FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
Anthony Riddle of the Alliance for Community Media joins to discuss a new major telecom bill. Also on the show: Nat Perry on the Bush White House and his recent report “Washington’s Orwellian Consensus.”
Author Eric Boehlert joins to discuss his new book, which centers on how– and why– the Beltway press corps has done its part to prop up the Bush presidency. Also this week: Ryan King of the Sentencing Project on the media’s misleading methamphetamine coverage.
Recent moves by Democrats to suggest a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq are being portrayed by the New York Times as a real problem—for Democrats. The underlying assumption in the reporting is that this position is a risky one, playing right into the hands of Karl Rove and the GOP. A June 14 […]
In a move that most political observers describe as a tactic to increase voter turnout among his party’s conservative base, George W. Bush announced on June 5 that he supported a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. While much of the media discussion of the issue focuses on the GOP’s political maneuvering, few reports examined what […]
Appearing on MSNBC’s Situation with Tucker Carlson (2/14/06), conservative talkshow host and film critic Michael Medved linked an Oscar nomination he disapproved of to a mental illness he called “Bush hatred”: This Bush hatred is a disease, and it’s completely obsessive. And it’s reached the extent that if you take a look at movies that […]
This week on CounterSpin: Investigative reporter Dave Lindorff on the impeachment of George W. Bush. Also this week: Dean Baker, author of the new book The Conservative Nanny State, discusses how the media botched its coverage of Bush’s tax cuts.
Journalist Robert Dreyfuss discusses his new article for the American Prospect on Dick Cheney and his staff. Also on the program: Patrick O’Connor from Palestine Media Watch discusses coverage of Israel-Palestine.
On April 16, Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell responded to critics—including FAIR—who questioned her about the paper’s puzzling April 9 editorial, “A Good Leak.” While Howell’s attention to the matter is appreciated, her response avoided the most important issue: whether the paper’s editorial page got its facts right. Much of Howell’s column (headlined “Two Views […]
(NOTE: Please see the Activism Update regarding this alert.) Newspaper editorial pages are entitled to their own opinions—but not to their own facts. The Washington Post‘s editorial page, however, seems to want to have it both ways. The paper’s April 9 editorial, “A Good Leak,” defended the White House’s actions amid new revelations in the […]
George Bush received glowing reviews from corporate media for his March 21st news conference performance. Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies joins to offer some much needed scrutiny of the president’s remarks. Also on the show: Garance Franke-Ruta with The American Prospect discusses the New York Times’s op-ed page and its consensus on abortion.
Two recent reports on ABC raised the possibility that 10-year-old tapes of Saddam Hussein might show that he “did hide weapons of mass destruction”–giving the White House’s rationale for the March 2003 invasion a boost. But as a February 17 FAIR action alert pointed out, ABC‘s reporting omitted evidence that undermined this argument. The tapes […]
(NOTE: Please see the Activism Update regarding this alert.) On February 15, ABC investigative reporter Brian Ross delivered an exclusive report on World News Tonight and Nightline that purported to be a bombshell. ABC had obtained tape-recorded conversations from mid-1995 that seemed to show that Iraq had been concealing its weapons of mass destruction program. […]
When George W. Bush announced on February 9 that an Al-Qaeda plot against a building in Los Angeles had been “thwarted,” many television newscasts took the administration’s claims as fact. ABC World News Tonight anchor Charles Gibson reported (2/9/06) that “President Bush today revealed some details of a terrorist plot that was foiled,” later putting […]
The story of the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping is one that mainstream media have been slow to give the attention it deserves (Action Alert, 1/11/06; Media Advisory, 1/27/06). Now some journalists are pointing to public opinion to justify the news industry’s less-than-aggressive approach to this major constitutional scandal. But when NBC‘s Tim Russert and Chip […]
On January 11, FAIR issued an action alert on the New York Times‘ decision to hold its explosive story on the NSA’s secret wiretapping for over a year, and executive editor Bill Keller’s refusal to answer questions about that decision. In the days that followed, FAIR activists called and emailed Keller’s office, and several received […]
(NOTE: Please see the Activism Update regarding this alert.) By any standard, the New York Times‘ story of December 16 was a blockbuster: Reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau revealed that following the September 11 attacks, the Bush administration initiated warrantless wiretaps on hundreds of people within the U.S.–including U.S. citizens–even though a federal law, […]
Throughout the Iraq War, the mainstream media have shown little interest in documenting or quantifying the suffering of Iraqis. But a recent comment by George W. Bush provoked an unexpected round of discussion of the topic. At the close of a public event on December 12, Bush took questions from the audience. And the very […]
Writer Naomi Klein joins CounterSpin to talk about what’s missing from the current mainstream discussion of torture– namely, the history of US support for the practice around the world. Also this week: Rolling Stone contributing editor Eric Boehlert on the media and the Sami Al Arian saga.
This week on CounterSpin: The press on George W. Bush’s fresh WMD claims. Also this week: Guardian columnist George Monbiot joins for a discussion about the US military’s use of white phosphorus against civilians in Fallujah and how the Pentagon has responded.
ConsortiumNews.com editor Robert Parry joins to discuss the latest Bush scandal, and how the news media seem eager to help the White House get back on its feet. Also this week: Judge Samuel Alito and the media’s selective coverage of his record, with Columbia law professor Michael C. Dorf.
