FAIR
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NYT's Iraq War History, Still Misleading By Peter Hart
As the story goes (and was reported at the time), Bustani had been working on getting Iraq to agree to join the Chemical Weapons Convention. This was an unwelcome development for the Bush administration, since it could complicate efforts to invade Iraq based in part on its chemical weapons stockpile. Continue reading
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On Syria, Sunday Morning TV Journalists Don't Need Proof By Peter Hart
The public doesn’t seem to support going to war in Syria–but some high-profile Sunday morning TV journalists are either declaring their support for the war, or professing faith in the case for going to war. Continue reading
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When It Comes to State Violence, Too Much Is Never Enough By Jim Naureckas
Obama does “hesitate to use force”–is that his problem? Since 2009, US drone strikes have killed more than 2000 people in Pakistan, including 240 civilians, 62 of them children. Since Obama took office, they’ve killed more than 400 in Yemen; drone deaths in Somalia are harder to quantify. Continue reading
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The Strange Thing About Cluster Bombs By Jim Naureckas
That’s the strange thing about cluster bombs: When they’re used by official enemies, they’re weapons of indiscriminate terror (FAIR Blog, 4/16/11,1/2/13). When they’re used by the United States, they’re not much worth talking about. Continue reading
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John Kerry's Very Precise Death Toll: Where Does It Come From? By Peter Hart
Journalists should, at a minimum, attribute these estimates to the government–and note that they are not in line with other reputable estimates of the death toll in Syria. Ideally, reporters should ask John Kerry to explain the discrepancy. He just made the rounds on all the major Sunday chat shows, and no one who was… Continue reading
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Which Syrian Chemical Attack Account Is More Credible? By Jim Naureckas
Let’s compare a couple of accounts of the mass deaths apparently caused by chemical weapons in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta on August 21. One account comes from the U.S. government (8/30/13), introduced by Secretary of State John Kerry. The other was published by a Minnesota-based news site called Mint Press News (8/29/13). Continue reading
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On Syria, Intelligence and Evidence By Peter Hart
One would hope that the lessons of Iraq might inform more of the coverage of Syria. But that’s not always the case. Over the course of the past week, the White House and various officials have been adamant that they have evidence that shows the Syrian government was responsible for the horrific attack last week… Continue reading
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Media Advisory: Heading to War With Syria By Peter Hart
There is still no firm public evidence that would tie these specific attacks to the Assad government. But all around the U.S. media the signs are clear that war is on the way. The front page of USA Today (8/27/13) displays U.S. bombs: Continue reading
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The Accelerating Assault on Journalism
U.S. soldier Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning’s 35-year sentence represents the harshest punishment issued to date for providing media with evidence of government wrongdoing (Forbes, 8/21/13). She is the first whistleblower to be convicted under the Espionage Act, ratifying the new reality that those who give the press information that the government wants to keep secret… Continue reading
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Bait-and-Switch on Stop-and-Frisk By Jim Naureckas
There’s a lot of misinformation coming from the media on the unconstitutional police strategy known as stop-and-frisk. There’s a powerful urge to believe, it seems, that abusing the Fourth Amendment rights of young men of color somehow makes the rest of us safer. Continue reading
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FAIR TV: Snowden the 'Spy,' Stop-and-Frisk Factcheck, Student Loan Rates By Peter Hart
23 August 2013 — FAIR Blog On FAIR TV this week: CBS tries to call Edward Snowden a “spy,” and Bill Kristol makes his ABC comeback with a bogus defense of New York’s stop-and-frisk police searches. Plus: Student loan rates are slashed, say the TV reports. But are they actually…going up? Watch it all this on this week’s episode: Continue reading
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When the State Attacks Journalism By Peter Hart
On August 15 Progressive magazine editor Matt Rothschild was arrested at the Wisconsin state capitol building in Wisconsin for the act of reporting on the arrest of a protestor. Continue reading
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What Do You Call Edward Snowden? By Peter Hart
On CBS Evening News (8/13/13), anchor Scott Pelley gave viewers a brief–and very misleading–update on Edward Snowden Continue reading
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Media Advisory: Defining Drone Deaths in Yemen
The United States has reportedly carried out nine drone attacks in the last few weeks in Yemen, generating headlines about the targeting and killing of suspected Al-Qaeda militants in the impoverished country. But how can media know for sure who is being killed? Continue reading
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Who Dies in Yemen Drone Strikes? By Rebecca Hellmich
A headline is sometimes worth a thousand words, and this was definitely the case after a deadly drone strike occurred in Yemen last week Continue reading
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FAIR TV: Terror Alerts and the NSA, Snowden's Asylum, Covering Weiner By Peter Hart
10 August 2013 — FAIR Blog The media are using the government’s warnings about a terror attack to boost NSA surveillance. Plus media get mad about Russia’s decision to grant whistleblower Edward Snowden temporary asylum. But what’s the U.S. record on extradition? Plus ABC covers the Anthony Weiner campaign–and can’t much figure out why they’re Continue reading
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Media: Iran Has Space Program–Some See Crisis! By Peter Hart
A well-respected research group posted a short article on its website about the location of a second launchpad for Iran’s space program. That’s not big news–but it can be made to sound like scary news in the New York Times. Continue reading
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Amazon, WilkiLeaks, the Washington Post and the CIA By Peter Hart
So what does Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ decision to buy the Washington Post mean? Amazon is becoming a “major vendor” to the U.S. government, particularly in the realm of web storage. Continue reading
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Snowden's Asylum and Double Standards By Peter Hart
usat-snowdenNSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has been granted temporary asylum by Russia, which has generated coverage focusing on the U.S. outrage at Russia’s decision. “Defiant Russia Grants Snowden Year’s Asylum” is the headline at the New York Times (8/2/13), where readers were told of the “risk of a breach in relations with the United States” and… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 