Tag: PBS

PBS ‘Expert’ Speaks for Both Sides, but Advocates ‘Excessive Force’ Against One Side By Aldo Guerrero

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17 July 2014 — FAIR Blog

Anthony Cordesman on NewsHourPBS 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.”

The problem is that Cordesman is on the record as advocating the option of brutality against Palestinian civilians. Back in 2000, Cordesman authored a CSIS report–condemned at the time by an Amnesty International spokesperson–that recommended “excessive force” to control Palestinians and ensure the implementation of a potential peace agreement (Extra!, 1/01).

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U.S. Human Radiation Experiments Covered up by Public Broadcasting By William Boardman

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10 January 2014 — Reader Supported News

The bomb will not start a chain reaction in the water, converting it all to gas and letting all the ships on all the oceans drop down to the bottom. It will not blow out the bottom of the sea and let all the water run down the hole. It will not destroy gravity. I am not an atomic playboy. – Vice Admiral William P. Blandy, Bikini bomb test commander, July 25, 1946

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John Kerry's Very Precise Death Toll: Where Does It Come From? By Peter Hart

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4 September 2013 — FAIR Blog

9631681704_f8ba5770aeWhen 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.

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Video: FAIR TV: PBS and Koch, Guatemala and the U.S. Role and Rumsfeld Meets the Press

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25 May 2013 — FAIR Blog

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 to talk about accountability. No, it’s not what you think.

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Bum Rap: The U.S. Role in Guatemalan Genocide By Peter Hart

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21 May 2013 — FAIR Blog

I was struck by this May 17 headline in the New York Times:

Trial on Guatemalan Civil War Carnage Leaves Out U.S. Role

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:

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FAIR TV: Boston Bombing, Defining Terrorism, Social Security 'Bravery' By Peter Hart

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20 April 2013 — FAIR Blog

bagmenThis week on FAIR TV we look at the media’s rush to misjudgment on the Boston Marathon attack. And we ask some questions about which acts of terrorism are called “terrorism”–and which have been largely forgotten. Plus PBS gives us both sides on the debate over Social Security: The right thinks Barack Obama is brave to propose cutting benefits, while the “left” says he’s…also brave. Continue reading →

The Media Didn’t Fail on Iraq; Iraq Just Showed We Have a Failed Media By Jim Naureckas

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25 March 2013 — FAIR Blog

Paul Farhi

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.

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The Media Didn't Fail on Iraq; Iraq Just Showed We Have a Failed Media By Jim Naureckas

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25 March 2013 — FAIR Blog

Paul Farhi

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.

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Iran's 'Nuclear Weapons Program,' Again By Peter Hart

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31 January 2013 — FAIR Blog

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.”

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