FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
The news that a U.S. Army sergeant killed 16 civilians, most of them children, in southern Afghanistan early Sunday morning was treated by many media outlets primarily as a PR challenge for continued war and occupation of that country. “Afghanistan, once the must-fight war for America, is becoming a public relations headache for the nation’s […]
Why the Supercommitee Failed So the Supercommittee brought together legislators who disagree completely both about how the world works and about the proper role of government. Why did anyone think this would work? Well, maybe the idea was that the parties would compromise out of fear that there would be a political price for seeming […]
In Defense of Exposing Lies The complaint (printed in the February 2012 issue) against FAIR for using “the demonizing technique to whip up support for its cause” sounds like yet another disguised way of saying—if you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all. A worthless policy for exposing lies. That […]
(UPDATE: The Times public editor has notified FAIR about his email response to readers critical of the February 6 story. You can read it at the FAIR Blog). In two stories this month, New York Times journalists allowed anonymous government officials to smear critics as terrorists and terrorist sympathizers–a shocking violation of the paper’s explicit […]
The January 31 ABC World News broadcast featured a blatantly propagandistic report on the supposed threat from Iran. The newscast focused on that day’s Senate testimony by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who told lawmakers that the U.S. intelligence community believes that Iran may be “now more willing to conduct an attack in the […]
Why Can’t Ron Paul Look More Like Gingrich? So why, with his long-held views and an enthusiastic base of support, does [Ron] Paul get so little attention? It’s not only his anti-establishment message. Part of his acceptance issue is the way he presents himself. As much as he is a refreshing departure from the mold, […]
Think big money and Wall Street have too much influence over national politics? Not to worry: A hedge fund-backed third-party presidential candidate will fix all of that. That’s the pitch coming from a group called Americans Elect. And some of America’s top pundits are loving it. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman (7/23/11) gushed: What […]
The Shadow of Al Jazeera It’s a bit ironic that FAIR chooses to explore the American blackout on Al Jazeera English (Extra!, 12/11) now that the network is becoming a shadow of its former self. Your article itself (in a sidebar) notes how AJE not only altered coverage of the Iraq War under American pressure, […]
New York Times public editor Arthur Brisbane has responded to concerns raised in a FAIR action alert last week (1/6/12), agreeing that the paper wrongly suggested that the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon. In a post at his Times blog (1/10/12), Brisbane agrees that the paper was […]
In two articles yesterday (1/5/12), the New York Times misled readers about the state of Iran’s nuclear program. On the front page, the Times‘ Steven Erlanger reported this: The threats from Iran, aimed both at the West and at Israel, combined with a recent assessment by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran’s nuclear program […]
Responding to a report in the online publication the Awl (11/17/11) about 26 journalists who had been arrested around the country at Occupy protests, New York City mayoral spokesperson Stu Loeser declared in a note to the press (New York Observer, 11/17/17), “You can imagine my surprise when we found that only five of the […]
Too Much Election Coverage I am discouraged with the amount of coverage that FAIR has devoted to the 2012 presidential campaign. First, I am sure it is safe to say that the majority of FAIR supporters will not be voting for the Republican presidential candidate in 2012. Second, and more importantly, the U.S. presidential campaign […]
This year has given us simply too many worthy contenders for FAIR’s annual P.U.-litzers—recognizing the stinkiest journalism of the year. A big part of the problem was that so many outlets were striving to distinguish themselves with especially awful coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement. So to note those lowlights, we bring you a […]
It’s that time of year again–when FAIR goes through the year’s archives to collect a sampling of the worst moments of corporate media spin and malfeasance. The competition was, as always, fierce. And in special recognition of the media’s befuddled approach to the Occupy Wall Street movement, next week will see the release of a […]
After a FAIR Action Alert (12/2/11), the CBS Evening News has changed its count of civilian deaths–citing a new figure that is roughly twice their original count. On December 1 the CBS Evening News reported: It is estimated that more than 50,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in the war. As FAIR pointed out, this was […]
A December 1 CBS Evening News report about the Iraq War managed to mislead viewers about the start of the war and severely diminish the loss of civilian lives. Reporting on the handover of the U.S. military headquarters to Iraqi forces, anchor Scott Pelley announced: What began in 2003 as an effort to overthrow Saddam […]
Don’t Cry for Me, S&P 500 Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen (8/9/11) recalled a story about President Franklin D. Roosevelt crying when he was told about children in migrant worker camps who lacked Christmas toys. Cohen wondered, “Can anyone imagine Barack Obama doing anything similar?” The answer—at least my answer—is no. And this is quite […]
TV’s Left Is Morgan Stanley, Not Occupy “We Democrats can’t criticize Republicans for catering to the Tea Party and not say to our Democratic Party, you got to look beyond Occupy and be willing to do what’s in the best interest of the country.” —Morgan Stanley managing director and former Democratic Rep. Harold Ford, Jr., […]
