Iraq and the Media: A Critical Timeline
Critical journalists and analysts raised serious questions at the time about what the White House was saying. Often, however, their warnings were ignored by the bulk of the corporate press.
Mahmood Mamdani on Darfur, Karen Greenberg on Guantánamo
Columbia professor Mahmood Mamdani joins CounterSpin to discuss how the U.S. press oversimplifies the story of Darfur. Also this week: Karen Greenberg describes a recent trip to Guantánamo and shares about her recent essay on the experience.
Mark Benjamin on Iraq Vets, Sam Husseini on Washington Stakeout
This week on CounterSpin: While a Washington Post series has made the deplorable state of veterans’ health care a hot-button topic, we’ll speak with Salon.com reporter Mark Benjamin, who has been documenting sub-standard care for veterans for the past 4 years. Also on the show: DC-based media activist Sam Husseini discusses his new project WashingtonStakeout.com, which seeks to ask politicians the hard questions.
NYT Hypes Venezuelan Threat
A February 25 report in the New York Times on Venezuela‘s international arms purchases (“Venezuela Spending on Arms Soars to World’s Top Ranks”) used selective information and an alarmist tone to suggest that Venezuela’s military spending was a potential threat to regional stability. Reporter Simon Romero’s alarming lead read, “Venezuela’s arms spending has climbed to […]
Here We Go Again
In the wake of its disastrous pre-war reporting on Iraq, the New York Times announced new rules governing its use of unnamed sources. Its lead story on February 10, promoting Bush administration charges against Iran, violated those rules. In the report, “Deadliest Bomb in Iraq Is Made by Iran, U.S. Says,” Times reporter Michael R. […]
NYT Responds on Iran Coverage
On February 25, New York Times public editor Byron Calame responded to readers who were critical of the Times‘ coverage of claims that Iran was shipping explosives to Iraqi insurgents. FAIR encouraged activists to write to Calame in a February 16 action alert. The following letter is FAIR’s reply. Dear Byron Calame, I was surprised […]
Alfred McCoy on Torture, Ali Abunimah on Rice’s Mideast Trip
This week on CounterSpin: University of Wisconsin history Professor Alfred McCoy joins to talk about the shifting narratives surrounding torture, which have emerged in tandem with recent media portrayals of torture as effective and regrettably necessary. Also on the show: Was Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent trip to the Middle East really as big of a success as the media is making it out to be, with author Ali Abunimah.
NYT Breaks Own Anonymity Rules
(NOTE: Please see the Activism Update regarding this alert.) In the wake of its disastrous pre-war reporting on Iraq, the New York Times implemented new rules governing its use of unnamed sources. Its lead story on February 10, promoting Bush administration charges against Iran, violated those rules. In the report, “Deadliest Bomb in Iraq Is […]
Juan Cole on Iran’s Iraq Meddling, Ann Jones on Afghanistan
This week on CounterSpin: How US media is pushing propaganda to manufacture consent for war against Iran, with University of Michigan Professor Juan Cole. Also on the show: Journalist and photographer Ann Jones joins to talk about Afghanistan, which was pushed to the media back-burner even before the invasion of Iraq had begun.
John Nichols on Molly Ivins, Eric Wingerter on Chávez’s ‘rule by decree’
This week on CounterSpin: The Nation’s John Nichols talks Molly Ivins and her legacy. Also on the show: Journalist Eric Wingerter on how Venezuela is covered by the U.S. press.
Won’t Get Fooled Again?
The most important lesson about the Iraq War for reporters was perhaps the simplest one: Don’t assume the White House is telling the truth. It’s a lesson that many reporters seem to be forgetting now that U.S. officials are escalating their claims about Iran’s role in Iraq. On January 29, CBS Evening News aired a […]
Elizabeth de la Vega on domestic spying, Kristal Brent Zook on Duke rape investigation
How are journalists handling the confusion coming out of the White House regarding the warrantless wiretapping program that spied on US citizens, with former federal prosecutor and author Elizabeth de la Vega. Also on the show: Writer and journalism professor Kristal Brent Zook discusses how the media bungled coverage of the high-profile sexual assault investigation involving three Duke University lacrosse players.
Ombud Concurs on NewsHour’s Iraq Panel
PBS ombud Michael Getler (1/11/07), responding to viewers who shared FAIR’s concerns about the balance of a recent NewsHour discussion of Iraq policy (1/8/07; FAIR Action Alert, 1/10/07), wrote that “I’m with the viewers on this one.” The segment, which featured two U.S. senators advocating for George W. Bush’s “surge” policy along with two legislators […]
Alexander Cockburn on NY Times & Iraq, Matt Zimmerman on Spocko & Disney
The New York Times complicity in calling for an escalation of the Iraq War, with CounterPunch proprietor and Nation magazine columnist Alexander Cockburn. Also this week: Matt Zimmerman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation on the conflict between ABC and a San Francisco blogger who decided to expose the nasty rhetoric featured on a local Disney-owned radio station.
Debating the Iraq ‘Surge’ on PBS
(NOTE: Please see the Activism Update regarding this alert.) With public opinion running heavily against the White House’s planned escalation of the Iraq War, one might think a debate on the issue on public television’s flagship newscast might reflect public sentiment. But the discussion on the January 8 edition of the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer […]
Robin Andersen on media and war
This week on CounterSpin: A special conversation with media historian and scholar Robin Andersen whose new book A Century of Media, A Century of War traces media gullibility, official deception and propaganda through the years.
The Myth of the Muzzled Media
[Note: This piece is a sidebar to “The Repeatedly Re-Elected Autocrat.”] Following Hugo Chávez’s September 20 speech at the U.N., which included a mocking reference to George W. Bush as “the devil,” U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton told reporters “the real issue” was that Chávez was not “giving the same freedom of speech” […]
The Repeatedly Re-Elected Autocrat
Hugo Chávez never had a chance with the U.S. press. Shortly after his first electoral victory in 1998, New York Times Latin America reporter Larry Rohter (12/20/98) summed up his victory thusly: All across Latin America, presidents and party leaders are looking over their shoulders. With his landslide victory in Venezuela’s presidential election on December […]
Robert Parry on Robert Gates, Barbara Kopple on ‘Shut Up and Sing’
This week on CounterSpin: Robert Parry of ConsortiumNews.com discusses the recent Robert Gates nomination. Also on the show: Barbara Kopple shares about her new film Shut Up and Sing, which explores the astonishing campaign against the Dixie Chicks following the infamous 2003 comment about Bush.
Gullibility Begins at Home
The New York Times failed to mount a functional degree of skepticism toward city and federal government pronouncements about the safety of the air and dust around Ground Zero.
