FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan’s forthcoming book has caused a political firestorm by offering unusually blunt criticisms of the Bush White House. But McClellan has also aimed his fire at the news media, accusing mainstream reporters of being “deferential, complicit enablers” instead of challenging the White House’s case for the Iraq War. The […]
Rob Richie of the group FairVote joins to discuss how the press has created confusion surrounding Kentucky’s Democratic primary. Also on the program: Author Forrest Hylton on the supposed terror connection between FARC rebels and Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, and how the media has perhaps been overzealous in pursuing this story.
Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research on George W. Bush and his proposed trade deal with Colombia. Also this week: How are John McCain and the Republican Party getting along these days? A conversation with journalist and author Rick Perlstein, who covered this story for the Nation magazine.
This week on CounterSpin: A resurgence in confusing corporate media coverage of Iraq, with political analyst and blogger Raed Jarrar. Also on program: Julie Hollar joins to discuss U.S. interference in Somalia and how the press has abetted a propaganda campaign that attempts to manufacture consent for such a gross overstep.
FAIR founder Jeff Cohen on recent harrowing testimony from veterans about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also on the program: Washington D.C.’s handgun ban and the 2nd Amendment with Carl Bogus, a law professor at Roger Williams University.
After years of paying scant attention to Somalia, U.S. media suddenly rediscovered the war-torn African nation in 2006 when a coalition of Islamic courts and their affiliated militias imposed peace on feuding warlords and began enforcing religious law. A U.S.-backed Ethiopian invasion soon loomed, and the Bush administration made the preferred story line clear. “The […]
Given that one of the stated goals of George W. Bush’s January 8-16 Mideast trip was to “remind” allies in the Persian Gulf that “Iran is a threat” (New York Times, 1/9/08), it should have at least struck journalists as a strange coincidence when a January 6 encounter between the U.S. Navy and five small […]
Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh discusses the media’s shoddy coverage of the September Israeli air strike in Syria. Also this week: Bush’s Africa tour and how media conversation has distracted from the U.S.’s militarization of the continent, with Africa Action’s Gerald LeMelle.
What does it mean to say that the surge in Iraq “is working,” with journalist Dahr Jamail. Also this week: How the nuclear industry is spearheading a highly financed campaign to bring nukes back, with author and journalism professor Karl Grossman.
This week on CounterSpin: What did– or didn’t– happen to U.S. boats in the Straight of Hormuz? We’ll talk to journalist and investigative historian Gareth Porter. Also on the show: The human costs of the Iraq War, with Robert Naiman of Just Foreign Policy.
George W. Bush’s goal of elevating the Iran threat (New York Times, 1/8/08) got a major boost last week from the news media, who failed to question the Pentagon’s alarmist account of an encounter between U.S. and Iranian boats. On January 6 in the Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Persian Gulf, U.S. Navy […]
This week on CounterSpin: Journalist Nomi Prins joins to explain the current turmoil in the housing market. Also on the show: A discussion on “The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act,” with Kamau Karl Franklin of Center for Constitutional Rights.
This week on CounterSpin: The Huckabee surge with Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times. Also on the show: Professor Marc Herold of the University of New Hampshire discusses U.S. reporting on Afghanistan.
Journalist Bob Parry, founder of the site Consortiumnews.com, has broken some of the most important stories in the last thirty years. This week he joins CounterSpin to talk about why he writes. Also on the program: New research highlights a skewed presentation of poor communities in Bay Area media, one that oversells gentrification as the solution. We’ll talk to Karlos Schmieder from Oakland-based Youth Media Council about the report.
This week on CounterSpin: Martial law in Pakistan and media coverage of the situation, with writer and activist Shahid Buttar. Also on the program: Jonathan Tasini, the former president of the National Writers Union, shares about the current Writers Guild of America strike.
This week on CounterSpin: How well are the media examining the arguments being put forth about Iranian meddling in Iraq and Afghanistan? We’ll ask journalist and historian Gareth Porter. Also on the show: Revisiting the “values voters” conversation almost 4 years later, with Tarso Luis Ramos of Political Research Associates.
George W. Bush’s success in manipulating information would not have been possible without the collaboration and/or incompetence of the major U.S. news media. However, that cozy relationship began to shift in spring 2006 as the bloody war in Iraq dragged on and the U.S. public grew restless over the steady rise in the death toll. […]
This week on CounterSpin: How is the media reporting on George Bush’s recent decision to veto the expansion of the SCHIP children’s health insurance program? Also on the show: Disparate coverage of breast cancer and domestic violence with Lucinda Marshall, whose recent Alternet.org report is entitled “Breast Cancer Sells.”
The lack of media criticism surrounding the No Child Left Behind law with Stan Karp, an editor at the magazine Rethinking Schools. Also this week: Was environmentalist Rachel Carson a mass murderer? We’ll talk with writer Aaron Swartz, who looked into the story for FAIR’s magazine, Extra!.
Does the current media frenzy surrounding Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad distract from more important matters—like whether the U.S. is planning military action against Iran? We’ll speak with Baruch College history professor Ervand Abrahamian. Also on the show: A discussion on Al Qaeda and Iraq with Andrew Tilghman, former Stars & Stripes reporter and author of the Washington Monthly report “The Myth of Al Qaeda in Iraq.”
