FAIR
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Bum Rap: The U.S. Role in Guatemalan Genocide By Peter Hart
The U.S. role in facilitating genocide was not central to the trial of Ríos Montt, but the fact remains that U.S. aid helped fuel the military, and Reagan-era officials like Elliott Abrams brushed off concerns about atrocities against indigenous villages. As Malkin put it, “For some in Guatemala, the virtual invisibility of the American role… Continue reading
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Dead Journalists and the Newseum Scandal By Peter Hart
On May 10, the Huffington Post’s Michael Calderone reported that the museum was being criticized by “conservative outlets and a pro-Israel think tank” over the inclusion in its Journalists Memorial of two reporters from Al-Aqsa TV, which is run by Hamas. Continue reading
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Action Alert: Iraq Then, Syria Now? New York Times, sarin and skepticism
During the run-up to the Iraq War, the New York Times amplified erroneous official claims about weapons of mass destruction (FAIR Action Alert, 9/8/06). Looking at the paper’s coverage of allegations of chemical weapons use by Syria, some of the same patterns are clear: an over-reliance on official sources and the downplaying of critical or… Continue reading
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Reporting 'Says' Rather Than 'Says It Believes' Could Make a War of Difference By Jim Naureckas
White House Says Syria Has Used Chemical Arms. Well, that’s pretty definitive, isn’t it? But then if you read the first line of the story, you get a different picture Continue reading
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Media Advisory: Syria Skepticism – Chemical claims should be investigated, not used as pretext for war
U.S. suggestions that the Syrian government could have used chemical weapons have been treated as fact by some media outlets, and are helping to fuel the case for greater U.S. military involvement. But subsequent reporting has called into question these early, credulous reports–and highlighted the continuing media failure to treat WMD claims with the skepticism… Continue reading
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FAIR TV: Syria Sarin Skepticism, Tom Friedman's Sick Madness, Darkening the Tsarnaevs By Peter Hart
This week on FAIR TV: Do the claims about Syria’s chemical weapons hold up? And why do some pundits seem to want to push for a U.S. military response? Also, we’ll take a look at Tom Friedman’s column about the “sick madness” of attacking innocents, and how The Week magazine turned the Caucasian Tsarnaev brothers… Continue reading
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North Korea 'Rattles Sabres'; Meanwhile, U.S. Pretends to Drop Nuclear Bombs on Them By Peter Hart
The dominant narrative would have you believe that the United States was basically minding its own business when North Korea began lashing out. On CBS Evening News (3/29/13), Major Garrett explained: :North Korean saber-rattling is common every spring when the United States and South Korea engage in military exercises” Continue reading
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North Korea ‘Rattles Sabres’; Meanwhile, U.S. Pretends to Drop Nuclear Bombs on Them By Peter Hart
The dominant narrative would have you believe that the United States was basically minding its own business when North Korea began lashing out. On CBS Evening News (3/29/13), Major Garrett explained: :North Korean saber-rattling is common every spring when the United States and South Korea engage in military exercises” Continue reading
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The Media Didn’t Fail on Iraq; Iraq Just Showed We Have a Failed Media By Jim Naureckas
The real job of the media is not to sprinkle 1 percent truth amidst 99 percent bullshit, so that diligent researchers can search it out like Easter eggs. The job of the media is to present information so that when when its audience consumes it in the usual manner, that audience can get some sense… Continue reading
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The Media Didn't Fail on Iraq; Iraq Just Showed We Have a Failed Media By Jim Naureckas
The real job of the media is not to sprinkle 1 percent truth amidst 99 percent bullshit, so that diligent researchers can search it out like Easter eggs. The job of the media is to present information so that when when its audience consumes it in the usual manner, that audience can get some sense… Continue reading
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How to Read Stories About Israel in the NY Times (Hint: Very Carefully) By Peter Hart
Some days the Newspaper of Record says a lot–not always in ways you might expect. Today (3/21/13) a story by Mark Landlerand Rick Gladstone about allegations of chemical weapons in Syria includes something you see often–anonymous government sources. That can often be a bad thing; but today it’s pretty useful: Continue reading
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Media Advisory: Iraq War, Ten Years Later: ‘In a Few Days We’re Gonna Own That Country’
Today marks the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the bombing and invasion of Iraq. The war could not have proceeded as it did without the support of a compliant, servile press corps. Continue reading
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Media Advisory: Iraq War, Ten Years Later: 'In a Few Days We're Gonna Own That Country'
Today marks the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the bombing and invasion of Iraq. The war could not have proceeded as it did without the support of a compliant, servile press corps. Continue reading
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Media: The Pope and Politics By Peter Hart
15 March 2013 — FAIR Blog Argentine cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was chosen as the new pope this week. But coverage often glossed over the most intense political controversies about him. On NBC Nightly News (3/13/13), the network’s Vatican analyst George Weigel told viewers that Pope Francis was “a man of God… a man who is Continue reading
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FAIR TV: Hugo Chavez in U.S. Media, Time's Path to Iran War, Keystone XL and the TV Left By Peter Hart
This week on FAIR TV: Hugo Chavez was loathed by the U.S. press–and that didn’t change when they reported his death. Plus Time magazine provides a look at the “Path to War” with Iran–omitting a key fact along the way. And the Keystone XL pipeline is back in the news. But when it came up… Continue reading
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NYT Debates Hugo Chavez–Minus the Debate By Peter Hart
“On Eve of His Funeral, Debating Chávez’s Legacy” is the headline over William Neuman’s piece in the New York Times today (3/8/13). Funny headline, since there was no one in the Times’ “debate” who argued that Chávez left much of anything. Continue reading
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The NYT's Problem With Leftist Presidents By Peter Hart
Left-wing Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa was poised to win re-election on Sunday. Give that fact, the New York Times went with a peculiar headline for their February 16 piece Continue reading
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Media: Tom Friedman's Apple Hunch By Peter Hart
New York Times columnist Tom Friedman is, for reasons that remain entirely unclear, considered a wise man in elite media circles. His columns and books are read by others in the business, who then turn around and pretend they know something because they read it in a Tom Friedman column. Continue reading
The New Dark Age 