PBS
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Former U.S. Official: Al-Qaeda In Syria Is “An Asset” For U.S. Strategy
There is a new public relation campaign pushed by Turkey to whitewash al-Qaeda in Syria. ‘Western’ journalists were invited to Idleb governorate through some Turkish agency to make some fan flicks about Hayat Tahrir al Sham, the al-Qaeda entity under Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, which rules in Idelb. Continue reading
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PBS ‘Expert’ Speaks for Both Sides, but Advocates ‘Excessive Force’ Against One Side By Aldo Guerrero
PBS NewsHour (7/12/14) wanted to “put the latest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas in a broader context,” so itinvited Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to consider possible policy options for “both sides.” Continue reading
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U.S. Human Radiation Experiments Covered up by Public Broadcasting By William Boardman
When the military scientists of an advanced technological nation deliberately explode their largest nuclear bomb (and 66 others) over Pacific islands and use the opportunities to study the effects of radiation on nearby native people, which group is best described as “savage”? And what should you call the people who prevent a documentary about these… 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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Video: FAIR TV: PBS and Koch, Guatemala and the U.S. Role and Rumsfeld Meets the Press
This week: PBS won’t be showing us the documentary Citizen Koch–for some very dubious reasons. Also: The New York Times points out that the U.S. role in supporting genocide in Guatemala was hardly discussed at the trial; the same goes for U.S. media coverage of that trial. And Donald Rumsfeld goes on Meet the Press… Continue reading
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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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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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When 'Confirmed' Means 'An Official Told Me So' By Peter Hart
On January 30, reports emerged that Israel had carried out an airstrike on Syrian targets near Damascus. Much of the initial reporting took Israel’s claims at face value, though it appeared impossible to confirm that the story was true. A reader might conclude, based on some of the more credulous accounts of this strike, that… Continue reading
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PBS Ombud, Nova Disagree on Drone Disclosure
PBS ombud Michael Getler (1/31/13) responded to FAIR activists who wrote to him about the recent Nova special on drones (1/23/13) that was underwritten by Lockheed Martin, a major military contractor and drone manufacturer. Continue reading
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Iran's 'Nuclear Weapons Program,' Again By Peter Hart
On Monday’s edition of the NewsHour (1/28/13), host Gwen Ifill referred to concerns about the “threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program,” and told viewers at the end of a Margaret Warner report that “Margaret’s next story looks at the debate in Israel over how to deal with the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.” Continue reading
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Raddatz Misreports Raddatz on Syrian Weapons By Peter Hart
The implication…is that Syria has loaded chemical weapons at the ready, and that it would take a matter of hours for the Assad government to use them. But that’s not what Panetta told…well, Raddatz herself. Continue reading
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PBS Drone Coverage Brought to You by Drone Makers
The PBS Nova broadcast “Rise of the Drones” was sponsored by drone manufacturer Lockheed Martin–a clear violation of PBS’s underwriting guidelines. Continue reading
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Hugo Chavez: Why Does He Hate Us? By Peter Hart
While it’s hard to say Chavez has made a “career” out of U.S.-bashing–he does have, after all, a full-time job as president of Venezuela–you, too, might be excused for harboring some hard feelings towards a government that helped to try to overthrow your own. Which may be why U.S. reports rarely bring up the 2002… Continue reading
cbs, CIA, coup, Evening News, FAIR, Iran, New York, PBS, Syria, United States, Venezuela, Washington Post -
The P.U.-litzer Prizes for 2012
They’re back: The P.U.-litzers, FAIR’s annual rundown of some of the stinkiest moments in American journalism. As usual, there were more contenders than we could possibly consider. So think of this as just a sampling of the bias, spin and misinformation that we noted over the course of the year. Continue reading
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Turning Their Back on Bradley Manning
As the alleged source of many of the most vital WikiLeaks reports of the past several years, U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning shed considerable light on how the United States has prosecuted the Iraq and Afghan wars. Other State Department cables reportedly leaked by Manning conveyed vital information about U.S. foreign policy. But the developments… Continue reading
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Fair Action Alert: PBS and Iran's "Nuclear Weapons"
In an October 22 discussion of the foreign policy presidential debate, the PBS NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown stated that “Iran’s nuclear weapons program has been a particular flash point.” [But] as most people following this story should know, there is no intelligence that shows Iran has a nuclear weapons program. Continue reading
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Moderate Debates and Debate Moderators
he Commission on Presidential Debates, which wrested control of the debates from the League of Women Voters in 1988, is a nonprofit–financed largely by corporations–that is basically controlled by the two major political parties. The campaigns hash out secret agreements about every aspect of the debates, and, as the group Open Debates has pointed out… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 