ACTION ALERT: NYT Erases US Economic War Against Venezuela
Please remind the New York Times that as a US paper, it has an obligation to cover the effects of US government policy on countries like Venezuela.
Crying Wolf on Election Fraud Is OK at NYT—if Targets Are Official Enemies
For the New York Times, crying election fraud then staging a coup is bad, and just like what dictators do—unless it is the US making dubious claims of electoral fraud against official enemies, in which case it is an honorable practice.
US Media Lie About Bolivia’s Movement Toward Socialism—Before, During and After Election
That Bolivia’s MAS won this month’s election in an apparent landslide hasn’t meant an end to US media hostilities.
After Socialist Victory in Bolivia, Media Still Whitewash Coup
Much reporting on Bolivia still ignores facts that are critical to understanding the situation there.
Journalists Need to Be Clear About a Clear Threat to Democracy
Newsrooms have an obligation to report that the most powerful person in the country is trying to subvert the election and retain power illegitimately, and a failure to blow the whistle on a clear threat to democracy is journalistic malpractice.
‘The Whole Voting Universe Has Been Turned Upside Down by Covid’
“It’s more important than ever not just to be registered, but to really, really make sure your registration information is correct.”
Reuters (Unsurprisingly) Looks Away as Ecuador Tries to Outlaw Opposition Parties
Reuters routinely buries information that would badly damage the reputation of US allies in the Americas. Whether those allies are bureaucrats from the Organization of American States and the dictatorship they helped install in Bolivia (FAIR.org, 12/17/19), violent protesters in Nicaragua (FAIR.org, 8/23/18) or Venezuelan politicians who support lethal US sanctions on their own […]
‘What We’re Seeing Now Is Jim Crow 2.0’
“Bureaucratic violence, that’s the array of policies that have been pooled together to figure out, ‘How do we get around the 15th Amendment, while targeting those that the 15th Amendment was designed to protect?’”
Alex Main on Bolivia Coup, Carol Anderson on Voter Suppression
To the extent the Bolivian coup story’s being told, it’s being told too late. But CounterSpin listeners learned in real time.
‘Efforts to Make Voting More Difficult Are Magnified in a Pandemic’
Election Focus 2020: “The Wisconsin opinion seemed to signal that Republicans can do whatever they want to make voting more difficult, even in a pandemic, and the Supreme Court’s going to say, ‘That’s OK.’”
Ari Berman on Voter Suppression and Coronavirus
Election Focus 2020: No amount of ponderous, prize-winning books written in the aftermath will substitute for tough reporting done now to protect the integrity of the vote going into one of the most monumental presidential elections in the country’s history.
Democracy Dies in Blah Blah Blah
Election Focus 2020: Reporters may think this is tactful, grown-up language, when it’s actually misleading, milquetoast language that does the opposite of what journalism is meant to do
Can the US Pull Off a November Election? Journalists Play a Critical Role
Election Focus 2020: With projections that the COVID-19 crisis isn’t going away any time soon, what will this mean for voters’ access to the polls, and the very legitimacy of the November 3 election?
Corporate Media Condone Destruction of Venezuela’s Voting Machines
The vast majority of Venezuela’s voting machines were incinerated on March 7 in a fire that engulfed the main warehouse of the National Electoral Council. Corporate outlets followed the familiar script of blaming the victim, repeating the US State Department talking point that the Venezuelan electoral system is “rigged” and floating outlandish conspiracy theories.
Elite Media Dismiss Voter Suppression on Grounds That It’s ‘Complicated’
Most of the Super Tuesday coverage downplayed any suggestion that there might be voter suppression going on in 2020.
WaPo Prints Study That Found Paper Backed an Undemocratic Bolivia Coup
MIT researchers concluded that there “is not any statistical evidence of fraud that we can find,” and that “the OAS’s statistical analysis and conclusions would appear deeply flawed.”
‘We Are Going to Be Back to Where We Were After Reconstruction—Unless We Stop It’
Election Focus 2020: “All of these things have the aura of trying to protect democracy, trying to protect the integrity of the ballot box, but it’s based on the lie of massive rampant voter fraud.”
Carol Anderson on Voter Suppression
Election Focus 2020: When it comes to voter suppression, the fight is less between parties than between democracy and its demonstrated opponents
‘We Have to Bust In and Insist That Power Be Shared in a Different Kind of Way’
“We try to bring you voices you might not hear elsewhere: activists, researchers, reporters and teachers, who can illuminate what big media are getting wrong—or missing entirely—why it matters, and what we can do about it.”
Corporate Media Find All the Wrong Lessons for US Left in Corbyn’s Defeat
Election Focus 2020: Across the spectrum, corporate media all came to the same conclusion regarding the election: Corbyn’s loss spells the end for the US left and a “crushing defeat” of the discredited policies of socialism.
