FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
On the April 7 edition of the PBS NewsHour, anchor Jim Lehrer offered a rationale for the U.S. closure of the Al Hawza newspaper, affiliated with Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr. But so far the program has been unable to supply evidence to back up Lehrer’s charge, and is refusing to correct the host’s error. Lehrer […]
(NOTE: Please read the update to this alert.) Journalist Christian Parenti was invited to talk about Iraq on the March 2 broadcast of PBS‘s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. But Parenti’s criticism of the reconstruction contracts granted to corporations like Halliburton and Bechtel apparently crossed a line for the program’s host. According to a report by […]
National Desk continues to feature undisclosed relationships between funders and sources, one-sided advocacy packaged as balanced journalism, and serious factual errors.
Below is the letter FAIR sent to PBS in reply to its findings on the National Desk “gender wars” series. Sandra Heberer Director, News and Information Programming Tom Epstein Vice President, Communications Public Broadcasting Service 1320 Braddock Place Alexandria, VA 22314-1698 June 23, 2000 Dear Ms. Heberer and Mr. Epstein: Thank you for […]
FAIR released an action alert on March 15 (“The Commercialization of Children’s Public Television”) that asked members of our e-mail list to write to PBS about the inclusion of advertisements in what is supposed to be non-commercial programming for children. Here is PBS‘s response to those letters, followed by FAIR’s analysis of it: ***** Thank […]
PBS says the series “National Desk” is meant to generate controversy and debate. Isn’t this a good thing? It would be, if public television’s overall lineup were balanced with controversial shows from both the left and the right. PBS has a history of playing the controversy card when criticized for running a right-wing program, while […]
Throughout April, the PBS public affairs program National Desk presented a three-part series on “the gender wars” that sought to address “whether the advancement of women in virtually all areas of society can be achieved without a retreat, in some way, on the part of men.” Asking the question that way is akin to answering […]
Introduction Public television has survived. The high profile assault from conservative critics, which was front-page news in the early 1990s, now seems like ancient history. As we enter the digital television age, we no longer hear Congressional threats to “zero out” public television, plans to “privatize” public broadcasting have receded from the opinion pages, and […]
By the time you read this, the sober cynicism of summer will probably have settled in, but now, it’s spring. I’m as excited about “Ellen” coming out as I am about the budding leaves. By summer, I’ll remember that the obstacles to lesbian equality remain intact long after Ellen DeGeneres and her TV character said […]
The lawmakers who launched the public television system in 1967 were concerned that government-funded TV would become government-controlled TV. To protect against this, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was created, a non-governmental, non-profit entity set up to disburse federal funds to public broadcasters. The idea was that CPB would be a “heat-shield,” protecting public TV […]
Both are nationally recognized. Both have written best sellers. Both are articulate and at the top of their fields. Which woman did PBS choose to host a show? Charlayne Hunter-Gault or Peggy Noonan One has 16 years of PBS experience. The other has no PBS experience. One is an award-winning journalist. The other is a […]
An executive order bans from the BBC‘s airwaves direct statements by members and apparent sympathizers of groups the British government considers “terrorists.” The broadcast ban was applied to three legal organizations, including one whose president was elected member of the British Parliament. When soliciting pledges, U.S. public TV and radio hosts often boast about the […]
The Center for Media and Public Affairs, a conservative media research group, timed the release of its study of public TV programming to coincide with the congressional debate over public broadcasting reauthorization. The group’s report lends what appears to be empirical support to those who claim that PBS is biased to the left: “On the […]
The April 1990 release of FAIR’s study, “All The Usual Suspects: MacNeil/Lehrer and Nightline,” rekindled the debate over TV news bias. The study was reported by major U.S. dailies, was endorsed by numerous columnists and TV critics, and led to a TV debate involving FAIR’s Jeff Cohen and NewsHour co-anchor Robert MacNeil. The six-month study, […]
As part of its ongoing examination of television news, FAIR is releasing the results of its new study, “All the Usual Suspects: The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and Nightline.” After FAIR’s February 1989 study of Nightline, members of the public joined journalists in urging the media watch group to compare Nightline with other news programs and to […]
The PBS affiliate owned by the City of New Tork, WNYC-TV, has become the target of protests over its suppression of two national programs–the weekly investigative news show the Kwitny Report, and the documentary Days of Rage.
“Look Mom, Star Trek.” “Hey, I thought you said you were going to watch public TV.” “This is public TV!” “Then how come I just saw Tony the Tiger on an ad?” Mom’s wrong. First of all, that was no ad, it was “enhanced underwriting,” a plug for a corporate contributor. Second, Junior’s as likely […]
Award-winning filmmaker Antony Thomas was putting the final touches on his TV documentary about the religious right last April, just when the Jim and Tammy Bakker scandal broke. PBS Frontline had put up half the film’s $360,000 budget and was set to run it in two parts on May 12 and 19. It couldn’t have […]
Right-wing pressure played a major role in prompting PBS to review its programing policies. The heat came from extremist groups such as AIM and from the Reaganite-dominated Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which had threatened its own investigation of PBS program content. In support of independence for public television, FAIR executive director Jeff Cohen addressed the […]
