Syria Skepticism
U.S. suggestions that the Syrian government could have used chemical weapons have been treated as fact by some media outlets, and are helping to fuel the case for greater U.S. military involvement.
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Social Security Cuts Are Media’s ‘Center’
The White House plan to cut Social Security benefits has been praised by major media as a brave move towards the “middle” by Obama, as well as an effort to use a more “accurate” measure of inflation. Neither claim is credible. Part of the White House plan is to change how inflation is calculated, by […]
In Death as in Life, Chávez Target of Media Scorn
Venezuela’s left-wing populist president Hugo Chávez died on Tuesday, March 5, after a two-year battle with cancer. If world leaders were judged by the sheer volume of corporate media vitriol and misinformation about their policies, Chávez would be in a class of his own.
Media and the Keystone March
Tens of thousands of climate activists marched in Washington D.C.on February 17. Did the corporate media notice them?
PBS Ombud, Nova Disagree on Drone Disclosure
PBS ombud Michael Getler agrees with FAIR that the recent Nova special on drones that was underwritten by Lockheed Martin–a major military contractor and drone manufacturer–violates PBS funding guidelines.
PBS Drone Coverage Brought to You by Drone Makers
The PBS Nova broadcast “Rise of the Drones” was sponsored by drone manufacturer Lockheed Martin–a clear violation of PBS’s underwriting guidelines.
Obama to the Left?
The media message about the Obama inauguration ceremony was that he was announcing a clear shift to the left. But coverage failed to provide much background on the president’s actual policies, which would have challenged that impression.
Taking Aim at the Elderly
Wealthy pundits didn’t like the outcome of the “fiscal cliff” tax deal– mostly because it didn’t do more to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits.
The P.U.-litzer Prizes for 2012
It’s that time of year: When FAIR presents the P.U.-litzers, the “awards” for some of the stinkiest media moments of the year. Smearing Occupy Wall Street? Praising Paul Ryan’s wonkery? Phony factchecking? It’s all here. So, without further ado…
Robin Hood Isn’t News
We’re told that the “fiscal cliff” requires spending cuts and more revenue. But there’s a simple way to get more tax dollars– a small “Robin Hood” tax on financial transactions. So why won’t the press talk about it?
Turning Their Back on Bradley Manning
Bradley Manning is accused of leaking incredibly vital information that made headlines around the world. But the developments at his trial last week were evidently not newsworthy.
CEO Evening News?
CBS Evening News has decided the best experts on the “fiscal cliff” are corporate CEOs who want to cut Social Security and Medicare. Let’s tell them what we think about that.
When Is a Mandate Not a Mandate?
When it comes to explaining election results, there’s no precise way to determine whether voters gave the winner a “mandate”–defined by Oxford as “the authority to carry out a policy, regarded as given by the electorate to a party or candidate that wins an election.” That makes it interesting to see how media use the expression–and which presidents they think earned one.
Global Warming Silence on Sunday TV
You’d think a massive hurricane that wreaked havoc along the East Coast might force the high-profile Sunday morning TV shows to talk about climate change. You’d be wrong. It’s time for us to tell the Sunday talkshows: Talk about climate change. Sign FAIR’s petition today. It is difficult for most people to keep ignoring the […]
The Moderators’ Agendas
The establishment media figures who moderated the 2012 major-party candidate debates confined the discussion to a remarkably narrow range of topics, a FAIR analysis of debate questions finds. A wide variety of topics were never brought up in questions during the six total hours of debate. Among economic subjects, no questions were asked about poverty, […]
PBS and Iran’s ‘Nuclear Weapons’
In an October 22 discussion of the foreign policy presidential debate, the PBS NewsHour‘s Jeffrey Brown stated that “Iran’s nuclear weapons program has been a particular flash point.” A few weeks earlier (10/5/12) on the NewsHour, Ray Suarez said that Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez had continued to thwart American efforts on a range of international […]
Factchecking Libya
The September 11, 2012, attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, became a contentious issue in the October 16 presidential debate (FAIR Blog, 10/17/12). The discussion didn’t do much to illuminate U.S. foreign policy, but it exposed the essential uselessness in what corporate media offer as political “factchecking.”
Moderate Debates and Debate Moderators
Jim Lehrer is hopping mad. The New York Times (10/2/12) reports that the PBS anchor “has been seething. He said he was outraged by suggestions that he was a ‘safe’ and uninspired choice to moderate the first of four debates.” The focus of the Times piece is the fact that people have more ways to express their opinions about the presidential […]
Post Ombud Agrees with FAIR on Big Oil Sponsorship
The Washington Post has responded to FAIR’s September 14 Action Alert, which criticized the paper for presenting a two-page energy “debate” that didn’t include critics of the industry–and didn’t disclose to readers that the discussion was sponsored by Big Oil. In his most recent column, Post ombud Patrick Pexton (9/21/12) largely agreed with FAIR’s take, acknowledging that the panel discussions […]
Brought to You by…Big Oil?
The Washington Post had a two-page spread in its September 11 edition devoted to a “debate” on energy policy. But industry critics were missing from the picture. Why? Perhaps because the oil industry, undisclosed to Post readers, was sponsoring the discussion.
