FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
Froma March 2 report on CNN about the U.S. killing nine Afghan boys: MICHAEL HOLMES: I mean, just another terrible thing. We’ve seen this happen before. DON LEMON: Yes. Sad all the way around. He did apologize, but still. HOLMES: It does a lot of damage to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. You don’t win […]
“Being independent right now is a really good thing. Being too far right or left right now is a bit dangerous, given what’s going on in the Middle East.”
The Washington Post had a report yesterday (2/22/11) about the military tradition of giving “challenge coins.” For thoseunfamiliar, here’s a quick explanation: “Challenge coins,” as they are known, have become an important part of the ethos of the armed forces, where the story of service members’ careers–deployments, promotions, awards–is told by the ribbons and patches […]
According to this post at Media Bistro (2/10/11), CNN is adding three new contributors. Two are right-wingers: Dana Loesch, a Tea Party radio host and editor of Andrew Breitbart‘s Big Journalism website. Will Cain is a commentator at the National Review website. And the “left”? His name is Cornell Belcher, a pollster and advertising/messaging consultant […]
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 […]
Appearing on CNN‘s Reliable Sources (1/10/11), Time‘s Joe Klein denounced the “crap” on the Fox News Channel. And as many pundits are prone to do, he found the need to balance that by citing a comparable example from the “other” side: Well, that brings me to point number two…. Cable news chooses not to really […]
This is an actual CNN.com headline: Palin Re-Tweet Raises Questions And the actual lead paragraph: Normally, it’s what Sarah Palin tweets that makes news. This time it’s what she has re-tweeted. The “substance” is that Palin retweeted a comment promoting Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal. The piece ends: A Palin spokesperson was not immediately available […]
Remember the toppling of that Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad (4/9/03) that signified the “end” of the Iraq War? At the time, there were critics who pointed out that the extensively televised images of a jubilant crowd of Iraqis were misleading.The sense of media excitement was unmistakable; as FAIR pointed out, the Los Angeles Times […]
Internal problems at CNN have jumped from the gossip pages to the New York Times. Brian Stelter reports today (12/8/10) on behind-the-scenes clashesat the new program Parker Spitzer, which is co-hosted by liberal-leaning former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and conservative columnist Kathleen Parker. Stelter writes: The ratings for CNN‘s latest experiment are stagnant. The […]
The ubiquitous CNN pundit on Larry King last night: KING: Could the pundits be wrong? DAVID GERGEN: Absolutely. Absolutely. It was a wonderful piece in the Wall Street Journal this lastweek by Josh Lerner. He was a really interesting young man who went back to a lot of political science and said more often than […]
TVNewser posts word of a CNN special this weekend hosted by Fareed Zakaria: Fareed Zakaria will debut his first primetime special this weekend, solidifying his new role at CNN. The special, Restoring the American Dream: A Fareed Zakaria GPS Special, will feature Zakaria’s talks with four global CEOs, who provide advice for businesses and political […]
You may remember James O’Keefe as the video hoaxter who fooled media into thinking ACORN gave tax advice to a man wearing a pimp costume (FAIR Action Alert, 3/11/10). Or as the miscreant whose attempts to interfere with Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office phones got him arrested (Extra!, 4/10). Now O’Keefe has a new claim […]
CNN president JonKlein is out–replaced byKen Jautz, who was theboss at Headline News. He is, among other things, the guy who brought Glenn Beck to television: CNN‘s Headline News has hired radio talkshow host Glenn Beck to host a one-hour primetime show, according to a Daily Variety report (1/17/06). Variety quotes CNN Headline News president […]
As FAIR documented in an August 11 action alert, CNN‘s The Situation Room was featuring alarmist views on Social Security, particularly from the network’s political analyst David Gergen. We know CNN has heard from activists;Wolf Blitzer’s email response was, “I am certain this subject isn’t going away.” Sure enough, the show was back at it […]
Reuters editor-in-chief David Schlesinger sent a memo to staffers on July 8 with the subject line “How Social Media Impacts Your Professional Life,” suggesting new rules for journalists’ private expressions of opinion. So far, the memo seems to have only been discussed on a German language media blog (Ruhr Barone, 7/22/10). Jumping off from the […]
Reporting on Andrew Breitbart’s latest bit of deceit–using a selectively edited video to paint a low-level USDA official Shirley Sherrod as a racist–has given the media a chance to resurrect one of their favorite myths: Breitbart’s triumphant takedown of the community-organizing group ACORN. In September 2009, Breitbart’s website BigGovernment.com posted videos, made by conservative activists […]
As France’s lower house of parliament approved a ban on wearing full-face Islamic veils such as the burqa or niqab, many U.S. news outlets left out a key voice in their reports: the Muslim women in France who are actually affected by the ban. Several major outlets, including the New York Times (7/14/10), Washington Post […]
I think Jim Naureckas’ Erick Erickson/David Duke equation (FAIR Blog, 7/14/10) is overdrawn. Erickson was playing off remarks by King Samir Shabazz, the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) member who stood in front of the largely African-American polling place in Philadelphia with a night stick in his hand. Shabazz is on record in another context […]
When he got a gig doing political commentary for CNN, hate-blogger Erick Erickson assured Howard Kurtz that he had realized that “I had to grow up in how I write.” And Erickson convinced the New York Times that he had become a kinder, gentler pundit. But hating is what Erickson does. That’s why it’s unsurprising […]
The right-wing Newsmax site has a notably positive profile of CNN anchor John King. Why would they take such a liking to a member of the dreaded Liberal Media Establishment? Newsmax‘s Ron Kessler gives his reason: When contributor Erick Erickson of RedState.com leaves out a point that might buttress his conservative arguments, King gladly supplies […]
