FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
New York Times public editor Daniel Okrent posted a response to FAIR’s May 14 Action Alert that criticized the paper’s May 14 report about CIA and Justice Department interrogation methods of Al Qaeda suspects. Though the techniques described in the article clearly seem to meet the legal definition of torture, the Times presented administration denials […]
New York Times public editor Daniel Okrent posted a response to FAIR’s April 15 Action Alert: Different forms of articles require different approaches for their writers. An April 15 “Reporter’s Notebook” by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, made light of some aspects of the hearings of the 9/11 commission, and in so doing roused the ire of […]
Last week, a FAIR action alert (3/18/04) raised questions about PBS NewsHour host Jim Lehrer’s curious “editor’s note” regarding comments made by independent journalist Christian Parenti on the program’s March 2 broadcast. The program is now issuing a response to the hundreds of activists who have written to the show. Parenti raised the possibility that […]
On February 16, a FAIR action alert called on ABC World News Tonight and the New York Times to offer a more nuanced explanation of the possible effects of a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. While some proponents of the amendment claim it would allow states to offer same-sex civil union arrangements, some legal […]
NPR ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin responded (1/28/04) to complaints about a Morning Edition interview with Vice President Richard Cheney (1/22/04), including many emails that were sent in response to a FAIR Action Alert (1/23/04). In his response, Dvorkin wrote that “FAIR’s suggestion that Morning Edition devote some time to further investigation of Cheney’s statements from that […]
In response to critics of ABC News‘ decision to pull the journalists traveling with three presidential campaigns, ABC has addressed the issue in its online daily political journal, the Note (12/12/03). Under the headline “Fairness: It’s What We All Want,” the response addressed itself to supporters of candidate Dennis Kucinich, who have been the most […]
In a recent action alert (12/2/03), FAIR pointed out that New York Times international affairs columnist Thomas Friedman had unfairly criticized anti-Bush protestors in London (11/30/03). Friedman claimed that protesters had nothing to say about the bombings of British targets in Istanbul, which were carried out on the same day as the protest: “Sorry, but […]
In the wake of a FAIR action alert, the New York Times printed the following correction on Saturday, October 4: An article on Wednesday about renewed criticism of the Bush administration for its handling of intelligence before the Iraq war misstated the circumstances under which international weapons inspectors left Iraq in 1998. They were withdrawn […]
Three days after its first report on the D.C. antiwar protests, readers of the New York Times were treated to a much different account of the same event. On October 30, the Times reported that the October 26 protests “drew 100,000 by police estimates and 200,000 by organizers’, forming a two-mile wall of marchers around […]
Activists contacting major media outlets regarding their coverage of Iraq seem to be having an impact on the coverage of this timely issue. On September 30, FAIR issued an action alert documenting the limited coverage of a major anti-war demonstration in London. The demonstration merited only passing mentions in the Washington Post and New York […]
On June 17, FAIR issued an action alert about the Washington Post’s reporting of President Bush’s June 14 commencement address at Ohio State University. Specifically, FAIR pointed out that the paper failed to note an announcement issued over the public address system warning that visible signs of protest would not be tolerated. This was not […]
FAIR’s October 2 Action Alert, “Can the New York Times Count– Or Quote– Peace Activists?,” got an immediate response from New York Times senior news editor Bill Borders. Borders wrote a number of responses to FAIR activists, including several claiming that “as it often does, FAIR has, I think, distorted our position here.” What follows […]
In his June 11 column, Boston Globe ombudsman Jack Thomas distorted the concerns of hundreds of letter-writers, and failed in his responsibility to his readers by relying solely on his own paper’s version of disputed events. Thomas was responding to the many complaints he received about the paper’s rejection of an ad from the environmental […]
Response from Fox News Channel (5/25/01): We received several inquiries as a result of an action alert sent out by Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. As is often the case, FAIR failed to live up to its acronym. Fox News Channel, like most other major television and print outlets, reported on claims by various sources […]
PBS has responded to hundreds of letters from activists around the country criticizing its policy regarding free airtime for presidential candidates. PBS has made two and half minutes available at the end of its NewsHour newscast for eight nights, reserving four nights for Al Gore and four nights for George W. Bush. FAIR pointed out […]
On September 20 – 23, 2000 in San Francisco, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) hosted the radio industry’s annual convention. One of the most powerful lobbies in the country, the NAB represents corporate media and works tirelessly to keep control of the airwaves away from the public and firmly in the hands of big […]
FAIR’s June 22 action alert, “Nader Left Out of Media Websites,” generated well over a thousand activist letters to mainstream news websites, urging them to include Ralph Nader, the leading third party presidential candidate,in their election coverage. Since then, many of the sites FAIR named in its alert have changed some of their election pages […]
Below is the letter PBS sent to FAIR detailing the findings of its internal investigation into the National Desk “gender wars” series, undertaken in response to the Feminist Coalition on Public Broadcasting. May 5, 2000 Ms. Jennifer L. Pozner Women’s Desk Director FAIR 130 West 25th Street New York, NY 10001 Dear Ms. Pozner: We […]
On April 17, the New York Times published the results of its investigationinto the May 1999 bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. The article, which reveals many new details about the bombing, should be viewed by media activists as a welcome development in the effort to shed journalistic light on the incident. Last October, […]
On March 27, FAIR released an action alert (“Why Were Government Propaganda Experts Working on News at CNN?”) urging readers to contact CNN and ask why the network allowed military propaganda specialists from an Army Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) unit to work in the news division of its Atlanta headquarters. Since then, FAIR has been contacted […]
