To Media, Gaza Ceasefire Holds Despite Repeated Israeli Strikes
While most media outlets consistently describe the ceasefire as “fragile” and “delicate”, they won’t state the obvious: If you don’t cease firing, it’s not a ceasefire.
‘Israeli Violence Is Legitimized and Palestinian Counter-Violence Is Delegitimized’
“This has really real implications for…the people living in Palestine, but also for how the issue is presented and understood in even just factual reporting.”
Linguistic Contortions in Gaza
News outlets have performed torturous linguistic contortions to avoid stating the simple fact that Israel is shooting hundreds of demonstrators with live ammunition, killing 30 and injuring close to 2,000. An Associated Press headline (4/6/18) said, “Palestinian Protesters Burn Tires, Sending Smoke Billowing at Gaza/Israel Border; Israeli Troops Fire Back Sporadically.” That’s a logical impossibility: […]
Laundering a Massacre by Labeling It a ‘Clash’
As FAIR has noted before (e.g., Extra!, 1/17; FAIR.org, 4/2/18), the term “clash” is almost always used to launder power asymmetry and give the reader the impression of two equal warring sides. It obscures power dynamics and the nature of the conflict itself, e.g., who instigated it and what weapons if any were used. “Clash” […]
YouTube as Conspiracy Conduit
While radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Michael Savage indoctrinated older demographics in conspiratorial right-wing politics in recent decades, right-wing YouTube videos serve the same purpose for younger age groups.
Republicans Want to Look at Gun Violence in Movies? OK, Let’s Look
This is Hollywood’s relationship with the gun industry: When you put a gun on screen, people are going to want to buy it, regardless of whether it’s used by good guys or bad guys,
‘The NRA Has Basically Become Part of the Republican Party’
The NRA is a bit of a paper tiger, and I think more and more legislators will find that out as they challenge the NRA.
Lee Drutman on Gun Control Politics, Pat Elder on School Militarization
If Americans really want to stop being “the only country where this happens,” which keeps officially claiming there’s “no way to prevent” it, it will require not just deep examination of the multiple roots of mass violence of this sort, but also an approach to political processes that keeps its eye on the prize of real change.
Next on NPR: Some Think You Should Put Out Fire With Gasoline
Reporting on the epidemic of mass shootings, All Things Considered gave a platform to the gun debate’s equivalents of anti-vaxxers, and gave no scrutiny to their claim that more guns are the solution to gun violence.
