Media
-
'The Nuclear Enterprise Is on Autopilot'
When it comes to nuclear weapons, our next guest explains, all the talk you hear about strategic considerations driving proliferation—how do we look tough with North Korea, and so on—is in a sense a distraction from what’s really going on. If you really want to know why the US keeps churning out nuclear warheads, follow… Continue reading
-
‘Wealthy Countries Have Damaged the Climate in Incredible Ways’ by Janine Jackson
Janine Jackson interviewed Karen Orenstein about the climate disconnect for the November 17, 2017, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Continue reading
-
Google announces moves to censor RT and Sputnik By Trévon Austin
All but admitting that Google is engaged in censorship, Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google’s parent company Alphabet, announced that Google will create algorithms designed to “de-rank” web sites such as RT and Sputnik on its news delivery services. In a question and answer session at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada over the… Continue reading
-
Ignoring Washington's Role in Yemen Carnage, 60 Minutes Paints US as Savior By Adam Johnson
In one of the most glaring, power-serving omissions in some time, CBS News’ 60 Minutes (11/19/17) took a deep dive into the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, and did not once mention the direct role the United States played in creating, perpetuating and prolonging a crisis that’s left over 10,000 civilians dead, 2 million displaced, and… Continue reading
-
Video: Russiagate 'Experts' Include Bigots and Frauds
Max Blumenthal of Alternet’s Grayzone Project reveals that several influential so-called “experts” on Russiagate have sketchy pasts and an agenda to silence dissenting voices Continue reading
-
Ignoring Washington's Role in Yemen Carnage, 60 Minutes Paints US as Savior By Adam Johnson
In one of the most glaring, power-serving omissions in some time, CBS News’ 60 Minutes (11/19/17) took a deep dive into the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, and did not once mention the direct role the United States played in creating, perpetuating and prolonging a crisis that’s left over 10,000 civilians dead, 2 million displaced, and… Continue reading
-
The Pathological Refusal to Report the Simple Truth About Presidential Lying By Reed Richardson
Tragically, one of the most honest rhetorical tools that journalists have in the fight for truth has been struck from the lingua franca of US journalists. Within the stilted framework of mainstream news “objectivity,” the simple act of calling out “lies” or “lying” by a politician—especially a president—is now taboo. It imputes impossible-to-determine motives to… Continue reading
-
Guardian, NYT Paint Power-Grabbing Saudi Dictator as Roguish, Visionary ‘Reformer’ By Adam Johnson
The Guardian (11/5/17) reported that de facto Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman “is willing to take on the kingdom’s most powerful figures to implement his reforms and consolidate power.” Two weeks ago, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman carried out a brutal crackdown on his political opponents, arresting dozens of high-ranking relatives, kidnapping the prime… Continue reading
-
William Hartung on Nuclear Overkill, Karen Orenstein on Climate Disconnect
17 November 2017 — FAIR This week on CounterSpin: The opinion column in Scientific American headlined “The Caveman and the Bomb” conveys, just a little more colorfully, the sense one got from the Senate hearing on the process involved in the use of a nuclear weapon. Put simply, folks are scared that Donald Trump may Continue reading
-
Paradise Papers: 'There’s All Kinds of People Who Have Their Snouts in the Trough Here'
Janine Jackson: Establishment media cover poverty sometimes, sometimes in a compassionate and compelling way. And they cover wealth and the rich, sometimes, sometimes in a thoughtful and critical way. When the discussion called for is about the relationship between the two, the limits of media’s spotlight approach are salient. Continue reading
-
NYT’s Campus Free Speech Coverage Focuses 7-to-1 on Plight of Right By Adam Johnson
15 November 2017 — FAIR College Republicans complained to the New York Times (9/23/16) that the nomination of Donald Trump “prompted widespread mockery from their liberal classmates.” Over the past 18 months, the New York Times has dedicated 21 columns and articles to the subject of conservatives’ free speech on campus, while only three covered Continue reading
-
US Justice Department Forces RT America To register As “Foreign Agent” — by Trévon Austin
RT, the Russia-based oppositional TV and Internet broadcaster, announced Thursday that the US Department of Justice has forced it to register as a “foreign agent” under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Washington has given the outlet until Monday to register as a foreign agent or its director could be arrested and its assets frozen. Continue reading
-
NBC News' Breezy Whitewash of White Supremacist Group By Adam Johnson
As FAIR noted last year, the rise of Trump has lead to a corollary rise in softball profiles of the most vulgar, racist extremes of the American far right. For some reason, news managers feel the need to highlight, with little if any criticism or context, pro-Trump extremists who’ve been emboldened by his campaign and… Continue reading
-
Ramsey Orta Can't Breathe By Josmar Trujillo
When we went to a New York state prison to visit Ramsey Orta, the young man who filmed a police officer choking Eric Garner to death on a Staten Island sidewalk in 2014, we didn’t even make it past the metal detectors. When we arrived at Fishkill, we put our belongings into a locker and… Continue reading
-
Ramsey Orta Can’t Breathe By Josmar Trujillo
When we went to a New York state prison to visit Ramsey Orta, the young man who filmed a police officer choking Eric Garner to death on a Staten Island sidewalk in 2014, we didn’t even make it past the metal detectors. When we arrived at Fishkill, we put our belongings into a locker and… Continue reading
-
Media Spent Months Lionizing General Who Defended Slaveholders' Revolt
According to corporate media, the top general who just complimented the commander of the slavery-defending Confederacy is the greatest hope to rein in President Donald Trump’s extremism. Continue reading
-
Media: For NYT, Making the Democrats Safe for the Oligarchy Is Literally Job One By Jim Naureckas
Last week, the paper published an op-ed by Douglas Schoen, “Why Democrats Need Wall Street” (10/18/17). Who is Douglas Schoen, you might ask? He’s billed by the Times as having been “a pollster and senior political adviser to President Bill Clinton from 1994 to 2000.” More relevantly to the current century, he’s a corporate PR… Continue reading
-
Video: Real Media: Media & Mistrust
Sociologist and author Tom Mills talks about growing public mistrust of the media, who owns the print media, and how the broadcast media tends to draw its journalists from certain sectors of society Continue reading
-
Audio: Alex Vitale on The End of Policing
Thanks mainly to independent and social media, and of course activism like Black Lives Matter, Americans have been forced to confront, and to know more about, police brutality and racism in the criminal justice system than just a few years ago. But corporate media conversation about what to do with that knowledge is constrained. Continue reading
-
Video: Twitter Bans RT and Sputnik Ads, Who's Next?
Twitter has announced it will ban advertising from the Russian-backed media outlets RT and Sputnik. We speak to journalist and best-selling author Max Blumenthal. Continue reading
The New Dark Age 