York Times notes thatthe left’s support forprograms like Medicare and Social Security areoutof touch with fiscal reality, and that budget cuts elsewhere aren’t going to matter much: In truth, none of the cuts in annual appropriations will significantly reduce the long-term […]
Seeing this headline at the Newsweek website—”Chávez Twists Twitter Into Tool of Repression“—means you’re likely to read the latest dispatch from the magazine’s Latin America correspondent Mac Margolis, who has amassed a stunning record of creating panic about the region’s leftist leaders. (See “Newsweek‘s Name-Calling Neoliberal,” from Extra!‘s January 2010 issue.) Margolis argues that when […]
