‘The Times Is Telling You to Choose Between Rights and Safety’
“The only way we’re going to get to real safety in our society…is by actually investing in the things that lead to safety.”
Helen Zia on Vincent Chin Legacy, Alec Karakatsanis on Chesa Boudin Recall
It’s 40 years since Vincent Chin’s murder, with a depressingly resonant context of anti-Asian hatred and scapegoating,
‘But for the Failures of His Attorneys, He Would Not Have Been Convicted’
“Jones’ lawyers present[ed] just an incredible wealth of evidence pointing to his innocence…. It really just dismantled the entire case.”
Liliana Segura on Supreme Court v. Innocence
While alternative media are up in arms about the Supreme Court’s ruling, corporate news media don’t seem to think there’s much to see there.
Matt Gertz, Eric K. Ward on the Buffalo Massacre & ‘Replacement Theory’
The Buffalo killer is a white supremacist who believes there’s a plot run by Jews to “replace” white people with Black and brown people.
‘The Core of Copaganda Is the Symbiotic Relationship Between Press and Police’
“We have to understand that journalism is something that anybody should be able to do. We should all be able to document our stories.”
Josmar Trujillo on Hyper-Policing
“If it bleeds, it leads” journalism lets news outlets look as though they’re tracking an important event in real time.
‘This Portrayal of Urban Environment Definitely Did Fuel Fear’
“The more people watched local television news, the more likely they were to associate criminality with being Black.”
‘Once the Federal Government Legalizes, Many More States Would Follow Through’
“Marijuana isn’t just about legalization…but making sure that the communities that have been harmed the most…are really at the center.”
‘There Is Plenty of Evidence to Request the Arrest of Trump’
“Bringing criminal charges when there is probable cause to believe that Trump committed federal crimes is what the law requires.”
Layla A. Jones on ‘Lights. Camera. Crime’
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s “A More Perfect Union” project is aimed at examining racism in US institutions, including media institutions.
NYT Responded to Subway Shooting With ‘Relentless String of Copaganda’
Alec Karakatsanis looked closely at how the New York Times used a crisis to boost police talking points and lies in some creative ways.
Marjorie Cohn on Prosecuting Trump, Mike Liszewski on Marijuana Justice
This week on CounterSpin: He wanted to go to the Capitol on January 6, Donald Trump tells the Washington Post, but the Secret Service wouldn’t let him. He hated the violence, and was furious Nancy Pelosi wasn’t putting a stop to it. He doesn’t remember getting many phone calls, and he didn’t destroy any […]
Corporate Press Scapegoats Vulnerable Homeless for Rise in Subway Crime
Coverage that conflates crime with homelessness scapegoats a marginalized population–and leaves out rising crimes against homeless people.
Extra! Soundbites January/February 2022
800,000 Dead From Covid—Who Cares? On a day when some outlets (e.g., New York Times, 12/13/21) soberly reported that the recorded US death toll was about to surpass 800,000—a number greater than the entire population of Seattle, Denver or Washington, DC; greater than the US toll from the Spanish Flu or the Civil War—the Atlantic […]
NYT Twists Stats to Insist We Need More Policing
The analysis presented the need for a police-based solution as indisputable —a position that is, in fact, highly disputed.
Reformist DAs Spark Murdoch Empire Freakout
Rupert Murdoch’s biggest outlets have spent the beginning of 2022 on a full-scale attack against progressive criminal justice reform.
‘Part of the Road to a Solution Is Really Understanding the Problem’
This annual round-up reflects the conversations we hope offered a voice or context or information that helped you interpret the news you read.
Best of CounterSpin 2021
This annual round-up reflects all the conversations we hope have offered a voice that might help you interpret the news you read.
Corporate Media Celebrate Criminal Justice System—While Differing on Outcomes
The jury’s decision was framed as the correct call by the justice system, a verdict that upheld the right to self defense,
