16 June 2014 — FAIR Blog
The crisis in Iraq has brought war back to the US airwaves. But if you were expecting a more robust discussion about US military action this time around, think again. The rule seems to be that if you were wrong in 2003, you’re still an expert in 2014.
Take the Sunday chat shows. On ABC‘s This Week (6/15/14), viewers heard first from former military: ex-fighter pilot Steve Ganyard and retired Gen. Peter Chiarelli.
30 May 2014 — Infowars
3 May 2014 — FAIR TV
On the show this week: CNN goes to Iran nuclear expert… Benjamin Netanyahu? Plus new nonsense on Benghazi, and Meet the Press presents a discussion on affirmative action with mostly conservative white guys–showing media’s need for some affirmative action of their own.
26 April 2014 — FAIR Blog
New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan‘s critique (4/24/14) of her paper’s handling of their Russia/Ukraine photo scoop closed with this:
The Times‘ influence demands that it be cautious, especially when deciding to publish what amounts to a government handout.
The thing about the news business is that what appears in the New York Times reappears lots of other places. The Times piece, “Photos Link Masked Men in East Ukraine to Russia,” was posted on Sunday night (4/20/14) and appeared on the paper’s front page the next day. So it was no surprise that it would wind up on one on the network newscasts. The NBC Nightly News, to be precise.
4 November 2013 — WashingtonsBlog
As we’ve documented ad nauseum, the American and British governments are treating whistleblowers and reporters as terrorists.
10 September 2013 — FAIR Blog
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.
4 September 2013 — FAIR Blog
When the PBS NewsHour covered John Kerry’s dramatic presentation on the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria on August 21, reporter Jeffrey Brown (8/30/13) zeroed in on the death toll:
KERRY: The United States government now knows that at least 1,429 Syrians were killed in this attack, including at least 426 children.
BROWN: The chilling numbers stood out from the U.S. intelligence assessment released this afternoon. And, lest anyone doubt, the secretary of State insisted, its findings are as clear as they are compelling.
2 September 2013 — Moon of Alabama
Several newspapers claim that U.S. Secretary of State Kerry said that there is proof of sarin gas used in the recent Syrian incident. These claims are false.
30 August 2013 — FAIR Blog
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 that likely killed hundreds, and very well could have been a chemical or gas attack of some sort.
16 August 2013 — FAIR Blog
On CBS Evening News (8/13/13), anchor Scott Pelley gave viewers a brief–and very misleading–update on Edward Snowden:
In an interview today, Edward Snowden appears to describe himself as a spy. Snowden is the National Security Agency computer specialist who spilled some of America’s top surveillance secrets. The New York Times asked Snowden about his collaboration with a reporter and Snowden replied, “As one might imagine, normally spies allergically avoid contact with reporters or media.” Snowden, wanted by the United States, is being harbored by Russia.
7 August 2013 — FAIR Blog
The vague-yet-apparently-very-serious intelligence about a possible Al-Qaeda attack became a big issue on the Sunday chat shows–and a chance for supporters of National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs to claim that the agency’s controversial tactics are working.
3 August 2013 — FAIR Blog
This week: The corporate media finally paid attention to the Bradley Manning trial–but NBC botched some of the history. Plus the New York Times tries to show how Democrats are moving ‘away from the center.’ But how do they define the center anyway? And we look at an MSNBC debate over Walmart and a living wage that could have used more debate.
18 June 2013 — Global Research
When Edward Snowden, an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton – a military contractor based in McLean, Virginia – blew the whistle on the extent of U.S. global electronic surveillance, he unexpectedly shone a light on the world of contractors that consume some 70 percent of the $52 billion U.S. intelligence budget.
5 June 2013 — FAIR Blog
The first day of Bradley Manning’s court-martial trial was, by any rational definition, big news. Manning allegedly shared thousands of documents with the anti-secrecy websiteWikiLeaks. Those revelations made enormous contributions to public knowledge about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and exposed some of theinner workings of U.S. foreign policy.
21 May 2013 — FAIR Blog
I was struck by this May 17 headline in the New York Times:
Reporter Elisabeth Malkin provides a pretty thorough accounting of U.S. support for Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt. The “long history” of U.S. support for the brutal military went back to a CIA-backed coup in 1954, Malkin reported. She added:
NBC’s Brian Williams is talking about North Korea, which has no weapons capable of reaching the U.S.–not the U.S., which has thousands of missiles that could hit North Korea.
It’s not easy to figure out what’s going on with North Korea. We hear that new leader Kim Jong-Un is making threats to attack the United States, South Korea or both–and that’s leading to some rather alarming, and alarmist, coverage.
As ABC World News reporter Martha Raddatz put it (3/31/13): “The threats have been coming almost every day, and each day become more menacing, the threat of missile strikes on the U.S., invading armies into South Korea and nuclear attacks.”
NBC’s Brian Williams is talking about North Korea, which has no weapons capable of reaching the U.S.–not the U.S., which has thousands of missiles that could hit North Korea.
It’s not easy to figure out what’s going on with North Korea. We hear that new leader Kim Jong-Un is making threats to attack the United States, South Korea or both–and that’s leading to some rather alarming, and alarmist, coverage.
As ABC World News reporter Martha Raddatz put it (3/31/13): “The threats have been coming almost every day, and each day become more menacing, the threat of missile strikes on the U.S., invading armies into South Korea and nuclear attacks.”
25 March 2013 — FAIR Blog
Paul Farhi
The headline on a story (3/22/13) by Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi:
On Iraq, Journalists Didn’t Fail. They Just Didn’t Succeed.
To make that case, though, he has to redefine “failure” so far down that it’s hardly possible to avoid failing.
25 March 2013 — FAIR Blog
Paul Farhi
The headline on a story (3/22/13) by Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi:
On Iraq, Journalists Didn’t Fail. They Just Didn’t Succeed.
To make that case, though, he has to redefine “failure” so far down that it’s hardly possible to avoid failing.
The New Dark Age 