When it comes to Syria, corporate media typically betray a lack of skepticism when it comes to government claims about the WMDs of "enemy" countries. But there are notable exceptions.
Jun
17
2013
Snowden and Bob Schieffer Fight the Power
By 2 Comments
CBS's Schieffer followed the establishment media's script on Snowden: We don't know what exactly the government is doing, and we should know, but the guy who's generated the discussion about all of this is a narcissist.
Jun
14
2013
FAIR TV: Pundits Attack Snowden, Maddow's Misinformation, WaPo Op-Ed Sales Job
By 7 Comments
Pundits attack NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Rachel Maddow makes false claims about Iran and nuclear weapons. And the Washington Post's new "Sponsored Views" feature will let let corporations and organizations post "responses" to the paper's op-ed pieces–for a price.
Jun
14
2013
Syria and Chemical Weapons: What Do We Know?
By 14 Comments
Yesterday the New York Times posted an article about U.S. intelligence agencies becoming more confident about their assessments of several suspect chemical weapons attacks. But the intelligence remains, at this point, at arm's length.
Jun
13
2013
Rachel Maddow's Iran Misinformation
By 20 Comments
The facts on Iran's nuclear power program should be clear by now–but as coverage by the New York Times and MSNBC demonstrates, evidently they're not.
Jun
13
2013
O'Reilly Discovers the Dangers of the Surveillance State
By 10 Comments
Republicans who were less concerned about government overreach in 2006 have changed their minds in 2013, and some Democrats have gone the other direction. This switch can be seen in the views of some pundits–including Fox News' Bill O'Reilly.
Jun
12
2013
Edward Snowden and the State-Identified Journalist
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Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo (6/11/13) wrote about Edward Snowden yesterday in a way that helped make it clear why so many in the press seem upset that the former NSA consultant revealed the extent of U.S. spying programs aimed at the American public. "I'm a journalist," Marshall wrote. And back when I did national security reporting I tried to get leaks. So I don't think leaks are always wrong…. In fact, leaks are an absolutely critical safety valve against government wrongdoing and/or excessive secrecy. But officials who leak classified information are "breaking an oath and committing a crime," [...]
Jun
11
2013
What to Make of Snowden? CBS Asks Bush-Era Counterterror Official
By 10 Comments
The debate over the government's surveillance powers that was set off by whistleblower Edward Snowden is an important one. Who is invited to take part in that discussion really determines the kind of debate we're likely to get.
Jun
10
2013
What Did Samantha Power Say About Iraq Invasion?
By 11 Comments
The New York Times says that UN Ambassador-nominee Samantha Power "criticized the American invasion of Iraq because it lacked the council's stamp, among other reasons." But what did Power actually say about the Iraq War before it happened?
Jun
10
2013
On Sunday Shows, NYT Mostly Misses the Point
By 13 Comments
The remarkable thing about the Sunday shows is not that they have the same guests over and over–it's that they have the same Republican and conservative guests over and over.
Jun
07
2013
How Many Iraqis Died in the Iraq War?
By 34 Comments
How many Iraqis died in the Iraq War? Public responses to that question are disheartening because they reflect a very distorted public perception of the war. But they are indicative of an even bigger problem: corporate media's inadequate coverage of the human costs of U.S.-led wars.
Jun
07
2013
Pointless Partisanship on Surveillance
By 11 Comments
"Democrats on one side, Republicans on the other" is the way conventional Beltway reporters seem to see the world–and it's reflected in their reporting on political events. On the front page of USA Today (6/7/13), Susan Page has a piece wondering if the unfolding scandals surrounding the White House and surveillance will threaten the president's "agenda." That's a strange concern for the moment, but we'll put that aside. The most unusual part of the piece is the very premise: That Obama's actions have verified Republican criticisms of his presidency. As Page puts it, the current story is especially problematic for [...]
