Time Puffs Mexico’s President
Time cheers Mexico’s president for ‘saving’ the country. But why is it that most Mexicans don’t seem to care for his brand of market ‘reforms’?
14th Annual Fear and Favor Review
Private corporations care very much about the content of the news they sponsor or, as outlet owners, produce—that it not be too downbeat, or provide a platform for anyone asking hard questions about corporate America.
Time Journalists: Report to the Business Department
Time, Inc newsrooms will soon be reporting to the business side of the company– a concept which, as the New York Times notes, was “once verboten at journalistic institutions.”
Politico’s Pay-to-Play
The Chamber of Commerce and other powerful corporate interests like oil giant BP pony up to sponsor Politico–and just so happen to get glowing coverage in the very same outlet.
The Price of Twitter Is Based on the Cost of You
On the verge of an IPO, Twitter is estimated to have a market value of $15-16 billion. What does that mean for our society?
FAIR TV: What David Gregory Doesn’t Know, NBC’s News-Ads, Karl Plays Bush Softball
This week on FAIR TV: David Gregory knows one thing about Obamacare–and it’s not true. We take a look at some NBC “reporting” that looks a lot like advertising. Plus ABC‘s Jonathan Karl gets an interview with George W. Bush, and pitches all softballs.
At NBC News, the Anchor Has to Remind You You’re Not Watching an Ad
NBC’s Matt Lauer issued a clarification that his news report was not an advertisement. That was helpful, because the report appeared to be virtually identical to a paid infomercial.
FAIR TV: Pundits Attack Snowden, Maddow’s Misinformation, WaPo Op-Ed Sales Job
Pundits attack NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Rachel Maddow makes false claims about Iran and nuclear weapons. And the Washington Post’s new “Sponsored Views” feature will let let corporations and organizations post “responses” to the paper’s op-ed pieces–for a price.
An Invitation to a Live-Action Infomercial
I was invited to an event yesterday that was held specifically so that media companies can take money from companies who will pay for the chance to be mistaken for an expert.
FAIR REPORT: 13th Annual Fear & Favor Review
It’s a fair indication of the current state of play in U.S. media that, in 2012, TV newscasts were acknowledged to be “increasingly seeded with corporate advertising masquerading as news” (Washington Post, 1/3/12)—and the regulatory response was to call, not for an end to the practice of deceiving audiences, but for broadcasters to make note […]
Journalism by—and for—the Sponsors
The headline of a recent article posted at the website of the Atlantic–“David Miscavige Leads Scientology to Milestone Year”–probably tipped readers that something was more than a little off. It wasn’t an article, really; above the headline, in a yellow box, was the phrase “Sponsor Content.” But is what the Atlantic did–and quickly apologized for–really unusual?
SoundBites
Don’t Look to NYT to ‘Litigate’ the Facts Margaret Sullivan, the new New York Times public editor (9/16/12), used the topic of “voter fraud” to illustrate the concept of “false balance”―when two sides are treated as equivalent even when one side has reality on its side. Despite Republican efforts to pass laws to prevent voting […]
NPR Could Use Some ‘Energy Independence’ of Its Own
NPR‘s Tom Gjelten had a story on Morning Edition today (10/25/12) that made an important point about a prominent fallacy in the energy debate–and then spent the second half of the story falling into the exact same fallacy. The story questioned the constant use of the phrase “energy independence” in political discussions of U.S. energy […]
WaPo: Racism in Obama TV Ad?
The Obama campaign has released a new ad criticizing Mitt Romney for having a Swiss bank account and wanting to keep tax breaks for corporations that offshore jobs. The commercial’s most devastating line: Romney once railed against the deadly pollution from a coal plant. I know what you’re thinking: Totally racist, right? That’s sort of […]
FAIR TV: Factchecking Moderators, Chris Matthews Wants a King, When Advertisers Write the “News”
This week on FAIR TV: Who factchecks the debate moderators? What Does Chris Matthews Think is in the Constitution? And why not just let advertisers write the “news”? Please take a look– and spread the word.
Facebook Is Losing Your Mail in Hopes of Receiving More Bribes
Back in May, Facebook introduced its Promoted Posts program, giving groups and companies with pages on the social media site the option of paying to get their posts seen by more of their fans. The way Facebook works is that you don’t see every post by every friend or every page that you like—Facebook has […]
At NPR, You Can Take Money From Banks—Just Don’t Protest Them
Even if you’re not an expert in media ethics, you’d probably agree that a show about finance and business exclusively sponsored by one giant bank has an obvious conflict. The fact that the show is on public radio might make such an arrangement all the more curious. And the fact that the host of the […]
Obama Stoops to Convincing Voters Not to Support the Other Guy
Thomas Byrne Edsall on the New York Times‘ Campaign Stops blog (7/23/12) accuses Barack Obama of “the politics of anything goes.” His evidence: The Obama campaign is running ads attempting to persuade voters not to vote for Mitt Romney. The logic here is sort of hard to follow. First Edsall quotes Obama telling “those who […]
Local TV News–Now With Ice Cream!
A new survey from the Radio Television Digital News Association reveals that we’re getting more local TV news: For the fourth year in a row, the latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found that the average television station set a new record for the amount of local news aired. Over those last four years, the average […]
Keystone Pipeline: When Industry Ads and Industry-Friendly Coverage Collide
This is the sort of awkward juxtaposition that newspapers usually try to avoid. In today’s Washington Post (7/9/12), a story about the Keystone pipeline appears above a Chevron ad: Awkward. Then again, maybe not. Juliet Eilperin‘s article is all about what supporters of the pipeline project in the state of Montana are saying. Politicians, […]
