This week on CounterSpin: The bailout story turns again as Congress passes the White House's bailout bill. Will reporters give up questioning the plan entirely now that it has that holy grail of "bipartisan support"? We'll hear from one journalist who's been calling for skepticism from the beginning--author and reporter David Cay Johnston, recently retired from the New York Times.

Also on the show: "Smearcasting: How Islamophobes Spread Fear, Bigotry and Misinformation," is the name of a just-released report by FAIR that looks at how America's leading Islamophobes--who the report dubs "The Dirty Dozen"--are able to spread their bigotry through mainstream media with little resistance. The report also looks at several other aspects of Islamophobia, including how it has played out in the current presidential campaign. We'll be talking with FAIR's communications director Isabel MacDonald, and CounterSpin's own Steve Rendall, two of the report's co-authors.

Links:

— Ask Tough Questions About the Bailout, by David Cay Johnston (Poynter Institute, 9/23/08)

— Smearcasting: How Islamophobes Spread Fear, Bigotry and Misinformation, by Steve Rendall, Isabel MacDonald, Veronica Cassidy and Dina Marguerite Jacir (FAIR, 10/08)