FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
One of the most confusing terms in the media discussion is “objectivity.” In philosophy, it refers to a belief in a reality independent of the conscious mind, generally one that can more or less be known and meaningfully discussed. In journalism, on the other hand, it means “don’t scare away any potential customers.” “Objective” journalism […]
In the if-you-like-sausage category, the New York Times‘ Jeremy Peters has a piece today (7/16/12) about a new trend in journalism: Political sources demanding—and receiving—final control over what they are quoted as saying in news stories. Quote approval is standard practice for the Obama campaign, used by many top strategists and almost all midlevel aides […]
New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters (5/22/12) covers the new attack ad being released by Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS group. Under the (somewhat funny) headline “Subtler Entry From Masters of Attack Ads,” Peters makes it sound like this is something of a scoop, and certainly a pretty big deal: When it makes its debut Wednesday […]
[mp3-jplayer tracks=”CounterSpin050412 Jonathan Chait and Brentin Mock @https://eadn-wc04-3257648.nxedge.io/audio/counterspin/CounterSpin050412.mp3″] Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, we’re told over and over again, is a serious budget wonk on a mission to reduce the deficit. Not quite, says New York magazine reporter Jonathan Chait. He argues that Paul Ryan’s political history doesn’t really resemble […]
Washington Post reporter Nia-Malika Henderson reports today (1/3/12) that Republican candidate Ron Paul really says some weird things out on the campaign trail. His appearances start out normal… And then, for the next 45 minutes or so, he outlines a view of the world so bleak it would make Chicken Little sound like an optimist. […]
[mp3-jplayer tracks=”CounterSpin091611 Brandi Grissom and Tom Engelhardt @https://eadn-wc04-3257648.nxedge.io/audio/counterspin/CounterSpin091611.mp3″] Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: For a lot of people, the Republican debate on September 9 had one memorable moment: when Texas governor Rick Perry was asked about his state’s death penalty record, the audience cheered wildly. Moderator Brian Williams wanted to know if Perry lost […]
There’s a lot of chatter—and presumably more to come—about this Politico story today (8/9/11): Obama Plan: Destroy Romney By Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin August 9, 2011 04:29 AM EDT Barack Obama’s aides and advisers are preparing to center the president’s reelection campaign on a ferocious personal assault on Mitt Romney’s character and business background, […]
One of the more annoying corporate media storylines since the midterms dwells on whether or not Barack Obama will move to the “center” in order to have better luck in the 2012 elections. The conventional wisdom is that Bill Clinton did this after terrible losses in the 1994 midterms, and his “triangulation” proved once […]
