FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
Whether it’s called a war or a humanitarian “kinetic military action,” there are certain patterns in corporate media coverage when the U.S. is engaged in military action, and the bombing of Libya is no exception—from a parade of officials to a narrow range of debate to an emphasis on the infallible precision of U.S. weapons. […]
The San Francisco Chronicle is apparently in trouble with the White House for posting video of a protest against the White House’s treatment of suspected WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning. The Chronicle‘s Carolyn Lochhead reports: The White House threatened Thursday to exclude the San Francisco Chronicle from pooled coverage of its events in the Bay Area […]
Some mystical power forces the corporate media to cover Donald Trump. In the New York Times today: But White House officials concluded about a month ago that the falsehoods had moved from “the nether regions of the Internet” into the mainstream political arena, thanks in large part to the efforts of Mr. Trump, the real […]
Today the Drudge Report (4/26/11) screams: SHOCK POLL: ONLY 38% SAY OBAMA ‘DEFINITELY’ BORN IN USA The all-caps headline links to a USA Today story that quotes that 38 percent figure, courtesy of a new Gallup poll. For the record, the poll also asked respondents the same question about Donald Trump. Forty-three percent say they […]
NBC anchor David Gregory on NBC Nightly News (4/9/11) explaining how sees Obama’s 2012 strategy: And I thought what was striking about what the president said, if you listen to his comments made Friday night, he sounded very much like a Republican talking about the need to cut spending. That’s the re-election play here. He […]
This New York Times piece by Jeff Zeleny on the budget deal was actually headlined: President Adopts a Measured Course to Recapture the Middle Zeleny explained: President Obama opened the week by calling on Democrats to embrace his re-election campaign. He closed it by praising Republicans for forging a compromise to cut spending this year […]
A Drudge Report headline today (4/6/11) representsthe tip of the rotten iceberg: RACE BASE: Obama looks to Rev. Al Sharpton for help in re-election…
The Los Angeles Times‘ Michael Muskal explains Obama’s 2012 campaign: Running for reelection is different than running for the first time because the incumbent has a record that voters can evaluate. Obama will cite healthcare insurance overhaul, his administration’s response to the recession and his foreign policy, which includes winding down wars in Iraq and […]
A brave, truth-telling whistleblower has emerged to tell the White House’s side of the story in the Libya War. The inside scoop appears in a Los Angeles Times article by Christi Parsons (4/2/11) headlined, “For Obama, a Carefully Calculated Delay on Justifying Libya Airstrikes.” Are you confused by the White House’s decision-making on Libya? Fear […]
The New York Times‘ Helene Cooper on President Obama’s speech last night (3/29/11): To the democracy protesters across the Middle East, he vowed that the United States would stand by them, even as he said that “progress will be uneven, and change will come differently in different countries,” a partial acknowledgment that complex relations between […]
This is an ad for some sort of Time magazine web feature, grabbed today from the magazine’s homepage: Time is a little late to the table; this has been the media line since shortly after Obama was elected (FAIR Action Alert, 2/3/09) and has been going strong ever since (Extra!, 1/11).
The New York Times has a piece today (3/17/11) about new White House press secretary Jay Carney and how his background suits him for the job. Carney was previously a reporter for Time magazine, and was apparently notmuch of a partisan–he “complained privately” that the magazine’s coverage of the 2008 campaign “was too lopsided toward […]
The subhead sums up the point of USA Today‘s lead story today (2/14/11) about Barack Obama’s budget proposal: Obama Proposes Cuts to Trim Deficit; GOP, Others Want More The piece by Richard Wolf and Mimi Hall begins, “President Obama will send Congress a 2012 budget today that would trim the budget deficit by $1.1 trillion […]
On Sunday (2/13/11), the Washington Post had an odd piece about Obama’s budget proposal–starting with the odd headline, “Obama to Propose Spending Cuts in Budget Plan Aimed at Countering Conservatives.” Republicans have been stressing spending cuts, so Obama is “countering” that with… spending cuts? Huh. The piece tries to argue that these calls for austerity […]
Washington Post columnist (and CNN host) Kathleen Parker turned in some thoughts (1/30/11) about what she didn’t hear Barack Obama’s State of the Union address: He didn’t say it. That word: “exceptional.” Barack Obama described an exceptional nation in his State of the Union address, but he studiously avoided using the word conservatives long to […]
Jay Carney was a Time magazine reporter, bureau chief and frequent TV talking head. He is married to ABC reporter Claire Shipman. He left journalism to be Joe Biden’s communications director, andwas just namedBarack Obama’s next press secretary. It used to bemore common to see people criticize thismedia/politics revolving door. Journalists who jump over the […]
[mp3-jplayer tracks=”CounterSpin012811 Laila El Haddad and Robert Weissman @https://eadn-wc04-3257648.nxedge.io/audio/counterspin/CounterSpin012811.mp3″] Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: Al Jazeera and the Guardian newspaper are publishing what are being called the Palestine Papers, leaked documents relating to the Israel-Palestine negotiations. The revelations, mostly of significant Palestinian concessions, are mostly being ignored in the U.S. media, dismissed as things […]
With increasing vehemence since the midterm elections, pundits and journalists have recommended Barack Obama move to the right–and now are citing recent polling to suggest that the president has benefited from following their advice. But there is little evidence that Obama’s current approval ratings have anything to do with a rightward shift, and the entire […]
From the post-State of the Union discussion on the Charlie Rose Show (1/25/11): CHARLIE ROSE: With respect to his base, where are they tonight? They listened to him move to the center– JOHN SUNUNU: On the Upper West Side. JOHN HEILEMANN: Drinking heavily on the Upper West Side. (LAUGHTER) The discussion went on to explain […]
It’s normal for the opposition party to deliver a rebuttal address to the State of the Union. Last night Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin was given that responsibility. But further-to-the-right Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota delivered the “Tea Party” response to the State of the Union, which was initially scheduled to air on the Tea […]
