FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
In an attempt to further increase the government’s surveillance and law enforcement powers, and decrease judicial review and protections of civil liberties, 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 […]
In reporting on Secretary of State Colin Powell’s February 5 presentation to the United Nations Security Council, many journalists treated allegations made by Powell as though they were facts. Reporters at several major outlets neglected to observe the journalistic rule of prefacing unverified assertions with words like “claimed” or “alleged.” This is of particular concern […]
While teams of U.N. experts scouring Iraq have yet to find any hidden caches of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, some U.S. journalists seem to have already turned up their own smoking guns. Whether out of excess zeal or simple carelessness, the media’s intensive coverage of the U.N. inspections has repeatedly glided from reporting the […]
Six days after Trent Lott’s latest endorsement of racism, media have taken notice. But the story of Lott’s long-term involvement with racist and neo-Confederate causes is still largely untold. At a 100th birthday party for retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond on December 5, the incoming senate majority leader had this to say about Thurmond’s racist 1948 […]
The Federation of American Scientists has pointed to a startling revelation by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that mainstream media have missed: In remarks during a recent press briefing, Rumsfeld suggested that though the controversial Office of Strategic Influence (OSI) no longer exists in name, its programs are still being carried out (FAS Secrecy News, […]
Senator Tom Daschle recently claimed that comments made by Rush Limbaugh and other talk show hosts may have inspired threats against Daschle and other public figures and their families. “What happens when Rush Limbaugh attacks those of us in public life is that people aren’t satisfied just to listen,” Daschle said (Associated Press, 11/20/02). “They […]
On the topic of biased or inadequate media coverage of the elections, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh had a noteworthy take: On his November 4 radio show, he claimed that the New York Times was apparently hiding a news report favorable to Republicans. The Times reported that Republican candidates were likely to win some […]
In the immediate aftermath of an appeals court ruling that the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional, nearly all the commentary in the country’s leading newspapers criticized the decision. But some of the more alarmist arguments used to defend the phrase “under God” actually tended to support the judges’ finding that including it in the Pledge […]
The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported last month (5/31/02) that at the behest of a Likud party minister, the Israel Broadcasting Authority has banned its editorial departments from using the terms “settlers” or “settlements” on radio and TV. According to Ha’aretz, “it is not clear if the editors will obey the order,” which was seen as […]
FAIR founder Jeff Cohen has been hired by MSNBC, and is stepping down from FAIR’s board of directors. Cohen founded FAIR in 1986, and served as the group’s executive director. In recent years, he has been an advisor to the group rather than a staff member, as he pursued a career as a media commentator. […]
A group called Minnesotans Against Terrorism (MAT)—which includes Gov. Jesse Ventura, Sen. Paul Wellstone and other prominent political figures—has condemned the Minneapolis Star Tribune for what it calls a “double standard” on the use of the word “terrorism.” But in fact, neither the newspaper nor the organization applies the term “terrorism” in a consistent way—a […]
In the latest example of PBS‘s inconsistently applied underwriting guidelines, the network is premiering a six-hour series about the global economy which was sponsored by major corporations– including Enron– that have a clear interest in the show’s content. Titled Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy, the series is based on the eponymous book […]
CNN‘s “Crossfire” debate show will unveil two new hosts “from the left” on April 1: long-time Democratic strategists Paul Begala and James Carville. April Fool’s Day is a fitting date for the debut of the “new” Crossfire in which centrist-leaning Democrats will once again represent the left on the show. Begala and Carville have little […]
In response to reports that ABC is considering plans to replace “Nightline” with a David Letterman show, FAIR issued the following statement: “If Disney/ABC replaces Nightline with more entertainment programming, it will be strong evidence of the threat to journalism represented by TV networks that have been taken over by entertainment conglomerates,” said FAIR’s Peter […]
In a few days, the World Economic Forum will hold its annual meeting, an elite gathering of what the WEF calls the world’s “top decision-makers”– in other words, big business leaders and government officials. The event usually takes place in Davos, Switzerland, but will be in New York City this year (January 31-February 4), ostensibly […]
Three separate terrorist attacks in Israel claimed at least 25 lives this past weekend, and subsequent Israeli army attacks on Palestinian areas have killed at least five people. The Palestinian group Hamas claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings, which it said were in retaliation for the November 23 assassination of the group’s senior West Bank […]
On October 10, television network executives from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CNN held a conference call with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, and apparently acceded to her “suggestion” that any future taped statements from Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda group be “abridged,” and any potentially “inflammatory” language removed before broadcast. The question of how to […]
In the wake of the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, many media pundits focused on one theme: retaliation. For some, it did not matter who bears the brunt of an American attack: There is only one way to begin to deal with people like this, and that is you have […]
News that North Carolina’s Jesse Helms will retire from the Senate when his term is up in 2003 received polite coverage in mainstream media. USA Today (8/22/01) described Helms’ views as “unabashed and outspoken conservatism.” To the Washington Post (8/22/01), Helms is one of the Senate’s “most ardent champions of conservative causes…a man of bold […]
Despite the U.S. media’s lack of interest, the question of what really happened at the Kosovo village of Racak is still unresolved. Although the Finnish investigators’ autopsy findings discussed in the Berliner Zeitung (1/16/01) did not represent, in themselves, compelling evidence of a massacre of civilians, that neither proves nor disproves the official account of […]
