When an Official Enemy Is Assassinated, Corporate Media Roll Out the Pretexts
Even those accusations that Mohsen Fakhrizadeh took part in a now-defunct weapons program are largely based on fabricated evidence.
‘When You Talk About White Supremacy, You’ve Got to Take a Hard Look at Our Culture’
“I don’t think anybody nowadays thinks that you can simply bash a population like Mexicans, as Trump did, or Muslims, and not get a result that ends up in violence in some cases.”
No. 1 Sponsor of Terrorism? US Media Name Iran, but Overlook a Candidate Closer to Home
Even on the debate’s own terms, there’s a much stronger case that the US rather than Iran is actually the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism.
Facebook’s Soleimani Ban Flies in Face of First Amendment
If Facebook is removing content because it believes it is required to do so by law, that is government censorship—and forbidden by the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of the press.
After Al-Baghdadi’s Death, Media Failed to Ask Where ‘War on Terror’ Is Going
The circumscribed coverage of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death represented yet another artful evasion of any critical discussion of imperial foreign policy.
‘The Remedies That Were Proposed Weren’t About Ending the List’
“There are the theoretical rights that Muslim Americans in particular are entitled to. And then there’s what happens when their rights are made to compete with the state.”
Maha Hilal on Anti-Muslim Watchlist, Dana Brown on Public Option for Pharmaceuticals
The whole idea of the “terrorist watchlist,” created in a context of anti-Islamic bias and ignorance, is untenable, and the whole frame of Muslims vs. national security needs to be upended.
‘A Nice Guy, Everybody Loved Him’
After opening fire at worshipers celebrating the Jewish holiday of Passover at the Poway Synagogue near San Diego, California, 19-year-old John T. Earnest was arrested. Earnest killed one woman and injured three other worshippers before his semi-automatic weapon jammed and he fled the scene, calling 911 himself to report the shooting. The shooter published […]
NPR’s Source on Mosque Murders Can’t Recall People Ever Being Murdered in a Mosque Before
NPR’s Morning Edition turned for commentary on the Christchurch massacre to a source who couldn’t remember people ever being murdered in a mosque before.
‘What Is Terrorism?’ NYT Asks—but Offers No Answers
When the headline of a story literally includes the phrase “Big Question: What Is Terrorism?” you might think it would offer at least one plausible definition proposed by any party or individual involved in these discussions. But not a single definition is suggested by anyone in the report.
Finding Excuses to Blame the Left in the Wake of Right-Wing Terror
Clearly, left-wing violence is near nonexistent when compared to the rising levels of right-wing extremism.
Synagogue Shooter Shares His HIAS Obsession With Far-Right Media
The killer may have acted alone on his fear that HIAS was helping an “invasion” of non-white newcomers to the United States, but the rhetoric about the group that motivated his butchery comes straight from the pages of Breitbart.
Evidence of Violent Extremism of Little Interest When Killer Is White
Had killer Mark Anthony Conditt been a brown Muslim, it’s hard to imagine corporate media not at least speculating that hateful ideology was a motive, and using (or at least debating the use of) the term “terrorism” to describe his crimes.
Nusrat Choudhury on ‘Black Identity Extremists,’ Neil deMause on Amazon Bidding War
The FBI has designated “black identity extremists” as a movement constituting a violent threat to public safety, and warranting the surveillance and scrutiny of the country’s “counterterrorism” forces.
After Las Vegas Massacre, Media Again Help ISIS Terrorize
After mass violence, corporate media seem more than willing to spread the specter of ISIS responsibility without any objective basis.
For Media, Driving Into a Crowd of Protesters Is a ‘Clash’
The Washington Post, Boston Globe, AOL News, The Hill, BBC and Sky News UK all chose to frame the ramming of a car into anti-fascist protesters as “clashes.”
After 1,379 Days, NYT Corrects Bogus Claim Iran ‘Sponsored’ 9/11
The New York Times maintained for more than three years that the government of Iran “sponsored” the September 11, 2001, attacks. The belated correction, issued late Wednesday night on two widely spaced articles on the topic, unceremoniously noted that Iran did not, in fact, help commit the 9/11 attacks.
Corbyn Defied Media Rules by Linking UK Wars to Terrorism
There’s no doubt that Jeremy Corbyn’s contrarian stand on terrorism, laying much of the blame on Britain’s militarist foreign policy and intervention in Middle East conflicts, was critical in his surprisingly strong showing. Yet it got almost no mention in US news reports.
Action Alert: With Sleazy Innuendo, NYT Lays Virginia Attack at Bernie Sanders’ Feet
The New York Times started with a false premise and patched together a dodgy piece of innuendo and guilt-by-association in order to place the blame for a shooting in Virginia on “the most ardent supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders.”
Heidi Beirich on White Supremacist Violence, Maria Luisa Mendonca on Brazil’s Crisis
The Washington Post’s headline “Trump’s Quick to Tweet on Terror and TV, Slower on Things Like the Attack in Portland,” was meant to call out Trump’s unwillingness to engage white supremacist violence, but it unwittingly illustrated the problem of elite media continuing to maintain separate spaces for extremist attacks based on who commits them.
