WaPo Says ‘Hard Math’ Means Europe Must Lower Its Quality of Life
The idea that France may not be able to afford its social spending is a fantasy Washington Post reporters are presenting to their readers as fact.
Jumping to Blame Renewables for Iberian Outage
Numerous media outlets rushed to blame the Iberian blackout on Spain’s push for more renewable energy sources.
Melissa Crow on Asylum Restrictions, Dave Zirin on NYT’s Vanishing Sports Section
Advocates have long declared that Biden’s asylum restrictions are not just harmful but unlawful. And a federal judge has just agreed.
Twisting Statistics to Fake the Collapse of Europe
Reports of Europe’s death are greatly exaggerated. By relevant metrics, it remains a better place to live than the United States.
It’s Austerity, Not Globalization, That Pulls European Workers to the Right
The Washington Post and New York Times attribute the rise in support for the right to people losing from globalization. In fact, people are suffering because of the insistence of the European Union that its members pursue austerity policies.
A Mass Murderer Becomes a ‘Terrorist’—Based on Ethnicity, Not Evidence
The New York Times provided no evidence that the presumed killer in Nice, France, was motivated by either politics or religion to commit violence–yet still labeled the murders as “terrorism,” as though the definition of that crime were based on ethnicity rather than motivation.
USA Today Ducking the Question of Militarism
The top story for USA Today on July 8, 2016: Western countries aren’t spending enough money on weapons of war.
The story displayed not a hint of skepticism that increasing military spending is anything other than an unalloyed good.
Bush, Blair and the Lies That Justified the Illegal Iraq War
Parroting a president known to be inventing justifications for war does not fulfill the mandate of the First Amendment, the Fourth Estate, or even journalists’ own professional canons that emphasize the obligation to the public, not to the president or the executive branch.
‘They’re Making Racism and Xenophobia Into a Legitimate Voice’
“The mainstream parties have been very willing to use xenophobic, anti-immigrant rhetoric, to one degree or another, to ensure that they win votes, and also as a way of redirecting resentment, as their economic policies have caused poverty and have created a huge amount of resentment amongst working people in the UK.”
Joe Macare on Brexit, Rory O’Connor on the Danny Award
UK politics are up in the air in the wake of a referendum calling for Britain to leave the European Union. The so-called Brexit campaign is drawing comparisons to that of Donald Trump, due to the nativism and racism that marked it, but what else is at work here?
AlterNet Cites FAIR on NYT’s ‘Normalizing Fascism’
In an article headlined “The NY Times Is Normalizing Fascism by Running Marine Le Pen’s Column,” AlterNet’s Sarah Lazare cited FAIR’s Jim Naureckas on the Times publishing an op-ed by the far-right French leader.
On Brexit, Experts Leave Much to Be Desired
A New York Times column by Phillippe Legrain denounced the supporters of Brexit by noting their contempt for economic expertise. It then went on to demonstrate good reasons for such contempt.
Putin Conspiracies, Obama Nonintervention Blamed for Brexit
The more cynical writers and pundits—no matter how contrived the task would be — would take the opportunity to take a story about a nationalistic British response to a pro-austerity EU, and make it about Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin.
Commenting on Orlando, NPR Terrorism Reporter Reverses Political Lesson of Madrid Blast
During NPR’s national coverage of the horrific shooting in Orlando, NPR “counter-terrorism correspondent” Dina Temple-Raston made a critical false claim that deserves an on-air correction.
Brussels Bombings Destroy Fiction That All Terrorism Deaths Count as Equal
If terrorists had set out to conduct a controlled experiment on how the US media covers mass deaths overseas, they couldn’t have planned it any better than to have the Ankara bombing followed by the Brussels attack.
A Missed Chance to Connect Paris Massacres, Past and Present
It does no dishonor to those killed in Paris last month to acknowledge the ISIS attacks were not “the deadliest violence to strike France since World War II.”
It’s True, Media Did Cover Beirut Bombings—About 1/40th as Much as They Covered Paris Attacks
The much-retweeted Twitter complaint that “no media has covered” the Beirut bombing is wrong. But Max Fisher’s argument—that it’s wrong to blame media for the fact that “the world truly does care more about France”—is equally absurd.
Context-Free Coverage of Terror Helps Perpetuate Its Causes
Just as the question of Al-Qaeda’s motives in 2001 provoked more self-congratulation than serious inquiry, coverage of Paris in 2015 tended to skirt over political realities.
Washington Post’s (Very) Rough Guide to Denmark
The Washington Post decided to correct the positive image of Denmark that Sen. Bernie Sanders and others have been giving it in recent months. But some of the assertions in its piece are either misleading or inaccurate.
Varoufakis to Corbyn: ‘Don’t Fear the Media’
Asked by Paul Mason of Britain’s Channel 4 what Jeremy Corbyn could learn from his experience as Greek Finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis had some ready advice for the incoming British Labour Party leader.
