FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
On June 19, Attorney General John Ashcroft told editors and media executives at an Aspen Institute conference that the government needs the media’s help in “portraying accurately” the USA PATRIOT Act. The New York Times’ Adam Clymer reported (6/20/03) that Ashcroft stressed that public distrust of the law, passed in the wake of the September […]
In the build-up to the war against Iraq, U.S. television spent much time speculating about whether Saddam Hussein might acquire uranium for weapons. But the same outlets showed little curiosity about the U.S. and Britain’s actual use of uranium weapons during the war. Many U.S. and British munitions use a dense, toxic metal known as […]
The Department of Justice has secretly drafted a sweeping sequel to the USA Patriot Act of 2001. Despite the draft legislation’s authoritarian provisions–including one that would empower the government to strip Americans of their citizenship if they participate in the lawful activities of any group that the attorney general labels “terrorist”–mainstream U.S. media have responded […]
Sometimes John Stossel’s technique is no different from the sensationalism of any other tabloid TV entertainer. Witness his report on “dwarf tossing” (20/20, 3/8/02), in which he professed indignation at “busybodies” who want to stop the practice. “Dave Flood is a dwarf who is angry because his rights are being violated,” declared Stossel. “He wants […]
Trade ministers from across the Western Hemisphere gathered at the Marriott Hotel in Quito, Ecuador from October 31-November 1. The occasion: the 2002 ministerial meeting on the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Thousands of other people gathered in Quito that weekend too–in the streets. Organized by a coalition of indigenous, labor, environmental […]
On her October 7 broadcast, CNN‘s Connie Chung took a U.S. congressmember to task for doubting George W. Bush. After Rep. Mike Thompson (D.-Calif.) told Chung that there seemed to be no evidence that Iraq posed an immediate danger to the United States or its allies, the anchor responded, “Well, let’s listen to something that […]
From September 25 to September 29, activists rallied in Washington, D.C. for the first large-scale U.S. protests against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. On Friday, September 27, several hundred people—including activists, bystanders and journalists—were arrested en masse in what appears to have been an illegal […]
The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported in May (5/31/02) that the Israel Broadcasting Authority, at the behest of a member of the Israeli cabinet, has directed its editorial departments not to use the terms “settlers” or “settlements” on radio or TV. According to Ha’aretz, “it is not clear if the editors will obey the order.” What […]
Even before the bloody events of April, more than 300 Israelis and 1,200 Palestinians had been killed since the current Intifada began in September 2000 (Boston Globe, 3/31/02). Thousands more people have been injured. U.S. media coverage of the conflict was intense as Palestinian militants carried out several major suicide bombings and the Israeli Defense Forces […]
On February 19, the New York Times reported that a new group within the Pentagon, the Office of Strategic Influence, was “developing plans to provide news items, possibly even false ones, to foreign media organizations.” The revelation was met with outrage, and within a week the Pentagon had closed down the OSI, saying that negative […]
On December 30, U.S. airstrikes hit the village of Niazi Kala (also called Qalaye Niaze) in eastern Afghanistan, killing dozens of civilians. The attack was major news in several British newspapers, with the Guardian and the Independent running front-page stories. The headlines were straightforward: “U.S. Accused of Killing Over 100 Villagers in Airstrike” (Guardian, 1/1/02); […]
How many civilians have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of U.S.-led bombing? It’s an admittedly difficult question to answer, but many U.S. media outlets don’t even seem to be trying. None of the major networks’ nightly newscasts are offering even rough estimates of the overall number of civilians killed. It may be some […]
If there’s a propaganda hall of fame, Newsweek has surely earned a place in it with its recent interview with George W. and Laura Bush (12/3/01). Written by Newsweek senior editor Howard Fineman and White House correspondent Martha Brant, the profile of the Bushes focused relentlessly positive attention on the “First Couple’s” emotional responses to […]
Mainstream news outlets did cover the progress of the proposed anti-terror bills through the House and Senate, but did relatively little to alert the public to how fundamental and far-reaching the proposed expansions of law enforcement’s powers were, and provided little information about the nuts and bolts of the legislation.
In coverage of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and the tens of thousands of people who rallied outside the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City this April to oppose it, U.S. media went to remarkable lengths to promote corporate and government spin on the liberating powers of trade. The FTAA […]
In November 2000, delegates from over 160 countries met at the Hague to decide how best to achieve the pollution reductions mandated by the Kyoto climate treaty, the 1997 protocol to combat global climate change. The talks failed spectacularly, in large part because of the U.S.’s obstructionist stance. Within the U.S., news coverage of the […]
On September 21, media activists from across the country converged on San Francisco for a historic protest at the annual radio convention of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), culminating in a march and rally on September 23 attended by well over 1,000 people. FAIR endorsed and played an active role in the demonstrations, as […]
Over the last year, political street protests have made a resurgence in the U.S., with high-profile demonstrations in Seattle against the World Trade Organization, in Washington, D.C. against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, in Philadelphia at the Republican National Convention and in Los Angeles at the Democratic National Convention. With them has come […]
On June 2, the U.N.’s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) announced that its 11-month assessment found no reason to open a criminal investigation of NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). Five days later, Amnesty International released a report, “‘Collateral Damage’ or Unlawful Killings?,” finding that NATO had […]
The success of the Washington, D.C. demonstrations against the IMF and World Bank can be measured in part by how well activists communicated their message to the general public. Without a doubt, the Mobilization for Global Justice succeeded in intensifying the national debate on globalization. This April, mainstream media featured a more sustained and substantive […]
