Why Does Tim Russert Associate With Don Imus’ Bigotry?
If you’re concerned about bigotry on the syndicated radio show Imus in the Morning, the host thinks you should just “get over it.”
New York Times on Iraq Sanctions
In a 1998 article (4/23/98), New York Times United Nations correspondent Barbara Crossette critiqued the film Genocide by Sanctions, a documentary produced by a coalition of activist groups opposed to the U.N. sanctions on Iraq. Using footage of dying Iraqi children, the film sought to dramatize Iraq’s desperate humanitarian conditions under the U.N. embargo; more […]
FAIR’s Correspondence with ABC RE: John Stossel Organics Report
Dear David Westin: We are writing to express concern about the accuracy of John Stossel’s February 4 20/20 report, “The Food You Eat.” FAIR received numerous emails and phone calls questioning the veracity and objectivity of the report. After a preliminary investigation, we have some serious questions of our own about how the segment was […]
Wall Street Journal Claims Sex Is Secret of Young Businesswomen’s Success
A recent front-page story of the Wall Street Journal cheerily announced, “In Today’s Workplace, Women Feel Freer To Be, Well, Women” (2/7/00). The first of two subheadings explained what the Journal thinks being, well, women is all about: “Floppy Bow Ties Give Way To More-Alluring Attire; Sex Banter Has Its Place.” (When the story jumped […]
CBS News Doctors Images to Insert Ads
Can we trust what we see on CBS news broadcasts, even when reports are filmed live? Not necessarily; certainly not on New Years Eve. Viewers who tuned into Dan Rather’s live-from-Times-Square New Years Eve broadcast saw the CBS logo prominently displayed on billboards over Times Square. A savvy advertising purchase? Not quite. As news reports […]
‘Bias’ Isn’t Supported—Because It’s Not True
Proving that irony is alive and well post-Sept. 11, a book deriding the national press corps for its flagrant liberal bias has been the subject of enormous attention in the same mainstream media that, the book argues, suppress conservative views. Bias, by former CBS newsman Bernard Goldberg, is long on name-calling and vitriol, but short […]
The Family Behind the Times
The Trust: The Powerful and Private Family Behind the New York Times By Susan E. Tifft and Alex Jones (Little Brown) On one memorable evening at the New York Times in mid-20th Century, a newly hired Hungarian charmer cried across the city room, “Darling, zay are changing my story!” When the echo reached the publisher […]
Prattle in Seattle
As tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Seattle to shut down the opening conference of the World Trade Organization meeting last December, mainstream media treated protesters’ concerns with indifference and often contempt. That hostility translated into slanted coverage of both the demonstrations and the police reaction. A U.S. News & World Report headline, “Hell […]
Harvard’s ‘Best and Brightest’ Aided Russia’s Economic Ruin
U.S. policy toward Russia has contributed to that country’s sorry conditions—with the Harvard Institute for International Development’s Russia project (HIID) playing a major role.
Pacifica’s WPFW Axes FAIR’s CounterSpin:
Media Criticism Show Cancelled After Three Earlier Instances of Censorship
Without notice to producers or listeners, the Washington, D.C.–based Pacifica affiliate WPFW has cancelled FAIR’s radio show, CounterSpin. FAIR learned of the cancellation early this week when listeners called our offices to ask why the show was not on the air. CounterSpin—a media criticism show—has been censored by Pacifica stations five times this year […]
WTO: The Whole World Is Watching—Except Ted Koppel
Media from around the world have followed the World Trade Organization summit meeting in Seattle, as tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered to voice their concerns about corporate globalism, environmental abuse and labor rights. The ensuing arrests, police abuse and property damage dominated much of the mainstream media discussion. But one news outlet in particular […]
Giuliani’s Pro-Censorship Views Needed Balance on Sunday Shows
When New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani appeared on three national television shows attacking the Brooklyn Museum and its current art exhibit, “Sensation” (10/3/99), none of the shows saw fit to include an advocate of civil liberties or artistic freedom. Giuliani appeared unopposed on NBC‘s Meet the Press, ABC‘s This Week With Sam and Cokie, […]
The Fumento Mythology
A decade after writing The Myth of Heterosexual AIDS, Michael Fumento of the Hudson Institute continues to minimize and skew the AIDS crisis. Fumento is a virtual poster child for what right-wing institutions can foster: Prior to joining Hudson, he’s had stints at the American Enterprise Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. He was legal […]
Brill’s Content: Sweet on Sugar
About once an issue, Brill’s Content—Steven Brill’s for-profit, advertiser-supported magazine of media criticism—has an article about a corporation that Content says was mistreated by the media. In its July/August 1999 issue, the magazine came to the rescue of the Flo-Sun sugar company, which Time magazine’s Don Bartlett and Jim Steele (11/23/98) had cited as a […]
After the ‘Humanitarian’ War
After the bombing of Yugoslavia, the U.S. media held up the safe return of Albanian refugees as proof of the success—and righteousness—of NATO’s war. How the bombing had affected the region’s chances for long-term stability was rarely discussed. The important thing, according to most mainstream pundits, was that the “Western world” had shown it wouldn’t […]
U.S. Media Overlook Expose on Chinese Embassy Bombing
A detailed investigative article in the October 17 London Observer reported that NATO deliberately bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade last May. So far, the reaction in the mainstream U.S. media has been a deafening silence.
Q&A About PBS and National Desk’s Series on the "Gender Wars"
PBS says the series “National Desk” is meant to generate controversy and debate. Isn’t this a good thing? It would be, if public television’s overall lineup were balanced with controversial shows from both the left and the right. PBS has a history of playing the controversy card when criticized for running a right-wing program, while […]
Rally ‘Round the Boys
Throughout April, the PBS public affairs program National Desk presented a three-part series on “the gender wars” that sought to address “whether the advancement of women in virtually all areas of society can be achieved without a retreat, in some way, on the part of men.” Asking the question that way is akin to answering […]
Chris Matthews: Testosterone Overdose?
“Has a country ever won a war by avoiding enemy casualties? Isn’t that what we’re doing? We’re blowing up bridges that are dark and buildings that are empty,”
Legitimate Targets?
In their zeal to present the war against Yugoslavia as a moral crusade, members of the media sometimes slipped into the logic of ethnic cleansing.
