FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
This week on FAIR TV we take a look at the the “informal arrangement” between several media outlets–including the New York Times and the Washington Post– to not report news about a CIA drone base.
We also talk about the curious standard for “confirming” news from Israeli government officials, and we take a look at the 60 Minutes softball interview with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
At the top of his 60 Minutes interview with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Steve Kroft declares, “The White House offered us 30 minutes, barely enough time to scratch the surface of their complicated personal and professional relationship, let alone discuss their policies.” Apparently what that meant was, “So I didn’t bother to ask them about that policy stuff.”
In the latest edition of FAIR TV: Did Barack Obama’s inaugural address really signify a shift to the left? Plus the Washington Post gives the government a chance to make anonymous claims about how much Iranians are suffering due to their sanctions policy. And PBS takes a look at drones,with special funding from… drone manufacturer […]
A Washington Post story today (1/24/13) leads with this: The success of President Obama’s starkly liberal second-term agenda will rest largely on the shoulders of Senate majority leader Harry M. Reid, who has been a rock-solid political ally and a valued legislative tactician for Obama during his first term. That characterization of Obama’s agenda–shared by […]
Since the consensus seems to be that Obama’s inaugural address was actually a statement of a bold, progressive vision for his second term, it’s not a surprise that some in the corporate media are upset. Obama’s words were seen as particularly injurious to Republicans, who presumably already feel bad enough as it is.
Republicans and various right-wing commentators have had a thing for talking about the supposedly “anti-business” tilt of the Obama administration. It’s never made much sense–and it doesn’t make any more sense now that pundits are reacting to news that Obama will tap his current chief of staff Jack Lew to be his next Treasury secretary.
It goes to show you how limited the debate over warmaking is when politicians whose records are mostly pro-war can be portrayed as war skeptics. That’s what is happening with Barack Obama’s new cabinet picks: Sen. John Kerry for secretary of State and former Sen. Chuck Hagel as Defense secretary.
Are John Boehner’s ideas about tax cuts evidence of his “philosophy”? Or are they just misleading?
Fox host Bill O’Reilly has had with the incivility in public life. He’s ready to name names, calling the “haters” on the left and right. Funny, his list doesn’t include many on the right. Of course, he could start with himself….
Reporters appear to be wedded to a set of “rules” that say they are not allowed to convey reality to their readers and viewers.
Fox News CEO Roger Ailes recently renewed his contract, and he gave an interview to explain why. As one might expect, given the we-only-look-biased-because-the-other-guys-are-so-biased philosophy at Fox, he’s motivated by what he sees as the outrageously partisan media everywhere else (MediaBistro, 11/16/12): Ailes was also sparked by what he experienced at a Washington journalists’ dinner. […]
This week: What do corporate media get wrong about the “cycle of violence” in Gaza? Is there really such a thing as a “fiscal cliff”? And David Gregory says Obama’s big mistake was not having an economy-boosting event with CEOs. You mean like the one he had a week after being inaugurated in 2009? Take […]
New York Times media reporter David Carr (11/12/12) had some kind words for Fox News Channel‘s Election Night coverage: On Tuesday night, the people in charge of Fox News were confronted with a stark choice after it became clear that Mr. Romney had fallen short: was Fox, first and foremost, a place for advocacy or […]
Post-election lessons are everywhere in the media, as pundits either try to explain how Mitt Romney lost or what Obama must do in his second term. My favorite example of this came on the front page of USA Today (11/8/12): If you think it’s somewhat odd that Obama would need to “soothe Wall Street,” then […]
This week on FAIR TV: How does Obama’s “non-mandate” compare to Bush’s 2004 “mandate”? Does corporate media factchecking need a reality check? And we look at how superstorm Sandy failed to generate talk about climate change on the Sunday shows. Please watch it–and share it with your friends.<!–preview-break–>
Time magazine’s Joe Klein found the lesson (11/7/12) in Obama’s re-election. And it involves… wait for it… moving to the right: It will, and should, be argued that the election was a mandate for moderation. The last month of Mitt Romney‘s campaign, when he rushed to the center and suddenly made it a race, ratified […]
Surveying international reaction to Barack Obama’s re-election, NBC Nightly News correspondent Richard Engel declared (11/7/12): In the Middle East, there is hope that President Obama will embrace the Israeli/Palestinian peace process in second term the way he embraced the Arab Spring in his first. This would be a surprising reaction to find among people in […]
With the election over, you’re seeing familiar corporate media advice about the need for Obama to move to the right and learn to compromise with Republicans. Some of this is based on a frankly nonsensical view of the polarization that accompanied his first term. Matt Bai of the New York Times writes (11/7/12): There are, […]
On the new episode of FAIR TV: Is a new Obama ad…racist? We’ll take a look at how PBS is misreporting Iran, and also take a look at Joe Klein’s remarkable defense of killing four-year-old girls in other countries. Take a look–and please spread the word.
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 […]
