FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
The Bush campaign’s accusations of John Kerry’s “flip-flopping” were, for the most part, uncritically echoed by a media not prepared to challenge Bush’s misleading rhetoric. The media’s rule seemed to be that journalists could not accuse Bush of deception without finding a balancing example—however trivial or far-fetched—of Kerry stretching the truth (FAIR Action Alert, 9/3/04). […]
George W. Bush‘s new claims about Kerry “flip-flopping” on the war in Afghanistan quickly moved yesterday from the campaign trail to the nightly news. But some journalists who repeated Bush’s charges made no effort to examine the truth behind Bush’s claims– claims which turn out, like many other Bush lines of attack, to be deceptive. […]
October 22, 2004 On September 30, a FAIR action alert urged the Associated Press and Washington Post not to exercise “false balance” in their reporting on the exaggerations and deceptions coming from the major presidential candidates. By straining to include an equal number of Bush and Kerry statements to “fact check,” news outlets give the […]
With the presidential debates now behind us, the struggle for the White House will tilt even more toward decentralized media battles for electoral votes. Between now and Election Day, vast resources will go toward spinning local news coverage in swing states while launching carefully targeted commercials on radio and television. For the Bush campaign and […]
October 12, 2004 In an unprecedented move, the Republican-friendly Sinclair Broadcasting company has ordered its 62 television stations to preempt regular prime-time broadcasting to air the anti-John Kerry documentary “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal” just two weeks before the election. The film is to be shown in several swing states, including Ohio, Florida and […]
It is the function of journalism to separate fact from fiction. In covering the Republican National Convention of 2004, the media made isolated efforts to point out some of the convention speakers’ more egregious distortions, but on the whole failed in their vital role of letting citizens know when they are being lied to. To […]
After many months of dismal job creation numbers, three months starting in April produced statistics that George W. Bush could cite positively. With John Kerry having devoted much effort to pointing out the poor economic performance under the Bush administration, the new numbers produced a strong media consensus: The Kerry team would have to change […]
“Like a caged hamster, Senator John Kerry is restless on the road,” wrote the New York Times ‘ Jodi Wilgoren (6/13/04), beginning a piece that promised “authentic insights” into the Democratic presidential candidate. Aside from the banalities (Kerry dislikes wearing suits on hot, humid days, and uses a cellphone more than John Glenn did when […]
With John Kerry having emerged as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, prominent TV and print pundits are peddling the same campaign advice they give Democratic candidates every four years: Move to the right, abandon progressive stances and occupy the political center. At Newsweek, political reporter Howard Fineman (4/12/04) counseled Kerry to craft “a coherent, centrist […]
May 20, 2004 Recent media coverage of Democratic presidential contender John Kerry has often focused on alleged gaffes or misstatements, ranging from convoluted explanations of his Senate voting record to whether or not he owns a sports utility vehicle. But while these relatively trivial aspects of John Kerry’s record have come under intense and prolonged […]
Every four years, loud voices in the media advise the Democratic presidential candidate to abandon progressive stances and occupy the political center. With Sen. John Kerry having emerged as the presumable nominee, the pundits are once again issuing the same prescription. Time magazine’s Joe Klein wrote (4/12/04) that Kerry needs to be bold: “The ideal […]
After John Kerry emerged as the likely Democratic nominee for president, the Republican National Committee (RNC) began criticizing his record on military spending. The campaign against Kerry’s record escalated on February 22 when the RNC released a list of weapons systems that Kerry allegedly “voted against.” Republican spokespeople used this list to make sweeping claims […]
