WaPo’s One-Sided Cheerleading for Coup and Intervention in Venezuela
A review of 15 opinion pieces featured in the Washington Post shows voices even remotely sympathetic to the government of President Nicolás Maduro are omitted entirely.
Venezuela Brings Toys to Poor Kids, Gets Called ‘Grinch’ on CNN
In the article “Venezuelan President Called a ‘Grinch’ After Government Toy Seizure,” CNN reporters Rafael Romo and Jorge Luis Pérez liken President Nicolás Maduro to a dastardly Grinch who is stealing toys from under children’s Christmas trees — while he is doing precisely the contrary.
In Campaign Against Venezuela, NYT Cites Former Member of Death Squad Alliance
In its nonstop campaign against the government of Venezuela, the New York Times is now forced to lean on the thin reed of Paraguay’s ultra-rightist government, which took power in elections widely characterized by fraud, as even the Timesnoted when they occurred.
Media Love to Criticize Trump—When It Helps Disparage US Enemies
Clearly, there is much to criticize about Donald Trump, and there are negative things you can say about Castro, Putin, and Maduro. But these stories aren’t really about any of these politicians.
Arun Kundnani on Islamophobia & the ‘War on Terror,’ Keane Bhatt on a Tale of Two Elections
The San Bernardino killings have added fuel to an upsurge of Islamophobia in US media and politics that in some ways is worse than that seen in the wake of September 11, 2001.
Soundbites May 2015
Remembering ‘News Dissector’ Danny Schechter When I launched FAIR in 1986, we had virtually no allies in the mainstream media. Except for Danny, then a producer at ABC’s 20/20. He was full of encouragement—telling us how important that we launch this group to monitor corporate media misdeeds. He gave us at FAIR crucial advice in […]
Alfredo Lopez on Venezuelan ‘Threat,’ Jeff Biggers on Mountaintop Removal
Is Venezuela really a threat to the security of the United States, as the White House has declared? And after years of activism, are we about to see an end to one of the most damaging aspects of the coal industry–mountaintop removal?
Saudi Dictator’s Death Shows NYT as Pawn of Power
The New York Times repeated the White House’s depiction of Saudi Arabian King Abdullah as a peace-loving friend, despite the reality that King Abdullah’s regime flogged dissenters, beheaded perpetrators of “sorcery” and made “frequent exhortations to the US to attack Iran.”
Soundbites March 2015
Headlines include: “For CNN, Asperger’s Equals Madness,” “Chris Matthews Advocates ‘Rambo Stuff,'” “Relating to the Community With Automatic Weapons,” “Facts and Reality Are Two Different Things” on Iran and more!
Op-Ed on Venezuela Slips Past NYT Factcheckers
A February 15, 2015, New York Times op-ed on Venezuela by Enrique Krauze includes numerous false statements and errors, which should have been caught by the Times’ factcheckers.
‘Venezuelan Bomb Plot’ a Figment of FBI’s—and US Media’s—Imagination
Accurate headlines would not leave casual readers with the impression that Venezuela was interested in getting a nuclear bomb, or in trying to nuke New York.
Washington Post Slams Venezuela for Electing ‘Former Bus Driver’
It’s no secret that the Washington Post editorial page was quite alarmed by Venezuela’s shift to the left under former President Hugo Chavez. The Post–like the rest of elite US media (Extra!, 11/05)–was an unrelenting critic of Chavez’s policies. Some things haven’t changed. In a scathing editorial (9/20/14), the Post went after Chavez’s successor Nicolas Maduro, […]
FAIR TV: NYT Venezuela Correction, Rich Lowry’s War Lies, Iran’s Unreal Ship
On the show: The New York Times runs an op-ed from a leader of the Venezuelan opposition–but it’s the correction that is most revealing. And right-wing pundit Rich Lowry can’t stand Vladmir Putin’s invasion based on “lies.” But he had a different view of that when he was the one lying about Iraq. Plus the […]
Who Is Dying in Venezuela? A Revealing NYT Correction
A leader of the anti-government opposition in Venezuela writes an op-ed for the New York Times–but the most interesting part might be the correction.
Miguel Tinker Salas on Venezuela, Ali Abunimah on Palestine
This week on CounterSpin: Venezuela’s violent demonstrations, which began a month ago, have begun to wind down. Has anything been resolved between the largely middle and upper class opposition, and the democratically elected government they want to leave? We’ll talk with Pomona College professor and the author of The Enduring Legacy: Oil, Culture and Society in Venezuela, Miguel Tinker Salas.
Also this week: The news from Israel-Palestine is usually quite bleak, and this week is no different. But are the Palestinians winning? That’s what Ali Abunimah argues in his new book The Battle for Justice in Palestine. He’ll join us to explain.
NYT Corrects Venezuela TV Falsehood
Activists call on the New York Times to correct a faulty report on Venezuela– and they do.
News From Venezuela—but Where Is It Coming From?
How trustworthy are reports that “state-sponsored paramilitaries” are “shooting at anyone who seemed like he might be protesting” against the government of Venezuela?
Jon Lee Anderson Explains: Because I Said So
New Yorker staff writer Jon Lee Anderson has a blog post on the magazine’s website (4/23/13) addressing the controversy over his recent coverage of Venezuela (FAIR Blog, 4/17/13): At issue are sentences in three different pieces written in the course of a number of months—two on the New Yorker‘s website and one in the magazine. […]
Why We Need the New Yorker to Correct Its Error on Venezuelan Inequality
The New Yorker is a magazine whose name is practically synonymous with factchecking–which makes you wonder how the glaring, major errors in the its recent coverage of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez got through.
USA Today: Venezuelans Voted for High Unemployment and Food Shortages
If USA Today is presenting an objective record of the Chavez years, how on Earth did he win so many elections? By that score, Venezuela must also have an especially ill-informed populace–or maybe Venezuelans know a different reality.
