FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
Many big papers have rules about when reporters can use anonymous sources. It should be rare, and the information generated should be important and difficult to get without granting a source the privilege to speak anonymously. Of course, reality is different–as Janine Jackson documented in the new issue of Extra!. Anonymous sources supposedly aren’t allowed […]
A New York Times piece today (11/29/11) about the U.S. airstrikes that apparently killed 24 Pakistani soldiers opens with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani speaking publicly about the incident, as does Pakistani military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. Readers are then treated to a lesson in how U.S. officials speak to important news outlets […]
The New York Times reports that Chelsea Clinton will be a full time special correspondent for NBC News, starting more or less immediately. Salon‘s Glenn Greenwald connected this news to the media careers of Meghan McCain (MSNBC), Luke Russert (NBC) and Jenna Bush Hager (NBC), and reached this conclusion about the state of our meritocracy: […]
It’s hardly necessary for a critic to argue that the country’s major daily newspapers, the New York Times and Washington Post, routinely ignore their stated principles on anonymous sources (however vague such standards may be to begin with), the outlets make the case so vividly themselves. The New York Times rules state, for instance, that […]
FAIR editor Jim Naureckas tweeted recently, “NATO’s installation of an Al Qaeda-friendly government in Libya is one of 2011’s most underreported stories.” He’s got a point. The Washington Post today published a pretty interesting look at how the Libyan government viewed the jihadist threat, thanks to some documents recovered in Tripoli: The documents were uncovered […]
A few weeks ago Newsweek‘s piece on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn rape case offered a welcome break from some of the sloppy, offensive coverage of the case we’ve seen elsewhere in the media. The magazine even cast doubt on some of the reporting coming from the New York Times. This week, though, is another matter. John […]
U.S. officials seem to be making progress in convincing Iraqi politicians to let some troops stay in Iraq beyond the December withdrawal deadline. The Washington Post weighs in today (8/4/11) and gets some anonymous straight talk: “There seems to be broad partnerships and political coalitions emerging that take tough decisions,” said a senior U.S. Embassy […]
“Iran arming Iraq insurgents”was last month’s story. Today’s papers are telling a different story; the new line being pushed by U.S. officials is that Iran is supporting Al-Qaeda. Today’s Washington Post: Iran Allows Money, Recruits to Reach Al-Qaeda, U.S. Says ‘Secret deal’ allegedly supports activities of terrorists in Pakistan In the New York Times: Treasury […]
From the L.A. Times (6/9/11): A tattered tent, shreds of carpet and other scorched debris were all that were left of a favored retreat of Moammar Gadhafi just outside the Libyan capital, the aftermath of what appeared to be a NATO bombing run. Was the usually idyllic nature preserve a “command and control” center used […]
Seymour Hersh reports in the New Yorker (6/6/11–subscription required) that there is s virtually no evidence Iran has a nuclear weapons program, despite huge efforts on the part of the U.S. to prove otherwise. Though Hersh’s findings do not contradict the past two National Intelligence Estimates, they do fly in the face of long-held official […]
A headline today at the Washington Post (6/3/11) reads, “A Reprieve for Higher-Ed Companies?” A more honest headline might have been, “A Reprieve for Us?” The story discusses congressional action on a bill that would increase oversight of private, for-profit colleges, since many students take out government-subsidized student loans in order to attend such schools. […]
What’s the Israeli government’s new “plan” for peace? Reading the New York Times doesn’t help your understand where they stand. Earlier this week, the Times‘ Ethan Bronner (5/17/11) praised a speech by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for exhibiting “greater flexibility on territory.” Bronner wrote that he showed “more willingness to yield territory than he […]
The Washington Post‘s Greg Jaffe (4/1/11): Some of the United States’ partners have acknowledged that the initial descriptions of the intervention in Libya no longer apply. “What is happening in Libya is not a no-fly zone,” a senior European diplomat told reporters, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity. “The no-fly zone was a diplomatic […]
U.S. media coverage of the death of Jawaher Abu Rahmah reflected how the corporate press routinely covers high-profile civilian deaths caused by Israel. The Israeli government, it seems, can count on U.S. media to print its anonymous claims—no matter how baseless. Two days after Abu Rahmah, a Palestinian woman from the West Bank village of […]
The Washington Post has an interesting piece on the CIA’s drone program in Pakistan (2/21/11), pointing out that the drones are killing plenty of Pakistanis, but not the “high-value” ones: CIA drone attacks in Pakistan killed at least 581 militants last year, according to independent estimates. The number of those militants noteworthy enough to appear […]
From the Washington Post piece today (2/15/11) about TARP inspector general Neil Barofsky’s resignation: “We’re fine with critics,” said one Treasury official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak more candidly. “[But] he’s been consistently wrong about a lot of big things.” That’s a prettyserious charge to level atsomeone–which is probablywhy you’d […]
Now this is a head scratcher.”As Arabs Protest, U.S. Speaks Up” is the headline today over a story by Scott Wilson and Joby Warrick in the Washington Post. The storyattempts to arguethat the Obama administration is backing protests in Tunisia, Egypt and Lebanon–in the first two cases, regimes backed strongly by the United States (Egypt […]
Anonymous Israeli officials are weighing in at the New York Times today. Let’s remember the Times has some rules regarding the use of anonymous sources: The use of unidentified sources is reserved for situations in which the newspaper could not otherwise print information it considers reliable and newsworthy. When we use such sources, we accept […]
The lead of the New York Times story today (12/2/10) on the FCC’s new internet plan: The plan from the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission to ensure an open and neutral Internet drew mixed reviews on Wednesday from consumer advocates and Internet service providers, presenting the agency with an uncertain way forward as it […]
From one of the Washington Post‘s stories about WikiLeaks: A senior U.S. intelligence officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be identified, said: “No one should think of American diplomats as spies. But our diplomats do, in fact, help add to our country’s body of knowledge on a wide […]
