FAIR has a new Action Alert out on CNN's newest political commentator: Red State's Erick Erickson. For some indication of why this is perhaps the creepiest move by a cable network since MSNBC hired Michael Savage–and for an email address to communicate your feelings–click here. Please leave copies of your messages to CNN, or comments on the alert, in the comments thread here.
Mar
11
2010
Action Alert: NYT Falls for the ACORN Hoax
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FAIR has a new Action Alert out pointing out that the New York Times has repeatedly published accounts of the right-wing anti-ACORN videos that credulously accepted assertions that have turned out to be false–for example, that one of the video-makers, James O'Keefe, went into ACORN offices dressed as a cartoon pimp. See the alert here for the real story–and feel free to post copies of your messages to the Times or to respond to the alert in the comments thread here.
Mar
10
2010
Action Alert: PBS Replacing Moyers, Now. . .With Jon Meacham?
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FAIR has a new Action Alert reacting to reports that PBS's replacement for the retiring Bill Moyers and the canceled Now series will be headed by Newsweek editor Jon "Center-Right Nation" Meacham. To learn more or to send a message to PBS ombud Michael Getler, click here. Feel free to leave copies of your responses in the comments thread here.
Jan
29
2010
Action Alert: NPR Brings on David Horowitz to Trash Howard Zinn
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FAIR has a new Action Alert (1/29/10) about All Things Considered's obituary of historian Howard Zinn, which "balances" the praise of Noam Chomsky and Julian Bond with a substance-free attack by far-right activist David Horowitz. If you communicate with the NPR ombud (which requires using a Web form), feel free to copy your message and post in the comments here.
Jan
27
2010
New Action Alert: Does NYT's Jerusalem Chief Have a Conflict?
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FAIR has a new Action Alert out, "Does NYT's Top Israel Reporter Have a Son in the IDF?" (1/27/10), about the New York Times' failure to respond to questions about whether Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner's son is enlisted in Israel's military, and, if so, whether this poses a conflict of interest. If you send a message to the Times about the alert–or otherwise have thoughts you'd like to share about the alert–please make use of the comments thread for this post.
Aug
16
2009
From Lie to Official History, via 'Simple Repetition'
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Consortium News Robert Parry (8/13/09) is citing media-promoted "'deathers' who claim that President Barack Obama's healthcare plan would promote euthanasia," along with how the U.S. "population was persuaded that Iraq was some lethal threat" and "fear-mongering about Iraq somehow sending small remote-controlled airplanes across the Atlantic" as strong arguments against "hopeful slogans that 'the truth will out.'" To Parry, "truth is a battle" and "the reality is that there are no automatic mechanisms for stopping lies and distortions": What I have seen during more than three decades in Washington is that many truths remain effectively hidden, even if technically they [...]
Aug
12
2009
Anti-Hate Activists Win S.F. City Media Resolution
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The Hispanic/Latino Anti-Defamation Coalition, along with the National Hispanic Media Coalition (8/11/09), "applauds" the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for being "the first elected body to take a stand against hate speech in media" by having approved unanimously a resolution urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct a comprehensive investigation on hate speech in media, allowing public participation via public hearings, and for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to update its 1993 report the "Role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes." The Supervisors responded to grassroots activists in the Bay Area who have organized to call attention to [...]
Aug
05
2009
New Bill to Keep Internet Open, Discrimination-Free
Free Press's newest release (7/31/09) touts some fresh congressional legislation that "Would Protect Net Neutrality Once and for All." According to the media reform activists, the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009 "would protect Network Neutrality under the Communications Act, safeguarding the future of the open Internet and protecting Internet users from discrimination online." Policy director Ben Scott explains how the future of the Internet as we know it depends on maintaining freedom and openness online. This crucial legislation will help to ensure that the public–not big phone and cable companies–controls the fate of the Internet. The rules that govern [...]
Jul
24
2009
Sands of Healthcare Truth Beneath 'Oceans of Media'
By 1 Comment
Noticing that "days ago, buried in a chart under the headline "How the Health Care Bills Compare," the New York Times provided some cogent yet cryptic information," Norman Solomon (Guernica, 7/23/09) has done some valuable decoding of a Senate committee bill's "public plan that would 'compete with private insurers,'" as "the Times chart explained on July 18": The public plan "would provide 'only the essential health benefits,' as defined by the bill, 'except in states that offer additional benefits.'" Meanwhile, the newspaper noted, "Democrats from three House committees are working on a single plan." Under that plan, "Different levels of [...]
Jul
16
2009
Telecoms Rally Against 'Transformative' Internet Bill
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Free Press campaign coordinator Misty Perez has sent out (7/15/09) a call to action in light of the astonishing figure that "in the first three months of 2009, the phone and cable industries spent at least $20 million to hire more than 400 lobbyists" in an effort to "push for policies that fatten phone and cable profits while leaving us with an Internet that is too expensive and too slow." Why their sense of urgency?: Right now, the FCC is crafting a national broadband plan that could fix our national broadband problem. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps called this plan "the [...]
Jun
19
2009
Women in Media: 'Crucial to…Progressive Leadership'
In Women In Media & News' announcement (6/18/09) that former FAIR staffer Jennifer Pozner has won a New Leaders Council "40 Under 40" Award–given to those "who exemplify the spirit of progressive political entrepreneurship"–Women's Rights blogger Jennifer Nedeau spells out why "women in media are crucial to the future of progressive leadership": Because they can often best represent the issues that matter most to progressives. Women own a large stake in issues of equality, civil rights, a stable economy, a clean environment, accessible healthcare and education, among other progressive topics. More women need to be seen on television, read in [...]
Apr
29
2009
Pol 'Thugs' Think Twice in Age of Internet Media
Sure that Andrew Sullivan "would be horrified" by the idea that he and Cindy Sheehan agree on anything, Jonathan Schwarz nonetheless quotes (A Tiny Revolution, 4/25/09) the Atlantic.com blogger's declaration of "love" for the Internet, because "can you imagine what those thugs would have gotten away with without it?" Sheehan's similar 2005 statement–"Thank God for the Internet, or we wouldn't know anything, and we would already be a fascist state"–spurs Schwarz to celebrate the democratizing power of online media: I'm not sure we'd be a fascist state without the beautiful, beautiful tubes. But the difference they've made is gigantic. Recall [...]
Mar
25
2009
Holding Fox Accountable for O'Reilly's Harassment
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A new FAIR action alert calls on the Fox News Channel to answer for host Bill O'Reilly's pattern of ambushing his critics. O'Reilly (O'Reilly Factor, 3/23/08) recently targeted Think Progress blog editor Amanda Terkel while she was on vacation, sending his producer Jesse Watters to confront Terkel in one of the ambush-style interviews that he specializes in. Terkel had dared to point out that O'Reilly, who was invited to speak at a fundraiser for a foundation for rape survivors, had previously suggested that a "moronic" rape/murder victim had invited assault by her drinking and the way she was dressed. FAIR's [...]
