Monthly Archives: September 2010

Action Alert: ABC's Misleading Spin on Taxes and Small Business

Posted on 09/13/2010 by Jim Naureckas

FAIR has a new Action Alert (9/13/10) pointing out ABC World News' misleading treatment of taxes and small businesses. Please leave copies of your messages to ABC, or comments on the alert, in the comments thread of this post.

Posted in Media Criticism | 9 Comments

But Older White Men Are 'Newsmakers'!

Posted on 09/13/2010 by Peter Hart

A new study of the guest lists for the Sunday morning chat shows finds that the networks prefer lawmaker guests who are white, male, older and Republican. The study was publishedby the George Mason University School of Law's Green Bag … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism, Network TV | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Facts Irrelevant in NYT Tax Coverage

Posted on 09/13/2010 by Peter Hart

There's a simple way of looking at the debate over the Bush tax cuts. The White House and most Democrats say they want to extend them for the vast majority of the population, but keep higher rates in place for … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, New York Times | Tagged , | 29 Comments

PBS's NewsHour Throws a Tea Party

Posted on 09/10/2010 by Peter Hart

NewsHour viewers last night (9/9/10) might have been surprised to see a long one-on-one conversation with far-right activist/lobbyist Dick Armey, promoting his new book, Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto. The interview gave Armey ample room to explain the … Continue reading →

Posted in Healthcare, PBS | Tagged , | 38 Comments

Militarization of State Dept. Stirs Little Media Interest

Posted on 09/10/2010 by Steve Rendall

When Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies appeared on FAIR's radio show CounterSpin last week, she challenged Barack Obama's assertions that U.S. combat in Iraq was ending and that the last combat brigade was leaving the country, describing … Continue reading →

Posted in Iraq, MSNBC, War/Military | Tagged , , | 19 Comments

The Quran-Burning PR Pastor: Blame the Media

Posted on 09/09/2010 by Peter Hart

If you own a television or read a newspaper,you may have heard by now that a pastor in Florida plans to burn copies of the Quran on Saturday. The only reason you know anything about this is because the national … Continue reading →

Posted in Cable TV, Media Criticism, newspapers | Tagged , | 27 Comments

The Long-Running Public Opposition to Roads and Bridges

Posted on 09/09/2010 by Peter Hart

Matt Bai has a piece in theNew York Times today (9/9/10) explaining how Barack Obama squandered an opportunity to make fundamental changes to the American economy. One claim in the piece jumps out; after explaining that large infrastructure projects–rail lines, … Continue reading →

Posted in Barack Obama, Economy, New York Times | Tagged | 12 Comments

Is Nova Catering to Its Anti-Science Sugar Daddy?

Posted on 09/08/2010 by Jim Naureckas

PBS's Nova is taking money from one of the biggest bankrollers of climate change denial–and, surprise surprise, the resulting programming tells viewers not to worry about climate change. But PBS's ombud doesn't see this as a conflict of interest–because Nova … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, PBS | Tagged , , , , | 43 Comments

WP's Definition of Mideast Peace

Posted on 09/08/2010 by Peter Hart

The Washington Post's editorial page weighed in (9/7/10) on the Israel/Palestine negotiations by noting that the news in the West Bank has been far less encouraging. In two shooting attacks last week, four Israelis were killed and two others wounded, … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine, Washington Post | 9 Comments

Taxing Taxes Coverage

Posted on 09/08/2010 by Peter Hart

Barack Obama has long supported the idea of extending the "Bush" tax cuts for 98 percent of the population. The highest-earning 2 percent, meanwhile, will see their top tax rates go back up to where they were in the 1990s. … Continue reading →

Posted in Barack Obama, Economy, New York Times, Washington Post | 15 Comments

Violence Does Cross the Border After All–Going the Other Way

Posted on 09/08/2010 by Jim Naureckas

Daniel Hernandez wrote an article for Extra! last year (6/09) about the tendency of U.S. corporate media to treat Mexican violence as a phenomenon that threatens to "spill over" into the U.S.–as in New York Times headlines like "Drug Cartel … Continue reading →

Posted in Immigration, Latin America | Tagged | 22 Comments

NYT Gender Bias–in Book Reviews and Beyond

Posted on 09/03/2010 by Steve Rendall

A recent FAIR study (Extra!, 8/10) looked at politically themed books reviewed by the New York Times Book Review and the C-SPAN show After Words and concluded that both outlets heavily favored white male authors and reviewers. The Times came … Continue reading →

Posted in Gender, New York Times, Race | 6 Comments