FAIR blog
Time's Ticking Clock on War With Iran
Nowhere does Time's Massimo Calabresi mention one rather inconvenient fact: There is no evidence that Iran is actually pursuing a nuclear weapon. Regular inspections have failed to turn up any evidence of that.
AP: Chavez Wasted His Money on Healthcare When He Could Have Built Gigantic Skyscrapers
Chavez squandered his nation's oil money on healthcare, education and nutrition when he could have been building the world's tallest building or his own branch of the Louvre. What kind of monster has priorities like that?
Keystone's Endorsement by a TV 'Leftist'
The controversy over the Keystone XL pipeline doesn't get covered much in corporate television–it takes tens of thousands of activists marching in Washington to get a few words on the nightly newscasts. But the State Department's recent draft assessment of the pipeline's environmental impact got a mention on one show, and it said a lot. Not about the pipeline, really, but about corporate media. The comment came on the roundtable discussion on ABC's This Week (3/3/13). The panel, like so many of these discussions, was tilted to the right: A Republican mayor from Utah (Mia Love), a former Bush adviser [...]
Ten Years Ago, the Truth About Iraqi WMDs Was Published–and Ignored
Ten years ago, a major American magazine published a bombshell report about the non-existence of Iraq's WMDs. But it was hardly noticed by a corporate press corps too busy hyping the threat from those non-existent weapons.
FAIR TV: Sequester Spin, Iranian vs. U.S. Propaganda, Stop & Frisk Factcheck
This week we take a look at how the Washington Post challenges some sequester spin. And CBS pokes fun at Iranian claims about Argo--but are the Iranians right that Argo is fiction? Plus George Will has some thoughts about stop-and-frisk policing.
Republican Pals and Their 'National Security' Passion
Time magazine has a profile this week of Senate Republican buddies John McCain and Lindsey Graham, and one passage really stands out–not for what it reveals about them, really, but about the media. Michael Crowley writes: Graham and McCain have been friends for more than a decade, a partnership born of their shared passion for national security (McCain was a Navy pilot, Graham is still an Air Force Reserve lawyer), a willingness to poke their party's base in the eye and an uncanny knack for attracting the media's attention. More surprising and quotable than bland party leaders like Mitch McConnell [...]
Bill O'Reilly, Big Government and Racism
It's not as if Bill O'Reilly has never uttered things reasonable people might consider racist. But the fact that he seems to believe that the White House is destroying the economy in order to provide free stuff to people of color is taking things to an entirely different level.
CNN's Recipe for Italy: Austerity–No Matter What
CNN.com had an odd piece of analysis of the Italian election results, arguing that austerity "is necessary by any calculation to actually start moving Italy out of the recession." That's not the calculation of Paul Krugman, who for what its worth is a Nobel Prize-winning economist.
Forget Objectivity–Can We Have a Fact-Based Media?
There is no objective evidence that allowing two people of the same gender to marry will harm mixed-gender marriages. So you might think objective reporting would treat that assertion as a dubious claim.
Heard the One About Lazy French Workers?
The Washington Post brings us the story of a right-wing U.S. businessman who is in a very public fight over the work habits of the French. Yes, we all know the folklore about the lazy French. What would be helpful here is some dose of reality--that's what journalism can be good for.
Oscar Rights Some Historical Wrongs, Creates Some New Ones
Many have exposed the fictions of Argo; Salon's Andrew O'Hehir described the film as "a propaganda fable." But when the Academy chose Argo and almost ignored Zero Dark Thirty, I cheered.
Iranians and Their Clunky Propaganda!
I suppose we might ignore that the first lady of a country appeared at an awards show, flanked by members of the military, to present a prize to a film about the heroism of U.S. intelligence. No, the real problem is Iran's Photoshopping.
Hugo Chavez Keeps Showering the Poor
The Chavez years, as best we can tell, have been enormously beneficial to the Venezuelan public as owners of public resources. But when corporate media write about Chavez's policies, they can barely disguise their real feelings--as if the natural order of things would mean that private companies managed the oil industry and captured the profits.
George Will's Stop & Frisk Factcheck
The ABC Sunday show This Week had not one but two roundtables this weekend. Right-winger George Will appeared on both of them, because... well, he knows a lot of stuff.
FAIR TV: Climate March and TV, Fox 'Liberal' on Campus Rape, NYT Doesn't Like Correa
Was the big climate march in Washington not hot enough for corporate TV? What does the New York Times have against leftist Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa? And Bob Beckel said something dumb on a Fox News show yet again--a convenient "left-wing" role for a right-wing outlet.
Sometimes David Brooks Gets So Mad He Can't Write Straight
When David Brooks writes that Obama "declines to come up with a proposal" other than raising taxes on the rich, and in reality he has proposed a plan, that merits a correction, right? Maybe. But when you're a New York Times columnist, apparently you get to play by a different rulebook.
Fox News 'Liberal' Isn't So Sure About College Rape
In most places, a record like Bob Beckel would probably lead your employer to tell you to take your act elsewhere. But if you're running a right-wing propaganda network, he's a pretty valuable "leftist" to keep around.
When You're Cutting Social Security, 'Wealthy' Begins at $25K
Here's a proposal for Social Security that was on the New York Times' op-ed page yesterday (2/20/13): The top third of beneficiaries (by lifetime income) [would] receive no annual cost-of-living adjustment in retirement. The middle third would get half of today’s adjustment, and the bottom third would receive the same annual increase they do now. Such a reform…would reduce Social Security spending by more than a tenth over a decade and fix the program’s long-term financing. This is part of Paul Ryan adviser Yuval Levin's attempt to find "common ground" on the entitlement issue: "Both sides should agree at least [...]
Why Does a Climatologist Need to Explain Economics to Joe Nocera?
NASA climatologist James Hansen has tried to explain to New York Times columnist Joe Nocera why he's so wrong about the tar sands, but Nocera's account of their argument makes it seem like explaining anything to him would be an uphill battle.
Tom Friedman's Apple Hunch
Tom Friedman wrote a column about how government policies are harming the recovery. What we need is some kind of grand bargain to, as the headline puts is, "unparalyze" the economy and spur new growth. What's that mean? Cuts to Social Security and Medicare, along with "tax reform."
Click the flash players below to hear or the mics to download these Black Agenda Radio Commentaries.
Demonstrators Demand End of Impunity for Banks
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Chicago Teachers Build a Movement
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Black Vote Rising, Black Power Diminishing, Black Condition Worsening
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Radicalized = Weaponized = Kill at Will
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End Solitary Confinement in U.S. Prisons, Prepare to Back Hunger Strikers
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From Race Men to Debased Men, Obama at Morehouse, Arne Duncan at Morgan State
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Defend Assata, Defend Ourselves: The Black Is Black Coalition Rallies in Harlem
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The New Urban Regime: In Atlanta Gentrification Wears A Black Face
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