FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
Certain editions of the New York Times (12/3/10) published today an update to its reporting on Iranian weapons with a much more skeptical tone than its original article. The first article (11/29/10), headlined “Iran Fortifies Its Missilies With the Aid of North Korea,” presented the case in definitive terms: Iran now possesses powerful missiles with […]
Tonight’s broadcast of the Charlie Rose Show will feature a discussion of the budget deficit with progressive economist Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). As FAIR’s recent action alert noted (11/16/10), the Rose show’s discussion of the White House deficit commission has been dominated by right-leaning […]
In response to hundreds of letters from FAIR activists, PBS ombud Michael Getler (7/16/10) agreed with FAIR’s criticism (Action Alert, 7/12/10) of the 3-hour PBS documentary Turmoil and Triumph, a tribute to former Reagan-era Secretary of State George Shultz funded in part by institutions and individuals with close ties to Shultz. Getler found Turmoil to […]
Fox News host Bill O’Reilly has repeatedly cited one reason to support Arizona’s harsh new anti-immigrant law: the state’s exploding crime rate. As FAIR documented in a May 17 Action Alert, there is no such crime wave in the state. What’s more, most research shows that immigrants tend to commit less crime than the population […]
PBS ombud Michael Getler (3/18/10) responded to a FAIR Action Alert (3/10/10) that criticized PBS‘s choice of Jon Meacham as co-host of the PBS public affairs show that will fill the slot left vacant by Now and Bill Moyers Journal. Wrote Getler: During the past week, my office has received about 3,000 e-mails from people, […]
In a response to a FAIR action alert (3/11/10), New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt (3/21/10) acknowledged that the paper got key facts wrong in reporting on the undercover videos attacking the community organizing group ACORN. The main issue was the fact that James O’Keefe, the activist who produced the videos, did not actually […]
New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt (2/6/10) responded to messages from FAIR activists (Action Alert, 1/27/10; FAIR Blog, 1/27/10) by affirming that a reporter covering a conflict in which his child is an armed participant ought to be reassigned. But Times executive editor Bill Keller (2/6/10) rejected Hoyt’s reasoning, saying that Jerusalem bureau chief […]
NPR ombud Alicia Shepard responded to the over 1,500 activists who wrote to NPR regarding the Howard Zinn obituary that aired on All Things Considered. Her response is below. Thanks to all of those on the list who wrote to NPR. Activist Historian Howard Zinn’s Obit Causes a Firestorm There’s a taboo not to speak […]
FAIR presented a petition with more than 11,000 names to PBS on January 13, calling for worthy replacements for the exiting programs Bill Moyers Journal and Now. In all, 14,462 people signed the petition, including names added after it was delivered to PBS. In a January 22 response, PBS described its new Friday night offering, […]
Responding to complaints by FAIR activists and others (FAIR Action Alert, 1/6/10), Washington Post ombud Andy Alexander (1/10/10) denied that a Post article (12/31/09) underwritten by an anti-Social Security crusader constituted “propaganda,” but he acknowledged that the piece contained serious flaws. The Post had come under fire for running a piece from the Fiscal Times, […]
In response to FAIR’s September 22 action alert, New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt agreed (10/11/09) that the paper’s September 20 article about Medicare for all excluded supporters of a single-payer healthcare system. FAIR pointed out that the article, written by Katharine Seelye, laid out many arguments against single-payer–it would mean a big tax […]
Dear FAIR Supporter, FAIR loves being able to bring you recent successes we’ve had in standing up to the corporate media. On July 28, FAIR led an inspiring activist action where we delivered our petition signed by more than 13,000 physicians, activists and concerned citizens to ABC News headquarters in New York, demanding that the […]
On Tuesday, FAIR successfully delivered our petition demanding a broader debate on healthcare reform to ABC News, and already the media are taking notice of our efforts. The L.A. Times covered our petition delivery and acknowledged that there has been a “gaping hole in much of the media coverage — caused by the failure to […]
Citing a FAIR Action Alert (5/27/09), New York Times ombud Clark Hoyt agreed with media activists who asked him to challenge the Times‘ unskeptical coverage of a leaked Pentagon report on former Guantánamo prisoners. In his column “What Happened to Skepticism?” (6/6/09), Hoyt called the Times‘ May 21 front-page story on the report “seriously flawed.” […]
In the wake of a FAIR Action Alert (4/6/09), Frontline has responded to critics of its documentary Sick Around America, defending the film’s focus on mandatory private health insurance and its exclusion of the single-payer option. (Frontline‘s full response follows.) In an email response to FAIR (4/7/09), Frontline characterized FAIR’s charge that the documentary presented […]
Syndicated Washington Post columnist George Will and the Post‘s ombud Andrew Alexander are still failing to address the majority of the inaccuracies in Will’s February 15 column on climate change. Facing down critics (including FAIR–Action Alert, 2/18/09), Will claimed in a new column (2/27/09) that his original “column contained many factual assertions but only one […]
George Will’s February 22 column in the Washington Post began: “A simple apology would have sufficed.” Alas, this was not a reference to Will’s error-filled column on climate change the week before (FAIR Action Alert, 2/18/09). But the paper’s new ombud did email a response to some of Will’s critics, which managed to reveal how […]
Public broadcaster WNET has responded to FAIR’s Action Alert (2/10/09), “Worldfocus, Brought to You by Economic Fearmongers.” WNET CEO and director Neal Shapiro wrote (2/12/09) in an email to FAIR activists, “While the Peter G. Peterson Foundation has a well-known interest in the issues of Social Security and health care, FAIR’s suggestion that ‘Worldfocus‘ will […]
Since FAIR sent out an action alert (10/27/08) about the Washington Post‘s weekly chart, “Iraq War Casualties,” the newspaper has ceased using the misleading term “maximum count” to refer to an Iraqi civilian death toll figure 2 to 10 times lower than the casualty figures reached by household surveys (Washington Post, 11/1/08, 11/8/08, 11/15/08). FAIR […]
Fox News Channel senior vice president John Moody took issue with FAIR’s action alert, “Fox News Nailbiter! Conservative Channel Pushed Notion of a Tightening Election.” But Moody’s claims–and his suggestion that FAIR “retract your article and provide an appropriate apology”–are based on a peculiar argument. As FAIR’s alert documented, Fox personalities spent an unusual amount […]
