FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
This week on CounterSpin: A new law in Utah says some women who miscarry should go to jail. You may have seen some coverage, but are journalists asking the right questions about the law’s implications, and is there a bigger story here that’s being missed? We’ll hear from Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates […]
The Los Angeles Times reports(3/12/10)on a new study of local news from theUSC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism’s Norman Lear Center. The findings are hardly surprising: There is almost no local political coverage on TV news. As the Times notes, “An average half-hour newscast devoted just 22 seconds to government issues, including city budgets, […]
Yesterday (3/10/10) there was a House floor debate on Rep. Dennis Kucinich‘s push to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Kucinich’s bill–which is based on the War Powers Act–was defeated, but it sparked hours of rare discussion of the White House’s war policy (in spite of the Washington Post‘s efforts to minimize the discussion as left-wing “venting”). […]
Newsweek devotes several pieces this week to public schools. But the lead piece, “Why We Must Fire Bad Teachers,” by Evan Thomas and Pat Wingert, lays out the magazine’s skewed vision: Teacher unions protect the worst performers, while charter schools offer an easy solution. (“In the past two decades, some schools have sprung up that […]
Sometimes the words journalists choose are revealing. Take the lead of a story in the Washington Post today (3/9/10) about congressional debate on the Afghanistan War: Liberals in the House, who have spent much of the past year complaining that other congressional Democrats and the White House are insufficiently progressive, will get a chance this […]
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has always been a controversial figure—famously profane and short-tempered, and politically speaking a center-right Clinton Democrat. As of late, though, there’s been a strange effort—particularly in the Washington Post—to present Emanuel as the confidant whose political advice Barack Obama has too often ignored and who offers a clear […]
Sasha Issenberg reports in the Boston Globe (3/2/10) that Fortune magazine Washington bureau chief and Fox News pundit Nina Easton advised Republican Mitt Romneyon his recent book No Apology. Easton told the Globe that she “offered some writer’s advice on things like structure and how to better tease out themes in his writing.” This isn’t […]
In a February 28 pieceheadlined, “Obama Ready to Move Forward on Healthcare Reform,” the Washington Post‘s Anne Kornblut closed on a rather odd note: Republicans have expressed growing confidence heading into the midterm elections, with healthcare as a potential campaign tool. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele took the argument a step further, saying […]
A headline over an Evan Thomas story in this week’s Newsweek (3/8/10) tells us: “We the Problem: Washington Is Working Just Fine. It’s Us That’s Broken.” Thomas blames, among other things, “our ‘got mine’ culture of entitlement,” adding: Politicians, never known for their bravery, precisely represent the people. Our leaders are paralyzed by the very […]
In his Washington Post column today (2/25/10), George Will writes in defense of the filibuster, arguing that Democrats’ talk of using budget reconciliation rules to pass ahealthcare bill demonstrates their contempt for the Constitution. He has been perfectly consistent on the question of minority rule–it depends on who the minority is.Back when Republicans filibustered a […]
In his New York Times column today (2/24/10), Tom Friedman presents a bizarre view of the Iraq War. Attempting to answer the question of whether Iraq is dysfunctional because of its culture (the “conservative” argument) or because of its politics (the “liberal” argument), he writes: Ironically, though, it was the neo-conservative Bush team that argued […]
On NBC‘s Chris Matthews Show on Sunday (2/21/10), the main topic of conversation was a familiar one for Beltway media: Will Obama finally go to the “center”? Or as the show’s website puts it, “The Crucial Crossroads: Will Obama Push His Agenda, or Move to the Middle?” Matthews kicked things off by announcing that”the week […]
From the paper’s editorial today (2/22/10) on climate change deniers: The Earth is warming. A chief cause is the increase in greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere. Humans are at least in part responsible, because the oil, gas and coal that we burn releases these gases. If current trends persist, it’s likely that in coming […]
An article in the new issue of Time (3/1/10) takes a look at the Tea Party movement–which, according to their calculations, is surprisingly large: Whether bitter or sweetened, the tea is winning admirers. According to the latest CBS News/New York Times poll, roughly 1 in 5 adult Americans identifies with the Tea Party movement, which […]
Why are liberals and Democrats losing on issues like healthcare? Columnist E.J. Dionne (Washington Post, 2/18/10) rightly points out that congressional Democrats have caved on almost every big issue: “Single-payer was out at the start. The public option died. A Medicare buy-in died.” He wonders: While liberals were arguing about public plans and this or […]
Yesterday Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times (2/18/10) turned in a piece on the one-year anniversary of the stimulus plan—a favorite target of Republican lawmakers (when they’re not happily enjoying the federal funds in their states and/or districts, that is). The piece tells us that there’s a rather bitter partisan dispute over the […]
FAIR put out an Action Alert today (2/19/10) critiquing recent nuclear power reporting on ABC and NBC network newscasts. Please feel free to share your letters to the networks in the comments section below.
This Washington Post headline (2/13/10) caught my eye: 2008 Habeas Ruling May Pose Snag as U.S. Weighs Indefinite Guantanamo Detentions You have to read the piece somewhat closely to understand what they’re taking about. Theterrorism case against one Guantanamo detainee was “ironclad”until afederal judge deemed it “too weak”–because some of thestatements against the defendant had […]
Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank thinks it’s pretty silly for Republicans and climate change deniers to say that the recent snowstorms mean that climate change is phony. BUT…. don’t think for a second that Milbank’s going to let “greens” off the hook that easy. No way. As he put it on Sunday (2/14/10): “There’s some […]
From one of today’s New York Times stories (2/16/10) about the NATO/U.S. campaign in Marja, Afghanistan (emphasis added): The heavy civilian toll highlighted the stressful and confusing nature of the fighting, especially in Marja, and of the difficulties inherent in conducting military operations in a guerrilla war, where insurgents can hide easily among the population. […]
