FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
After FAIR issued an action alert (9/8/06) pointing out the New York Times‘ revision of recent Iraq War history, the Times published a correction (9/12/06) on its website. The correction read: An article that appeared on NYTimes.com for part of the day on Sept. 5 incorrectly described President Bush’s statements about Iraq’s chemical and biological […]
NY1 general manager Steve Paulus has responded to FAIR activists challenging the New York cable news station’s decision to exclude Jonathan Tasini from a debate with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton (FAIR Action Alert, 8/4/06; Activism Update, 8/18/06). Tasini is running against Clinton for the Democratic senatorial nomination, and has 13 percent support in the […]
(NOTE: Please see the related further Activism Update.) On August 4, FAIR issued an action alert calling for New York cable news channel NY1 to allow Democratic antiwar candidate Jonathan Tasini to debate incumbent Sen. Hillary Clinton as part of its series of televised primary debates. NY1, which is owned by Time Warner, had created […]
After sustained pressure from FAIR activists (7/21/06, 7/25/06) and continued scrutiny from the Baton Rouge Advocate, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that it had reversed its policy that severely limited media access to Hurricane Katrina survivors living in FEMA trailer parks. “We’re responding to your criticism,” FEMA representative James Stark told the Advocate (7/26/06). […]
(NOTE: Please see the related further Activism Update.) In a July 22 letter to the Baton Rouge Advocate, a representative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency responded to an Advocate report (7/15/06) that the government agency was severely limiting access to Hurricane Katrina survivors living in FEMA trailer parks. But the letter from James Stark, […]
On July 19, FAIR issued an Action Alert criticizing CBS Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer’s shallow and dismissive commentary on the current crisis in the Middle East. CBS Public Eye ombudsman Vaughn Ververs responded to FAIR’s alert on Public Eye‘s website in a July 20 post titled “We’ll Just Have to Agree to Disagree.” […]
On June 16, FAIR issued an Action Alert questioning a New York Timess op-ed’s claim that “hundreds of anti-war protestors…appear at military hospitals and funerals.” On June 17, the New York Times printed the following correction on its op-ed page: An Op-Ed article on Monday, about demonstrations at military funerals, hospitals and memorial services, incorrectly […]
On April 16, Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell responded to critics—including FAIR—who questioned her about the paper’s puzzling April 9 editorial, “A Good Leak.” While Howell’s attention to the matter is appreciated, her response avoided the most important issue: whether the paper’s editorial page got its facts right. Much of Howell’s column (headlined “Two Views […]
Two recent reports on ABC raised the possibility that 10-year-old tapes of Saddam Hussein might show that he “did hide weapons of mass destruction”–giving the White House’s rationale for the March 2003 invasion a boost. But as a February 17 FAIR action alert pointed out, ABC‘s reporting omitted evidence that undermined this argument. The tapes […]
On January 11, FAIR issued an action alert on the New York Times‘ decision to hold its explosive story on the NSA’s secret wiretapping for over a year, and executive editor Bill Keller’s refusal to answer questions about that decision. In the days that followed, FAIR activists called and emailed Keller’s office, and several received […]
CBS‘s new Public Eye editor Vaughn Ververs has posted two responses to activists who questioned CBS‘s imbalanced October 2 Face the Nation segment on Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s indictment. As a FAIR Action Alert pointed out (10/4/05), the segment featured a panel of three Republicans and no Democrats. Portions of Ververs’ responses are below. […]
In his September 27 online column, NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin responded to FAIR’s September 21 Action Alert regarding a Morning Edition report on terrorism that implied that only “extremist groups” perceived a connection between the recent London subway bombings and Britain’s involvement in Iraq. Below is Dvorkin’s response. A ‘FAIR’ Question One more issue from […]
Washington Post ombudsman Michael Getler used his June 19 column to respond to FAIR’s June 14 Action Alert regarding Post reporter Dana Milbank’s use of the term “wing nuts” to describe activists pressing the media to take the Downing Street memos more seriously. The relevant portion of Getler’s column is below, followed by FAIR’s response. […]
On April 29, FAIR issued an action alert pointing out that G. Gordon Liddy, who appeared on a Scarborough Country segment on violent talk radio rhetoric (MSNBC, 4/27/05), had on his own radio show advocated shooting federal agents. FAIR received this response from the show’s host, Joe Scarborough: Just saw your site’s write up on […]
In the paper’s April 24 edition, Washington Post ombudsman Michael Getler responded to FAIR’s action alert regarding the Post’s soft profile of Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.) Below is Getler’s column, followed by FAIR’s response. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12491-2005Apr23.html FAIR or Unfair Game? By Michael Getler Sunday, April 24, 2005; Page B06 I was inundated with e-mails and phone […]
On January 27, FAIR issued an action alert on the New York Times‘ and AP‘s use of the White House-friendly phrase “personal accounts” to describe Bush’s privatization plan. On March 6, Times public editor Daniel Okrent devoted part of his column to responding to FAIR activists and others on this issue. FAIR replied in its […]
On February 7, FAIR issued an action alert criticizing USA Today‘s re-writing of George W. Bush‘s Social Security rhetoric. Bush has said a number of times that the system will be “flat bust,” “exhausted” and “bankrupt” in the year 2042. In describing Bush’s position, USA Today changed those misleading claims, reporting that Bush has said […]
On December 13, FAIR issued an action alert, directed at CBS Evening News and CNN ‘s NewsNight , in response to misleading or unbalanced reports on Social Security that aired on December 9. CBS appeared to respond to those criticisms on the December 15 broadcast of CBS Evening News. But the network’s admission fell short […]
On November 16, FAIR issued an action alert about misleading reporting in the New York Times regarding civilian casualties in Fallujah. FAIR noted that in coverage of the recent U.S.-led assault on the city, the Times characterized civilian deaths from the April siege of Fallujah as “unconfirmed” on three separate occasions (“mostly unconfirmed reports of […]
September 28, 2004 Some callers to NBC Nightly News, responding to FAIR’s September 28 Action Alert, were told that FAIR’s transcript of Tom Brokaw’s item (9/24/04) on “liberals [who] want to ban the Bible” was incomplete. A spokesperson for NBC told callers that FAIR had left out a line in which a representative of a […]
