FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
With Chinese leader Hu Jintao in Washington, you got some of what you might expect inright wing media outlets–Rush Limbaugh doing a fake Chinese accent, and Bill O’Reilly opening his Fox show last night with crack about a Chinese dinner that wasn’t take out. Meanwhile, on public television’s Charlie Rose Show, the hour was spent […]
Under the headline “Lawmakers Aiming to Increase Civility,” the New York Times (1/17/11) reports from the front lines of the improved, post-Tucson political climate: And the House speaker, John A. Boehner, used the phrase ”job-destroying” instead of “job-killing” in reference to the Democrats’ healthcare overhaul in a speech to colleagues on Saturday–a subtle but pointed […]
As we approach the Monday holiday, we’re hearinga Pentagon lawyer suggest that Martin Luther King would support the war in Afghanistan. That makes it an ideal time torecall a 1995 column by FAIR founder Jeff Cohen and longtime associate Norman Solomon (Media Beat, 1/4/95). The full column appearsbelow, and is archived here. The Martin Luther […]
Four months ago, Steve Rendall wrote here (9/10/10) about the militarization of the State Department and its role in the continuing occupation of Iraq—developments that were getting little attention amidst all the talk of the “end” of the war. Now Aaron Davis of the Washington Post (1/14/11) fills in some of those details, writing that […]
Earlier this week (1/10/11) I wrote, given how short corporate media’s memories are, “Let’s hope that when someone convenes a civility in media discussion in 2020, they don’t ask Glenn Beck to weigh in.” No need to wait that long. Time magazine has convened a panel to talk about civility in our public discourse. And […]
USA Today (1/12/11) continues the tradition of dishonest reporting on the number of civilian casualties in Iraq. In a front-page article, reporter Tom Vanden Brook writes: Estimates vary among organizations that have tried to count civilian dead, according to a review last year by the Congressional Research Service. The Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights reported […]
Washington Post columnist Harold Meyerson writes an important column today (1/12/11) about right-wing rhetoric and the Tucson shootings. Meyerson’s point is that discussing certain symbols–like the Sarah Palin “cross hairs” map–makes little sense without understanding the paranoid worldview that is advanced by right-wing leaders and commentators like Glenn Beck. When folks like Beck and Erick […]
The Washington Post headline overa story about Joe Biden’s remarksthat U.S. military forces would stay in Afghanistan after the supposed 2014 withdrawal deadline “if the Afghan people want it” is: Biden Promises Long-Term Aid to Afghans Of course, if theU.S. troop presence in Afghanistancame down to what the “Afghan people want,” it might end sooner […]
Appearing on CNN‘s Reliable Sources (1/10/11), Time‘s Joe Klein denounced the “crap” on the Fox News Channel. And as many pundits are prone to do, he found the need to balance that by citing a comparable example from the “other” side: Well, that brings me to point number two…. Cable news chooses not to really […]
On CBS‘s Face the Nation (1/9/11), host Bob Schieffer declared: Democracy’s arguments have never been pretty, but technology has changed the American dialogue because we can now know of problems instantly. We expect answers immediately and when we don’t get them, we let everyone know in no uncertain terms. We scream and shout, hurl charges […]
One theme in the coverage of the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffordsconcerns whether the tone of the political debate will change. That’s probably going to happen in the short-term. A long-term shift is unlikely. There have been frequent allusions to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the nationaldiscussion that ensued at the time about […]
Today in the New York Times Paul Krugman (1/10/11) suggests that we not pretend that “both sides” are responsible for toxic political rhetoric: Where’s that toxic rhetoric coming from? Let’s not make a false pretense of balance: It’s coming, overwhelmingly, from the right. It’s hard to imagine a Democratic member of Congress urging constituents to […]
Obama’s selection of conservative Democrat William Daley as his new chief of staff didn’t surprise anyone.So reporters were left to explain the political shift behind the move. Some saw little movement at all, since Daley’s political views would seem more or less in line with his predecessor Rahm Emanuel. The Washington Post (1/7/11)offered this somewhat […]
The Washington Post‘s account(1/6/11) of John Boehner’s first day as Speaker of the House could have been a press release from Boehner’s office. The headline was “A Modest Boehner Takes Congress’s Most Powerful Office.” Post readers learned that”Boehner tends to shun big moments such as these. He’s more at home on the golf course with […]
There’s been a spate of reporting and commentary attacking public workers for having lavish pensions that are bankrupting various states. CBS‘s 60 Minutes got into the act in December with a report (12/19/10) that was criticized for lionizing Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (obviously this came before his snow troubles) for his attacks on […]
Reporting on variousWhite House personnel changes, specifically the idea that Clinton administration veteran Gene Sperlingwill soon head the National Economic Council, the New York Times explains (1/6/11): Mr. Sperling, much like Mr. Obama, is a liberal but with a pragmatic bent. “Pragmatic,” in corporate media code, means “centrist,” because it’s an article of faith in […]
I always enjoy Andrew Tyndall‘s year-in-review report, which tallies the minutes each network newscast devoted to the important stories of the year. His 2010 report is worth a look. The most newsworthywoman of the year? GOP Senate hopeful and Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell from Delaware. Tyndall notes that the BP oil disaster was the […]
This is an actual CNN.com headline: Palin Re-Tweet Raises Questions And the actual lead paragraph: Normally, it’s what Sarah Palin tweets that makes news. This time it’s what she has re-tweeted. The “substance” is that Palin retweeted a comment promoting Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal. The piece ends: A Palin spokesperson was not immediately available […]
New York Times reporter Matt Bai has tried to argue that the public is really worried about the budget deficit. He’s tried to find polling evidence to show the public favors some form of budget-cutting austerity,which usually leads him to focus on numbers that support his argument while ignoring those that run counter to his […]
Remember the toppling of that Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad (4/9/03) that signified the “end” of the Iraq War? At the time, there were critics who pointed out that the extensively televised images of a jubilant crowd of Iraqis were misleading.The sense of media excitement was unmistakable; as FAIR pointed out, the Los Angeles Times […]
