Robert Jensen on Newsweek’s Quran Story, Karl Grossman on Weapons in Space
Journalism professor Robert Jensen discusses the Newsweek Quran desecration story. Also this week: environmental reporter Karl Grossman on the weaponization of space.
Reviving Cold War Reporting on Nicaragua
As the Bush administration carries out what the New York Times (4/5/05) describes as a “concerted effort” to block the return of the left-wing Sandinista party to power in Nicaragua, U.S. media are returning to the kind of distorted reporting on Nicaragua that characterized coverage during Washington’s war against that country in the 1980s. The […]
Murdoch Exploits 9/11 for Kerry Smear
November 1, 2004 In a naked attempt to exploit the September 11 attacks for partisan political gain, Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post ran a deceptive front-page headline on its October 30 edition that declared that Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden “Urges Bush Defeat.” Of course, the taped message from bin Laden played on Al-Jazeera […]
Michael Froomkin on torture memos, Robert Jensen on 9/11 Commission
Attempts by the Bush administration to deflect criticism over its leniency toward the harsh treatment of Iraqi and Afghan prisoners have failed to gain traction in the mainstream media.
Turning Questions into Conspiracy Theories
(NOTE: Please read the update to this alert.) In its eagerness to find a lighter side to the September 11 commission hearings, the New York Times ended up trampling on the news. In a “Reporter’s Notebook” feature in the Times’ April 15 edition, reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote a series of what might be called […]
Jim Pinkerton on Richard Clarke, Mel Goodman on 9/11 Commission
Newsday columnist Jim Pinkerton discusses former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke. And retired CIA official Melvin Goodman examines what’s lacking from coverage on the September 11 Commission’s initial reports.
Norman Solomon on 9/11 hearings & Richard Clarke, John Gorenfeld on Jack Kelley
More on Richard Clarke and his charges against the White House. Also on CounterSpin: discussion on USA Today reporter, James Kelly, and his fabricated news stories.
Jeff Cohen on Spanish elections, Jonathan Landay on INC & media
Do recent election results suggest that Spain is going soft on the war on terror? Also: how has the Iraqi National Congress meddled with American media?
Homegrown Terrorists
In his interview with Tim Russert (Meet the Press, 2/8/04), George W. Bush said, “See, free societies are societies that don’t develop weapons of mass terror.” Putting aside the U.S. government’s enormous stocks of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons—which Bush would presumably insist are not intended for terror—the statement also overlooks the fact that the […]
Saddam and Osama’s Shotgun Wedding
The funny thing about the Weekly Standard’s “exposé” purporting to offer proof of a longstanding Iraq/al-Qaeda alliance (11/24/03) is the aura of tight-lipped secrecy the magazine tries to impute to the Bush administration’s case against Saddam Hussein. As everyone knows, hardline officials have spent the last two years leaking stories, writing op-eds, holding private briefings […]
Journalists Find “Calm” When Only Palestinians Die
The deadly bus bombing in Jerusalem on August 19 was foreshadowed by a pair of suicide attacks a week earlier which killed two Israeli civilians. While U.S. media tended to portray these attacks as a return to violence after a relatively peaceful period, there were numerous killings in the weeks leading up to the suicide […]
When Journalism Becomes ‘Terrorism’
Senior Pentagon adviser Richard Perle abruptly announced his resignation on March 27 as chair of the Defense Policy Board, an influential Pentagon advisory panel. Not coincidentally, Perle had shortly before his resignation described the respected journalist Seymour Hersh as a “terrorist,” and threatened to sue Hersh for libel in Britain. Pulitzer-winner Hersh’s report in the […]
The Victories That Weren’t
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that bureaucrats and politicians exaggerate their accomplishments; news media exist, in part, to check government claims against reality. But when reporters don’t bother to look for answers beyond the press conference, they can turn an official fiction into a documented “fact.” Perhaps the most significant embellishment repeated over the past couple […]
9/11 Anniversary Coverage Plans Fall Short
As the first anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks approaches, reflection and commemoration are certainly appropriate. The planned media tributes will ring hollow, however, unless they also offer the public substantive discussion of where the “war on terror” has taken us– Is the world safer now? Are we more free and secure? Unfortunately, […]
The Thrill of a Good Conspiracy
Few episodes in American history attracted more conspiracy theories than the Oklahoma bombing case. The idea that Iraq was actually involved with the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City is a theory long ago dismissed–for good reasons. Sadly, after the attacks of 9-11, it reemerged with a vengeance. “A few top Defense officials think Oklahoma City […]
Afghan Famine On and Off the Screen
During the U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan, international aid workers were among the few non-governmental sources with access to real-time information about how the attacks were affecting the population. In their statements, they often painted a bleak view of civilian suffering. But their ability to garner coverage for their comments seemed to depend on how […]
The ‘Oh Really?’ Factor
If it’s “spin” to back up your arguments with bogus facts and statistics, and to dismiss numbers that don’t fit in with your preconceptions, then Bill O’Reilly‘s Fox News Channel show isn’t, as he repeatedly claims, a “no-spin zone”—it’s Spin City. During an interview with National Organization for Women president Kim Gandy (O’Reilly Factor, 2/5/02), […]
‘Terrorism’ Is a Term That Requires Consistency
A group called Minnesotans Against Terrorism (MAT)—which includes Gov. Jesse Ventura, Sen. Paul Wellstone and other prominent political figures—has condemned the Minneapolis Star Tribune for what it calls a “double standard” on the use of the word “terrorism.” But in fact, neither the newspaper nor the organization applies the term “terrorism” in a consistent way—a […]
The Journalist From Mars
The proper topic for an occasion like this, I suppose, is pretty obvious: It would be the question of how the media have handled the major story of the past months, the issue of the “war on terrorism,” so-called, specifically in the Islamic world. Incidentally, by media here I intend the term to be understood […]
Take No Prisoners
Mainstream US media rarely quoted international law or challenged the administration’s designation of detainees as “unlawful combatants.”
