FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
Today the New York Times reports that an arrest has been made in connection with an attempted bombing at the Martin Luther King Day parade in Spokane, Washington. As we pointed out here, the case has generated relatively little media coverage–in contrast to attempted domestic terrorism attacks (or even alleged plots) connected to Muslims. The […]
The New York Times has a piece today (3/7/11) about the debate over U.S. military intervention in Libya. The paper reports that there are persistent voices–in Congress and even inside the administration–arguing that Mr. Obama is moving too slowly. Reporters David Sanger and Thom Shanker contend that there is too much concern about perceptions, and […]
“Teachers Wonder, Why the Heapings of Scorn?” is the headline of a front-page New York Times piece today (3/3/11). The article by Trip Gabriel reports, “Education experts say teachers have rarely been the targets of such scorn from politicians and voters.” Politicians, sure, but what’s the evidence that voters–i.e., the public–have been heaping scorn on […]
In 2007 Harper’s journalist Ken Silverstein wanted to do a story on Beltway lobbyists’ willingness to work on behalf of creepy dictators. So he went undercover: I decided to approach some top Washington lobbying firms myself, as a potential client, to see whether they would be willing to burnish the public image of a particularly […]
You get an impression from the headline and thrust of the Times piece that would lead you to believe that Assange consorts with anti-Semitic Holocaust deniers, gets angry when they are exposed as such and alleges that a Jewish conspiracy is out to get him.
New York Times business columnist Joe Nocera is being promoted to the Times‘ op-ed page, where he’ll appear twice weekly. Regular FAIR Blog readers may recall Nocera as the star of this item (7/1/10): On Saturday (6/26/10), Times business columnist Joe Nocera argued against a proposed moratorium on deepwater drilling. One of his main points […]
Today the New York Times reports its new poll (3/1/11): As labor battles erupt in state capitals around the nation, a majority of Americans say they oppose efforts to weaken the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions and are also against cutting the pay or benefits of public workers to reduce state budget deficits, […]
New York Times public editor Arthur Brisbane (2/27/11) offers a justification that makes very little sense for his paper’s concealing the fact that an American arrested in Pakistan worked for the CIA. The Times, Brisbane wrote, could not “take the risk that reporting the CIA connection would, as warned, lead to Mr. Davis’s death.” Davis […]
I read this in the New York Times a few days ago (2/19/11): The images from Wisconsin–with its protests, shutdown of some public services and missing Democratic senators, who fled the state to block a vote–evoked the Middle East more than the Midwest. There’s a labor movement in this country? And in theMidwest, even!?
Sometimes the premise of an article is just all wrong. Like this from Monday‘s New York Times (see bold): As Republicans See a Mandate on Budget Cuts, Others See Risk By ADAM NAGOURNEY and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN WASHINGTON — In Congress and in statehouses, Republican lawmakers and governors are claiming a broad mandate from last […]
Yesterday the Guardian reported that Raymond Davis, the American held in Pakistan on charges of killing two men last month in Lahore, was working for the CIA. The Davis case has received sustained coverage in the U.S. media and is the subject of intense U.S lobbying. All the while U.S. officials referred to Davis as […]
The New York Times has a curious reference today concerning the White House’s strategy on a United Nations Security Council resolution critical of Israeli settlements: The new White House press secretary, Jay Carney, said Thursday that he would not say whether the United States would invoke its rarely used veto power in the Council. The […]
The New York Times stuck it to the former Defense secretary in a Sunday magazine interview: People sometimes call you a war criminal. Does that bother you? For the record, Rumsfeld did seem slightly bothered, because it’s “totally untrue. And life goes on.”
It might be hard for you to imagine covering the democratic uprising in Egypt as a way to reflect upon all the wise things you’ve written in the past. But you’re not Tom Friedman. He wrote today (New York Times, 2/11/11): I spent part of the morning in the square watching and photographing a group […]
It was certainly surprising to see former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier return to the country on January 16. To say he hasblood on his hands is an understatement–the Duvalier regimes were responsible for tens of thousands of deaths and widespread abuse, and stole millions of dollars from the country. Soon thereafter, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide […]
The United States sent former ambassador Frank Wisner to Egypt to talk to Hosni Mubarak. Wisner garnered headlines when he declared support for Mubarak staying in power, causing the White House to try and argue that wasn’t the message the White House was trying to send. But Wisner’s background was worth more attention. As Pratap […]
New York Times TV reporter Alessandra Stanley (2/2/11) had a piece discussing why you can’t watch Al Jazeera English on your television. After noting that “demand was pretty low” for the channel until recently (unlike, I don’t know, Fox Business Channel, which must have dozens of die-hard fans), Stanley warned that zeal sometimes outstrips the […]
The New York Times: Cables Show Delicate U.S. Dealings With Egypt’s Leaders The Guardian: WikiLeaks Cables Show Close U.S. Relationship With Egyptian President That reminds me of something Times executive editor wrote in a forthcoming piece on WikiLeaks, where he explains the difference between The Newspaper of Record and the Guardian in handling theAfghanistan documents: […]
Yesterday (FAIR Blog, 1/27/11) the Washington Post tried to argue that U.S. policy under the Obama administration has shifted to one of open support for pro-democracy movements in Egypt and Tunisia. There was little, if any, evidence to support this idea. Today (1/28/11) the New York Times steps in with a report based largely on […]
Anonymous Israeli officials are weighing in at the New York Times today. Let’s remember the Times has some rules regarding the use of anonymous sources: The use of unidentified sources is reserved for situations in which the newspaper could not otherwise print information it considers reliable and newsworthy. When we use such sources, we accept […]
