FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
Two recent reports on ABC raised the possibility that 10-year-old tapes of Saddam Hussein might show that he “did hide weapons of mass destruction”–giving the White House’s rationale for the March 2003 invasion a boost. But as a February 17 FAIR action alert pointed out, ABC‘s reporting omitted evidence that undermined this argument. The tapes […]
Slate.com editor and legal commentator Dahlia Lithwick discusses why damning recent reports on Guantánamo Bay have received minimal attention from news outlets. Also on the show: Sheila Gibbons, editor of the quarterly Media Report to Women, joins to talk about what needs to be done to improve representation of women in media.
(NOTE: Please see the Activism Update regarding this alert.) On February 15, ABC investigative reporter Brian Ross delivered an exclusive report on World News Tonight and Nightline that purported to be a bombshell. ABC had obtained tape-recorded conversations from mid-1995 that seemed to show that Iraq had been concealing its weapons of mass destruction program. […]
This week on CounterSpin: Emily Whitfield of the ACLU discusses Amy Gharib prison and the Pentagon’s cover up. Also on the show: Is the so-called a la carte approach to cable TV a win for the public, or just another way for media giants to control the flow of information? We’ll ask of Kenneth DeGraff of Consumers Union.
This week on CounterSpin: Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada discusses the Prophet Mohammed cartoons that have set off protests around the world and what media coverage tends to miss. Also on the program: David Swanson joins to talk about the new Bush memo.
FAIR was founded on the belief that journalism matters—that getting out the truth can improve the world, while news that distorts or denies reality can have terrible consequences. To illustrate this conviction, we’ve compiled a list of 20 news stories published since FAIR’s 1986 debut that had a major impact on society—for good or for […]
Does American reporting on Iraq paint a misleadingly optimistic narrative? Also on CounterSpin: The NYT and corporate press on Sago.
This week on CounterSpin: The media versus the public on the economy. Also: James Bamford joins to discuss his recent report “The Man Who Sold the War,” which investigates the powerful Rendon Group and its role in manufacturing public consent for the Iraq War.
Imagine a major mainstream media figure stating that the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq are not really such a big deal. You might expect that pundits across the political spectrum would attack such a statement as an affront to the troops and a belittling of their sacrifices. But you don’t have to imagine; this […]
With polls showing growing opposition to the Iraq War and an increasing distrust for the White House, one might think that the press corps would be willing to re-examine how the threat from Iraq‘s supposed weapons of mass destruction was used to lead the country into war. But for many pundits, the origins of […]
This week on CounterSpin: We’ll talk with author and media critic Norman Solomon about getting out of Iraq. Also: Alternet contributor Onnesha Roychoudhuri discusses the Wall Street Journal’s tortured position on detainee abuse.
This week on CounterSpin: The press on George W. Bush’s fresh WMD claims. Also this week: Guardian columnist George Monbiot joins for a discussion about the US military’s use of white phosphorus against civilians in Fallujah and how the Pentagon has responded.
Los Angeles Times columnist Robert Scheer was fired on November 11 after nearly 30 years at the paper, the last 13 as one of its most progressive political columnists. In a published statement announcing op-ed page changes (11/10/05), the Times insisted that it is dedicated to “provid[ing] readers with a wide range of voices and […]
Journalist Laura Rozen joins to discuss to scandal currently unfolding in Italy, and what this could mean for the White House. Also on the show: Hip hop journalist Jeff Change on the Village Voice merger and what this means for alternative media.
Imagine a major mainstream media figure stating that the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq are not really a big deal. You would expect that pundits across the political spectrum would attack such a statement as an affront to the troops and a belittling of their sacrifices. But you don’t have to imagine; this scenario […]
While talking heads chattered about the Joe Wilson/Karl Rove “Plamegate” scandal (Extra!, 9—10/05), one cable news host staked out a firm position (7/12/05): “I say give Karl Rove a medal. . . . Valerie Plame should have been outed by somebody. And nobody else has the cojones to do it.” The host claimed—inaccurately—that Wilson’s “little […]
In his September 27 online column, NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin responded to FAIR’s September 21 Action Alert regarding a Morning Edition report on terrorism that implied that only “extremist groups” perceived a connection between the recent London subway bombings and Britain’s involvement in Iraq. Below is Dvorkin’s response. A ‘FAIR’ Question One more issue from […]
Hundreds of thousands of Americans around the country protested the Iraq War on the weekend of September 24-25, with the largest demonstration bringing between 100,000 and 300,000 to Washington, D.C. on Saturday. But if you relied on television for your news, you’d hardly know the protests happened at all. According to the Nexis news database, […]
NOTE: Please see the update to this alert. In a story about a U.N. Security Council resolution on terrorism and incitement (Morning Edition, 9/15/05), NPR reporter Corey Flintoff attributed to “extremist groups” the view that there was a link between the July 7 subway bombings in London and Britain’s participation in the Iraq War. In […]
Cindy Sheehan’s protest outside George W. Bush‘s Texas ranch has recently focused media attention on the antiwar movement. But some mainstream media outlets seem determined to marginalize such activism. On August 25, ABC World News Tonight anchor Charles Gibson asked, “People may tell pollsters they oppose the war, but are they part of any real […]
