Why Are Michael Lewis—and 60 Minutes—Hyping SBF?
Acclaimed business writer Michael Lewis took to CBS’s 60 Minutes to tell the world that Sam Bankman-Fried was simply misunderstood.
Another 60 Minutes Puff Piece
60 Minutes’ interview with FBI chief James Comey was essentially an ad for the FBI, absent any critical scrutiny or questioning.
60 Minutes and Benghazi: When a Hoax Sounds Like a Hoax
Someone at CBS should have known the Benghazi story being peddled by their star witness didn’t add up.
CBS Does CIA PR
60 Minutes’ interview with former CIA official Mike Morell was more like a press briefing than an interview with a powerful figure who has never been asked questions by a TV journalist.
Is 60 Minutes Informing the Public—or Producing Informants?
60 Minutes was so excited to hear that its report made their audience eager to inform on their neighbors and family members, it sounded like the viewer’s mailbag at the end of an East German TV news show.
FAIR TV: Attacking Disability, ‘Good’ Government Leaks and Time’s Funny Iran History
60 Minutes goes after disability benefits, government leaks on that Somalia raid, and Time magazine’s Iran timeline is missing some important history.
What Did 60 Minutes Get Wrong About Disability?
CBS should have tried to settle whether there’s any actual evidence that widespread cheating of the disability program is going on. CBS was either uninterested in that, or decided that its stacked panel of talking heads provided the answer they wanted to hear.
FAIR TV: Big Papers Withhold News, Curious ‘Confirmation’ of Israeli Gov’t Claims, 60 Minutes Plays Softball
This week on FAIR TV we take a look at the the “informal arrangement” between several media outlets–including the New York Times and the Washington Post– to not report news about a CIA drone base.
We also talk about the curious standard for “confirming” news from Israeli government officials, and we take a look at the 60 Minutes softball interview with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
60 Minutes Plays Softball With Obama and Clinton
At the top of his 60 Minutes interview with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Steve Kroft declares, “The White House offered us 30 minutes, barely enough time to scratch the surface of their complicated personal and professional relationship, let alone discuss their policies.” Apparently what that meant was, “So I didn’t bother to ask them about that policy stuff.”
Mistakes, Madeleine Albright and Dead Iraqi Children
Newsweek has a feature called “My Favorite Mistake,” where a famous person talks about something they’ve done wrong.https://fair.org/blog/wp-admin/edit.php This week (7/24/11) it’s former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The mistake she cited was when she wore the wrong pin to a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and then said something critical about his Chechnya […]
Julian Assange, Conspiracy Theorist
Assange believes the government keeps important secrets? And that mainstream media play along? That is kooky.
CBS Re-Airs Drone Propaganda
Back in May, CBS‘ 60 Minutes aired a terrible report on the Air Force’s use of drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan– see FAIR’s action alert for all the details. CBS never responded to the criticism, but they did re-air the segment this past Sunday, without any major changes. To let CBS know how you feel […]
Downsized Reporters Turn to ‘Deceptive’ PR
Writing for CJR.org (6/16/09), Media Bloodhound blogger Brad Jacobson finds that “former CNN correspondent-turned-PR consultant Gene Randall’s video ‘report‘ for oil giant Chevron might be unprecedented for how it blurred the line between public relations and journalism,” but is still more worried that “the Randall/Chevron production raises not only ethical questions, but also the question […]
60 Minutes Does PR for Drones
FAIR has a new Action Alert on 60 Minutes‘ May 10 broadcast extolling the virtues of unmanned drones, with no perspectives at all from critics of the weapons–who might have pointed out that they kill 50 innocent civilians for every Al-Qaeda leader they assassinate. Please copy your letters to 60 Minutes to the comments thread […]
