‘Debating’ War, Corporate Media Style
Discussions of what the Obama White House should do in Iraq and Syria are dominated by hawks, military officials and former national security insiders.
Will NBC Retract Story NYT Has Walked Back?
The New York Times decided to walk back its story once there was skepticism about the photos they had been supplied. Will NBC do the same thing for its viewers?
How Dare Hamid Karzai Take Our Money!
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams had a most peculiar reaction to revelations that Afghan president Hamid Karzai receives regular deliveries of cash from the Central Intelligence Agency.
Where Are They Now? The Reporters Who Got Iraq So Wrong
Ten years ago today, Colin Powell made the Bush administration’s case for going to war against Iraq, and much of what he said was false. Most of the journalists who promoted his justifications for the war paid no price for their failures.
‘Divided’ on Abortion Rights?
USA Today’s point in covering this weekend’s anti-choice “March for Life” is is to note that, 40 years after the Roe v. Wade decision, the country is divided on abortion rights. That’s an odd way of describing a 24-point spread in public opinion
Corporate Media Lose Their Favorite ‘Warrior Scholar’
There’s no doubt that the sex scandal that prompted CIA director David Petraeus’s sudden resignation late last week is a big story. New details–verified or not–seem to arrive almost by the hour. But the reason it seems to have shaken so many media figures is because Petraeus was uniquely beloved by many in the corporate […]
Iran: This Is What Propaganda Looks Like
Alarmist corporate media coverage of the “threat” from Iran is everywhere, thanks to a Senate appearance yesterday by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. But Clapper said very little in his remarks that would justify the propagandistic coverage we’re seeing. His main point was that Iran could launch attacks if it felt threatened. It is […]
What Do You Call a Guy Like Rick Perry?
Frontrunner-of-the-moment Rick Perry is getting a lot of press for his performance at the recent Republican debate—especially because he’s standing by his belief that Social Security is a “monstrous lie” and a Ponzi scheme, and that climate change is an untested theory advanced by corrupt, discredited scientists. You can call such ideas a lot of […]
Rick Perry’s Jobs ‘Swagger’
On NBC Nightly News (8/16/11): ANDREA MITCHELL: Perry’s Texas swagger is his calling card, bred of a hardscrabble boyhood on the family farm and Aggie roots at Texas A&M. Perry’s chief claim to challenging President Obama is the Texas jobs record. Perry says his state produced 40 percent of all the jobs created across America […]
Debt Ceilings and the ‘Balance’ Bias
There’s been plenty written about how reporters skew reality by treating “both sides” as equally intransigent or inflexible when it comes to the budget deficit battle. Another example, from the L.A. Times today (8/2/11): For Republicans, it was preventing any tax increase to upper-income families. For Democrats, it was ensuring no cuts to Social Security, […]
Obama’s Best Week Ever?
On yesterday’s Chris Matthews show on NBC, the assembled journalists all seem to agree that Barack Obama’s decision to cut a tax deal with Republicans and come out swinging against the left was great news. Time‘s Mike Duffy: “These liberals may scream, but they’ve been screaming about Barack Obama since the beginning. This isn’t anything […]
