Monthly Archives: March 2011

Springsteen Greets Rare Poverty Report From Asbury Park

Posted on 03/31/2011 by Steve Rendall

Bruce Springsteen occasionally writes a letter to the editor of his local paper, the Asbury Park Press. Yesterday (3/30/11) the Press published a letter from the musician congratulating the paper for some trenchant poverty coverage, that in his view was … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Media Criticism | Tagged , | 15 Comments

WaPo Looks at NBC's Noncoverage of GE

Posted on 03/30/2011 by Peter Hart

The Washington Post's Paul Farhi has a piece today (3/30/11) about NBC's non-coverage of the revelation that part-owner General Electric is making piles of money–and paying no federal taxes.I'm quoted in it. Farhi breaks it down, and gets an NBC … Continue reading →

Posted in NBC, Taxes, Washington Post | Tagged , | 6 Comments

NewsHour Not Changing Just Yet

Posted on 03/30/2011 by Peter Hart

FAIR's alert on the NewsHour's limited debate on Libya hasn't sparked any immediate changes at the program. From last night's broadcast: JUDY WOODRUFF: For more on Libya and the president's speech, we get the views of two senators. Rhode Island … Continue reading →

Posted in Libya, PBS | 2 Comments

Action Alert: On Libya, NewsHour Looks Like State TV

Posted on 03/29/2011 by Jim Naureckas

The bombing of Libya has sharply divided public opinion, but the PBS NewsHour has avoided a wide-ranging debate by overwhelmingly featuring the views of current and former government and military officials. If you'd like to see a more diverse group … Continue reading →

Posted in Libya, Media Activism, PBS | Tagged | 33 Comments

WashPost and the Wider War

Posted on 03/29/2011 by Peter Hart

One of the questions about U.S.-led war in Libya is the scope of the conflict. Some rebel forces seem to want more U.S. military action. The Washington Post reportstoday (3/29/11) that this is already happening. Under the headline"U.S. Deploys Low-Flying … Continue reading →

Posted in Libya, War/Military, Washington Post | Tagged | 10 Comments

On the U.S.'s 'Complex Relations' with Dictators

Posted on 03/29/2011 by Peter Hart

The New York Times' Helene Cooper on President Obama's speech last night (3/29/11): To the democracy protesters across the Middle East, he vowed that the United States would stand by them, even as he said that "progress will be uneven, … Continue reading →

Posted in Barack Obama, Mideast, New York Times | Tagged | 4 Comments

Maybe NYT Should Be Embarrassed by Misleading Hussein Profile

Posted on 03/29/2011 by Jim Naureckas

In a New York Times science article (3/29/11) about the CIA and Pentagon's psychological profiling of foreign political figures, reporter Benedict Carey adds a note of caution: Yet the assessments can also be misleading, even embarrassing. Profiles of President Saddam … Continue reading →

Posted in Iraq, New York Times | Tagged , | 23 Comments

GE Avoids Reporting on GE Avoiding Taxes

Posted on 03/28/2011 by Peter Hart

You may have heard about the New York Times report (3/25/11) explaining that General Electric made $14 billion in worldwide profits in 2010–and paid the federal government exactly nothing in taxes. The Times explained this is"based on an aggressive strategy … Continue reading →

Posted in MSNBC, NBC, Taxes | Tagged , , , , , | 22 Comments

Henry Kissinger's Big Ideas

Posted on 03/28/2011 by Peter Hart

From Meet the Press (3/27/11): GREGORY: I'll start with you, Ted Koppel. You spent time, in your early days as a correspondent, with Henry Kissinger. KOPPEL: I did. GREGORY: Who knew something about the big ideas for the world. Is … Continue reading →

Posted in Mideast, NBC | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

WaPo Invents Dems' Social Security Split

Posted on 03/25/2011 by Peter Hart

The Washington Post's Lori Montgomery has what sounds like a pretty important story in today's paper (3/25/11). Theheadline: Democrats Splinter Over Strategy for Reducing Deficit Battle Lines Drawn as More Are Willing to Put Entitlements on Table The piece leads … Continue reading →

Posted in Social Security, Washington Post | Tagged , | 24 Comments

Public TV and Libya: Govt. Officials, Current and Former

Posted on 03/24/2011 by Peter Hart

Last night (3/24/11) Jim Lehrer introduced a NewsHour discussion segment about the Libya War: Now, how it looks to two former U.S. senators, Democrat Gary Hart of Colorado and Republican Norm Coleman of Minnesota. Senator Hart is now a scholar … Continue reading →

Posted in Libya, PBS | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

USA Today 'Debates' Nuclear Power

Posted on 03/24/2011 by Peter Hart

USA Today has a regular left-right feature between hard-right pundit Cal Thomas and TV "liberal" Bob Beckel. Today's topic? Nuclear power. And the verdict? Well, the headline tells you all you need to know. Knee-Jerks and Nukes Cal and Bob … Continue reading →

Posted in Nuclear power, USA Today | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Known Knowns: Libya, Kristof and Certainty

Posted on 03/24/2011 by Peter Hart

In his New York Times column today (3/24/11)–headlined "Hugs From Libyans"–Nicholas Kristof boils down the argument in favor of the war in Libya: Then, on Wednesday in Benghazi, the major city in eastern Libya whose streets would almost certainly be … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine, Libya, New York Times | Tagged | 8 Comments

USA Today's Advertiser-Friendly Future

Posted on 03/23/2011 by Peter Hart

A condensed version of an AP story (3/23/11) about USA Today's new business plan: The nation's second-largest newspaper is expanding its coverage of advertising-friendly topics, designing content for smartphones and tablet computers and refreshing the look of its print edition, … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertisers, Media Business, USA Today | Tagged | 3 Comments

NYT Radiation Reassurance: Ground Zero Deja Vu

Posted on 03/23/2011 by Julie Hollar

The New York Times' reassuring reporting on the radioactive plume drifting across the U.S. continues the paper's troubling tradition of parroting comforting words from officials in the midst of modern-day environmental crises–like the environmental fallout post-9/11. Let's compare headlines: "Radiation … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, New York Times, Nuclear power | Tagged | 4 Comments