NYT Miscounts Obama’s Afghan Troops Numbers
Most people know that Obama did not take office in 2010. So why offer that as the starting point in an analysis of how Obama is “bring[ing] the troops home” from Afghanistan?
Doubling Down: Healthcare Site Isn’t Obama’s Katrina—It’s His Iraq War
No, the website problems with the Affordable Care Act aren’t like Hurricane Katrina. They’re more like the Iraq War.
Obama’s Deadly Website Compared to Katrina
To some people, a new law that is running into technical problems with a poorly designed website is not really the same as a massive disaster in one of America’s iconic cities that killed almost 2,000 people.
David Gregory’s Curious History of the Tea Party
To suggest that the Tea Party exists to express dissatisfaction with both major parties and the national security state, and that Obama’s presidency just so happened to coincide with the rise of this movement, stretches even the most active imagination.
Drones, the Media and Malala’s Message
Corporate media were very interested in Malala Yousafzai’s message about standing up to the Taliban. But her comments about US drone strikes? Not so newsworthy.
To NPR, TPP Is a Poker Game With a Pot Full of Jobs
Far from a free pot of good jobs, critics of the TPP have repeatedly argued that the deal involves restricting powers of domestic governments on things like food safety and environmental standards, while incentivizing the offshoring of jobs.
Shutdown: Media SHOULD Play the Blame Game
Media like to dismiss the partisan “blame game,” but in cases like this placing blame is something that journalism ought to do.
When It Comes to State Violence, Too Much Is Never Enough
Time magazine’s Michael Crowley (9/9/13) offers an analysis of how the Syrian situation reflects on Barack Obama’s presidency: Whatever comes of Obama’s confrontation with Assad, an even more dangerous confrontation lies in wait—the one with Iran. If another round of negotiations with Tehran should fail, Obama may soon be obliged to make good on his […]
The Accelerating Assault on Journalism
U.S. soldier Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning’s 35-year sentence represents the harshest punishment issued to date for providing media with evidence of government wrongdoing (Forbes, 8/21/13). She is the first whistleblower to be convicted under the Espionage Act, ratifying the new reality that those who give the press information that the government wants to keep secret […]
Student Loan Rates Drop—or Maybe They Rise?
The new student loan law lowers rates–and then, almost certainly, raises them in the near future. But hey–at least it’s bipartisan.
Barack Obama’s Keystone Media Criticism
In a recent New York Times interview, Barack Obama pointed out that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline probably won’t create many jobs–something we’ve been pointing out here on the FAIR Blog for a long time now,
Obama, Like Ike, ‘Avoided Military Adventures’? Not Quite
NY Times says Obama, like Dwight Eisenhower, avoided “military adventures” because he is “leaving Afghanistan.” Sure–after massively escalating the war there.
FAIR TV: Snowden & Hayden, Pro-Equality ‘Bias,’ Climate Coverage
CBS covers the Edward Snowden and the NSA scandal by asking Bush-era NSA chief Michael Hayden for help. And NPR wonders if media coverage of marriage equality is too tilted in favor of… equality? Plus network TV doesn’t cover Obama’s climate speech–but the fake newscast at Comedy Central does.
No Laughing Matter: Comedians Gave More Time Than News Shows to Climate Speech
Who would have thought the future of the environment was some kind of joke? It turns out comedians actually seem to care more about climate change than the people who produce real news programs do.
What Tea Party Did Tom Friedman Go To?
Friedman’s garbled recollection of a major U.S. political movement is a reminder that someone who doesn’t understand the politics of his own country is probably not going to give you a lot of help understanding the politics of other people’s countries.
Sharpton’s Partisan Politics
While supporting the president and almost exclusively attacking the GOP and the Tea Party, Al Sharpton shields the president from accountability not only as a TV host, but as a representative of black America.
FAIR TV: Spinning Surveillance, Friedman’s Iraq Revisionism, Farewell to Michael Hastings
The administration’s defense of domestic surveillance is in tatters, but few media outlets seem to notice; Thomas Friedman revises his Iraq War stance, again; and a farewell to journalist Michael Hastings.
Spinning Surveillance via Discredited NSA Talking Points
What might it say about the depth of NSA’s record of success stories that, even after its prime exhibit is debunked, the White House is still retailing the story, the second time around with muddled language?
FAIR TV: Bradley Manning, Afghan Atrocity, David Gregory’s Phony Gotcha
What’s the press saying about the Bradley Manning trial? We take a look at a strange CBS Evening News report about a U.S. atrocity in Afghanistan, and David Gregory thinks he found an Obama flip-flop.
Pointless Partisanship on Surveillance
“Democrats on one side, Republicans on the other” is the way conventional Beltway reporters seem to see the world–and it’s reflected in their reporting on political events. On the front page of USA Today (6/7/13), Susan Page has a piece wondering if the unfolding scandals surrounding the White House and surveillance will threaten the president’s […]
