FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
Five months later, the truthfulness of one claim in George W. Bush’s State of the Union address has become the focus of growing media scrutiny. The attention media are paying to this single assertion should be part of a larger journalistic inquiry into other misstatements and exaggerations that have been made by the Bush administration […]
Early summer has brought a flurry of public discussion about a topic previously confined to political margins — the possibility of impeaching President George W. Bush. The idea is still far from the national media echo chamber, but some rumblings are now audible as people begin to think about the almost unthinkable. A few generations […]
George W. Bush’s March 17 speech has been boiled down to one blunt statement: “Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing.” Headlines the next morning focused on this message: “President Tells Hussein to Leave […]
On February 24, Newsweek broke what may be the biggest story of the Iraq crisis. In a revelation that “raises questions about whether the WMD [weapons of mass destruction] stockpiles attributed to Iraq still exist,” the magazine’s issue dated March 3 reported that the Iraqi weapons chief who defected from the regime in 1995 told […]
On her October 7 broadcast, CNN‘s Connie Chung took a U.S. congressmember to task for doubting George W. Bush. After Rep. Mike Thompson (D.-Calif.) told Chung that there seemed to be no evidence that Iraq posed an immediate danger to the United States or its allies, the anchor responded, “Well, let’s listen to something that […]
Forest fires last summer provided the media with dramatic images of walls of flames and smoke-choked skies, soundbites from terrified and frustrated citizens, and tales of fearless firefighters. The overarching message of such news reports: Forest fires are a terrible disaster, something to be fought at all costs. These stories, in turn, provided fuel for […]
George W. Bush’s June 14 commencement address at Ohio State University was a sign of a “revived” presidency, according to Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank (6/15/02). “Bush basked in the adulation of 55,000 people who treated him to waves of standing ovations in Ohio Stadium as he received an honorary doctorate,” he wrote. “If there […]
On June 17, FAIR issued an action alert about the Washington Post’s reporting of President Bush’s June 14 commencement address at Ohio State University. Specifically, FAIR pointed out that the paper failed to note an announcement issued over the public address system warning that visible signs of protest would not be tolerated. This was not […]
(Note: See the update to this alert) President Bush’s June 14 commencement address at Ohio State University was a sign of a “revived” presidency, according to Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank. “Bush basked in the adulation of 55,000 people who treated him to waves of standing ovations in Ohio Stadium as he received an honorary […]
Countless leaders have been deified by national emergency, but few have been remade as quickly and completely as George W. Bush. In many cases, those who had misread him as a simple tool, braying automatically at his most trivial mistakes, now automatically revered him. Such converts suddenly agreed with those who had seen Bush’s […]
A new media tic — likening George W. Bush to Franklin D. Roosevelt — is already so widespread that it’s apt to become a conditioned reflex of American journalism. By the time Bush gave his State of the Union speech, countless reporters and pundits had proclaimed GWB and FDR to be kindred inspirational leaders — […]
If there’s a propaganda hall of fame, Newsweek has surely earned a place in it with its recent interview with George W. and Laura Bush (12/3/01). Written by Newsweek senior editor Howard Fineman and White House correspondent Martha Brant, the profile of the Bushes focused relentlessly positive attention on the “First Couple’s” emotional responses to […]
On November 7, 2001, a reader of the political website MakeThemAccountable.com made a series of predictions about how the news media would cover a long anticipated review of uncounted Florida ballots from the 2000 presidential election: The data will show that Gore won, but the article will be written to obscure that fact…. The headline […]
If there’s a propaganda hall of fame, Newsweek has surely earned a place in it with its interview with George W. and Laura Bush (12/3/01). Written by Newsweek senior editor Howard Fineman and White House correspondent Martha Brant, the profile of the Bushes focuses relentlessly positive attention on the “First Couple’s” emotional responses to the […]
News stories about George W. Bush’s appointment of numerous Iran-Contra veterans to key posts have largely relied on past reporting and he-said, she-said soundbites rather than in-depth investigations into their complicity in one of the bloodiest scandals of the past 20 years.
A May 21 FAIR Action Alert addressed the stories of White House “vandalism” during the transition in January. According to anonymous Bush administration sources, Clinton staffers had looted Air Force One and vandalized the White House on their way out of office. The rumors exploded after earlier, more light-hearted stories about minor pranks, such as […]
In totalitarian countries, government propaganda officers wield great power. They’re authorized to use the media to stir up state-sanctioned passions and fears through the selective dissemination of information — sometimes factual, sometimes phony. If you think the United States has never employed propaganda officers, meet Otto Reich. He may soon be our country’s chief diplomat […]
George W. Bush celebrated his first working day in office–and the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade (1/22/01)–by reinstating the Mexico City Policy, a Reagan-era rule that bans U.S. family planning aid to overseas groups that provide abortions or referrals–even if they do so with private, non-U.S. funds. Under the rule (lifted in 1993 by […]
Ever since George W. Bush proposed a $1.6 trillion tax cut, his critics have charged that the plan is a giveaway to the wealthy, while the Bush camp has insisted the plan is fair. So far, the media have covered the debate with surprising deference to the administration’s spin. U.S. News & World Report‘s February […]
Imagine that while Bill Clinton was president, Secret Service agents had gone to fetch Chelsea Clinton’s boyfriend from jail, where he’d been arrested for public drunkenness. One could imagine days of righteous indignation on talk radio and pundit television about misuse of the Secret Service and the lack of dignity surrounding the Clinton family. In […]
