Media
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Video Preview: #stopmurdoch Sky Takeover
30 November 2017 — CPBF The #stopmurdoch video is being crowdfunded and this is a preview and an opportunity to fund it. The Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom One of CPBF’s aims is to: ‘To challenge the myth that press freedom is best served by current forms of ownership and control, and by ‘self-regulation’… Continue reading
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Backlash Against Russian ‘Fake News’ Is Shutting Down Debate for Real By Robin Andersen
A few days before the Halloween hearings held by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, where powerful tech companies would provide testimony about their roles disseminating “fake news” during the 2016 election, Twitter announced it would no longer accept advertising from the Russian government-sponsored broadcast channel Russia Today (RT), or the state-owned Sputnik. Continue reading
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Media Erase NATO Role in Bringing Slave Markets to Libya By Ben Norton
NATO supported an array of rebel groups fighting on the ground in Libya, many of which were dominated by Islamist extremists and harbored violently racist views. Militants in the NATO-backed rebel stronghold of Misrata even referred to themselves in 2011 as “the brigade for purging slaves, black skin”—an eerie foreshadowing of the horrors that were… Continue reading
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Net neutrality and the drive to censor the internet
Under the current law, upheld by numerous court decisions and reaffirmed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2015, companies that provide internet access to users, known as internet service providers (ISPs), cannot block or impede their users’ access to any website or service. But the draft proposal published by FCC chairman Ajit Pai Wednesday,… Continue reading
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Unrelenting Propagation of “Fake News”: Selected Articles
25 November 2017 — Global Research The Objective of the US Is to Weaken and Destroy Syria: Prof. Tim Anderson By Prof. Tim Anderson and Sputnik, November 24, 2017 In an interview with Radio Sputnik, Tim Anderson, an academic expert in economics and international politics from the University of Sydney, pondered on the US’ role in the standoff in Syria,… Continue reading
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Trump Administration Plays Media Like Fiddle on Iran/HBO Hacking Story By Adam Johnson
24 November 2017 — FAIR The Washington Post (11/19/17) reported warnings that “Justice Department officials want to reveal [Iran-connected] cases because the Trump administration would like Congress to impose new sanctions on Iran.” It’s rare to see evidence of an administration plot to manipulate the media unfolding in real time, but such is the case… Continue reading
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Europe says no to the Censorship Machine!
Great news! On Monday the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee voted NO to censorship machines!. This is a fantastic moment, and it wouldn’t have been possible without your tireless support. Thank you for all the hard work you’ve done. Over 135,000 people have spoken up against Censorship Machines and the Link Tax. Despite heavy lobbying… Continue reading
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'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
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‘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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
The New Dark Age 