FAIR blog
The ACLU Is Like the NRA Because It Is
Decrying "the ability of well-funded extremist groups to thwart the will of the overwhelming majority," Time's Joe Klein cites defenders of Social Security--who, of course, are trying to thwart the will of an overwhelming minority.
Guantanamo Prisoners as 'Reengaged' Terrorists
If Guantanamo prisoners are being held without charge, and there is no available evidence to charge them with any terrorism-related offenses, why is the Washington Post talking about the possibility that they may "reengage in extremist activity"?
NYT's Beat Sweetener on New Interior Secretary
"Beat sweetener" was written all over John Broder's April 30 New York Times profile of new Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, "a woman of untamed energy, competitiveness and confidence in the boardroom and on a mountain trail."
How Dare Hamid Karzai Take Our Money!
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams had a most peculiar reaction to revelations that Afghan president Hamid Karzai receives regular deliveries of cash from the Central Intelligence Agency.
Syria and the 'Red Line' Nonsense
The pundits' message on Barack Obama's talk of a "red line" on Syria is that they are concerned about the credibility of the president's threats of violence--much more so than about the credibility of his evidence.
Breaking with Bush–Many Years Too Late
When someone says they "broke" with George W. Bush over the Iraq War, you might be inclined to think that they did that sometime before 2006 or so, which is about when Bush strategist-turned-TV pundit Matthew Dowd is saying he left.
Cutting the Military Budget Is a Problem…for the Left?
The Washington Post presents a "paradox" wrapped in a "conundrum" inside a "quandary"--all on top of a big heaping of right-wing policy advice for the left.
An Invitation to a Live-Action Infomercial
I was invited to an event yesterday that was held specifically so that media companies can take money from companies who will pay for the chance to be mistaken for an expert.
The Sick Madness of Tom Friedman's Culture
What is going on in our community that a critical number of our columnists believe that every American military action in the Middle East is justifiable?
Reporting 'Says' Rather Than 'Says It Believes' Could Make a War of Difference
The front page of the New York Times had a very definitive headline on Syria and chemical weapons--but when you read the actual story, a much more ambiguous picture emerged.
Texas Fertilizer Plant Disaster: Little Coverage, Much of It Wrong
The West Fertilizer Co. explosion last week was largely obscured by blanket coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing. More than that, says legendary EPA whistleblower Hugh Kaufman, a guest on this week's CounterSpin, what coverage there was often obscured the real story.
Bill O'Reilly's Dangerous Islamophobia
Fox's Bill O'Reilly, who hosts the most-watched cable news show, has spent much of the week making inflammatory claims about Islam. Sounds like somebody is looking for a religion to scapegoat--or, given his track record, some countries to attack.
Drone Strike Testimony: Not News?
In a moment when media are fixated on terrorism and the possibility that some people might be motivated to carry out acts of violence against the United States in part because of the effects of U.S. wars, a Yemeni writer's account of the effects of drone strikes on his village would be well worth covering.
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. Readers pointed out what they saw as factual errors in each. In two cases I agreed, and corrected the sentences; in the third I didn't, for reasons I'll explain. So you expect he's going to explain why he didn't agree that the third alleged factual [...]
Erin Burnett Wants a Different Kind of Terrorism Suspect
CNN host Erin Burnett wonders whether it's time to come up with some new laws in the wake of the Boston bombing, since the old ones seem to give Dzhokhar Tsarnaev too many rights.
George W. Bush Is a Swell Guy, Just Ask His Friends
The opening of the George W. Bush library is generating coverage about the state of the Bush legacy. But if the journalists who were far too generous in their coverage of Bush's presidency are the same ones writing about how that presidency should be viewed now, he's in safe hands.
Al Neuharth's Front-Page Sexism
Seeing a photograph of USA Today founder Al Neuharth above the fold in the edition of his newspaper that reported his death calls to mind a rather famous story about Neuharth's outburst at a 1983 USA Today editorial meeting.
Don't Quote Me by Name, But My Friends the Koch Brothers Respect the Hell Out of Press Freedom
The New York Times finds anonymous sources to assure us that the Koch brothers are not trying to buy the Tribune newspapers in order to "destroy the other side." But Mother Jones finds an actual person who explains how the Kochs actually treat media outlets whose reporting they don't like.
FAIR TV: Boston Bombing, Defining Terrorism, Social Security 'Bravery'
Covering the media's rush to misjudgment on the Boston Marathon attack, which acts of terrorism are called "terrorism," and PBS's "debate" over Social Security--in which both sides call Obama "brave" for trying to cut benefits.
Democrats Can't Blame Guns for '94 Losses
There are perhaps plenty of lessons in the (most recent) Senate failure to pass even modest new restrictions/regulations on gun ownership. But one lesson needs to be resisted: The idea that passing a more expansive gun control law in 1994 came back to bite Democrats in the midterm elections.
Click the flash players below to hear or the mics to download these Black Agenda Radio Commentaries.
Black Vote Rising, Black Power Diminishing, Black Condition Worsening
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Radicalized = Weaponized = Kill at Will
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
End Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons, Prepare to Back Hunger Strikers
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
From Race Men to Debased Men, Obama at Morehouse, Arne Duncan at Morgan State
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Defend Assata, Defend Ourselves: The Black Is Black Coalition Rallies in Harlem
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
The New Urban Regime: In Atlanta Gentrification Wears A Black Face
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Genocide Toll in Somalia Revised Upward
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Rep. Keith Ellison, the Personification of the Phony, Pro-War “Progressive”
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.