FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
The federal government has to decide what to do in a court case concerning same-sex partner benefits. Robert Pear sees this as a problem for Barack Obama in today’s New York Times (“Obama on Spot Over a Benefit to Gay Couples”), explaining: As a presidential candidate, Mr. Obama said he would “fight hard” for the […]
In the wake of Charles Freeman’s withdrawal from consideration for a top intelligence post, the Washington Post today published and editorial headlined “Blame the ‘Lobby’“: For the record, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee says that it took no formal position on Mr. Freeman’s appointment and undertook no lobbying against him. If there was a […]
That’s what USA Today seems to think–and it’s a message that CNN anchor Lou Dobbs unsurprisingly latched on to as well. The factoid was born at the right-wing Center for Immigration Studies, which released a report saying that 300,000 construction jobs created by the stimulus package would go to undocumented immigrants. That report found its […]
“10 Things You Didn’t Know About Rush Limbaugh,” item #10: 10. Limbaugh shares a secluded 24,000-square-foot beachfront mansion in Palm Beach with his cat, Pumpkin. A life-size oil portrait of Limbaugh hangs on the wall of the main staircase.
Fox News host Bill O’Reilly tries to nail Obama on a “no more earmarks” flip-flop in his “talking points” commentary (3/4/09): O’REILLY: We begin with this: BARACK OBAMA: We are going to ban all earmarks, the process by which individual members insert pet projects without review. O’REILLY: That’s President Obama pledging last January to end […]
Finding new ways to keep his name in the news, far-right radio personality Rush Limbaugh has apparently decided that reporters who are (in his view) too fond of Barack Obama should be called “butt boys.” TVNewser reported (3/4/09) that CNN‘s Ed Henry was one name on Rush’s list (“Ed, you’re a butt boy”), but that ABC‘s […]
From the end of the NBC Nightly News (3/3/09): CHUCK TODD: And finally, let’s close with Michelle Obama. Amazing numbers for a new first lady. Sixty-three percent positive rating. What makes it more remarkable, six months ago you and I were talking about at the Democratic Convention, she might be a liability if he’s not […]
Bill O’Reilly explainsthe diversity of viewpointsavailable on the Fox News Channel (2/27/09): The Fox News Channel features a variety of opinions. We parade in scores of guests each week with all kinds of views. Glenn Beck believes the nation is in crisis. Alan Colmes believes Obama could be the next FDR. Sean Hannity believes the […]
The broad downturn in the U.S. economy has hit the media industry especially hard, as corporate owners who gambled on debt-financed expansions have seen their business models head south on the back of shrinking subscription and advertising revenue. In any economic climate, there are pressures on working journalists, but the current problems in the industry […]
As debate over the White House’s economic stimulus plan took center stage in corporate media in February, citizens who wished to understand the details had to swim upstream against a current of Republican spin and misinformation. A study from Think Progress (1/28/09) found the lawmakers who appeared on cable news channels (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, […]
The three-week Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip that began December 27 was accompanied by aggressive public relations strategies intended to improve the assault’s portrayal in international media. “In the war of the pictures we lose, so you need to correct, explain or balance it in other ways,” said Israeli public affairs official Aviv Shir-On […]
Today’s L.A. Times report (2/26/09) on the White House budget includes this curious warning: The document–which included broad goals and few line items–laid down controversial markers on almost every major issue facing the country. Among the immediate budget winners are the middle class and the poor, whose taxes will be eased. Among the losers are […]
BarackObama unveiled plans to extend one lower- to middle-class tax credit, allow the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy to expire as scheduled, and raise revenue from a cap-and-trade emissions plan. Today’s New York Times (2/26/09) described the proposals this way: The combined effect of the two revenue-raising proposals, on top of Mr. Obamaâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s […]
Apparently the New York Times hasmoved Elisabeth Bumiller over to the Pentagon beat. Her record as Bush White House correspondent produced some memorable missteps (“You can’t just say the president is lying,” for example), so it wasn’t a surprise to see her byline under the story, “From a Carrier, Another View of America’s Air War […]
ANew Republic editorial (3/4/09)about the decline of the mainstream media points a finger squarely at media critics: The master narratives of both the right and the left have come to include the same villain: the hypocritical, biased elite media. And their combined grouching has helped foment the anti-media backlash. Both sides do it–now there’s a […]
USA Today‘s “Obama’s War” cover story today (2/18/09) is long by that paper’s usual standards, but can’t seem to find any space for critics of the plan to send 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. Quoted in the piece: –Barack Obama —Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution –political scientist Richard Eichenberg of Tufts University –White House […]
Today’s New York Times features a piece by Thom Shanker that dwells on suspected budget cuts at the Pentagon. As the headline tells us, “After Stimulus Package, Pentagon Officials Are Preparing to Pare Back.” The piece gives little reason to believe that there are any such plans afoot; Obama did not campaign on cutting the […]
According to a report in the New York Times (2/11/09), NBC is launching a new series to track down and expose war criminals. The network’s planhas attracted some criticism from U.S. officials and human rights experts, who are concerned that the network’s journalists might be publicizing false accusations against the suspects they’re “confronting” on the […]
Newsweek‘s current coverdeclares, “We Are All Socialists Now.” But it’s actually another story from the magazine that pushes the notion that Obama is likely heading the country in a (gasp!) European direction. Michael Freedman’spiece certainly doesn’t start off on the right foot: Have you noticed that Barack Obama sounds more like the president of France […]
After President Obama’s press conference last night, Fox host Bill O’Reilly saw one to scorepoints against the White House–by mocking Obama forrelying ona list of pre-approved journalists when he took questions. Unfortunately for O’Reilly, his guest at the time was former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer, who had to point out that this was… well, […]
