NewsTrust - Most Recent Stories

Authoritarian Allies & the Myth of U.S. 'Leverage'

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - By Peter Hart - Apr. 20 (Opinion) - The most notable part of the article is the fact that Whitlock has a U.S. official essentially agreeing with a damning critique of U.S. foreign policy: "The countries that cooperate with us get at least a free pass," acknowledged a senior U.S. official who specializes in Africa but spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid retribution. "Whereas other countries that don't cooperate, we ream them as best we can."

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

USA Today: Venezuelans Voted for High Unemployment and Food Shortages

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - By Peter Hart - Apr. 20 (Comment) - Venezuelans know a different reality. As noted by FAIR, poverty was cut in half from 2002-10; extreme poverty was even more dramatic. Access to healthcare and free education increased. As Mark Weisbrot argued in the Guardian, this record was a notable turnaround from the pre-Chavez years. Unemployment is currently estimated to be 8 percent in Venezuela–but it was above 14 percent when Chavez took office in 1999. Inflation is estimated at 20.9 percent–but it peaked near 120 percent in 1996. That's not to say there aren't significant problems in the country. But a news report that chooses to ignore this part of the Chavez legacy is a bit like saying Venezuelans have been fooled about the state of their own lives.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Cutting Social Security on PBS–From Left to Right

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - By Peter Hart - Apr. 20 (Comment) - Even on PBS, the left and right agree that cutting Social Security is brave; I guess that makes the public a bunch of wimps.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

NYT Debates Hugo Chavez–Minus the Debate

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0800

FAIR - By Peter Hart - Mar. 08 (Review) - "On Eve of His Funeral, Debating Chávez’s Legacy" is the headline over William Neuman's piece in the New York Times today (3/8/13). Funny headline, since there was no one in the Times' "debate" who argued that Chávez left much of anything.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

AP: Chavez Wasted His Money on Healthcare When He Could Have Built Gigantic Skyscrapers

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0800

FAIR - By Jim Naureckas - Mar. 08 (News Analysis) - Chavez invested Venezuela's oil wealth into social programs including state-run food markets, cash benefits for poor families, free health clinics and education programs. But those gains were meager compared with the spectacular construction projects that oil riches spurred in glittering Middle Eastern cities, including the world's tallest building in Dubai and plans for branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums in Abu Dhabi.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Will Americans Be Able to Watch Al Jazeera America?

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800

FAIR - By Peter Hart - Jan. 04 (News Analysis) - The New York Times editorial (1/4/13) in support of Al Jazeera included a funny line: Many American policy makers and cable companies have had doubts about the impartiality of Al Jazeera, which is owned and financed by the emir of Qatar. Of course, cable companies happily carry Fox News, which is no one's idea of impartial.The same could be said of liberal MSNBC (which is a lot cheaper to customers). So the problem isn't that American TV viewers might be subjected to news with a point of view. It's news with what many elites might consider the wrong point of view that is the problem.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

CEO Evening News?

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0800

FAIR - Nov. 26 (News Analysis) - The CBS Evening News has decided the best way to inform viewers about the impending "fiscal cliff" is to let corporate CEOs affiliated with the Fix the Debt campaign recommend cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.3 average - 8 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The Moderators' Agendas

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - Oct. 26 (News Analysis) - The establishment media figures who moderated the 2012 major-party candidate debates confined the discussion to a remarkably narrow range of topics, a FAIR analysis of debate questions finds.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.3 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Time: Obama's Lies Are Worse Because They're More Accurate

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - By Peter Hart - Oct. 03 (News Analysis) - Time asked each campaign for a list of its rival's worst deceptions. After examining those claims and consulting independent factchecking websites, we selected some of the most prominent falsehoods and prevarications of the 2012 campaign–at least so far. Compared with the Obama campaign's, the Romney operation’s misstatements are frequently more brazen. But sometimes the most effective lie is the one that is closest to the truth, and Obama’s team has often outdone Romney's in the dark art of subtle distortion. So, to summarize: Romney lies more, and bigger. But Obama tells the more effective kind of lies: the ones that are more accurate. Got that?

NewsTrust Rating: 4.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Post Ombud Agrees with FAIR on Big Oil Sponsorship: Energy 'debate' needed diversity and disclosure

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - Sep. 24 (News Analysis) - The Washington Post has responded to FAIR's September 14 Action Alert, which criticized the paper for presenting a two-page energy "debate" that didn't include critics of the industry--and didn't disclose to readers that the discussion was sponsored by Big Oil.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Brought to You by...Big Oil?: Washington Post hides industry sponsorship of energy debate

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - Sep. 14 (Comment) - The Washington Post had a two-page spread in its September 11 edition devoted to a "debate" on energy policy. But industry critics were missing from the picture. Why? Perhaps because the oil industry, undisclosed to Post readers, was sponsoring the discussion.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Objectivity and Its Opposite, 'Objectivity'

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - By Jim Naureckas - Jul. 20 (News Analysis) - if the parties were disagreeing about something, you were supposed to report what both were saying without taking sides–even if, as it happened, it seemed like one side or the other had the truth on their side. Note that not only is this not the same as philosophical objectivity, it's pretty much the opposite: Journalistic objectivity means that you can't report what really happened, you can only report what both sides said happened.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

PBS Responds on Dow-Funded Series

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - May. 01 (News Report) - PBS ombud Michael Getler (4/27/12) agrees that the Dow Chemical Corporation's sponsorship of a PBS series violates PBS underwriting guidelines. PBS, unfortunately, stands by its show.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Is 'America Revealed'--or PBS?: Dow-sponsored public TV series tracks Dow's product lines

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - Apr. 23 (Special Report) - Action Alert 4/23/12 The four-part series , airing on PBS stations this month, looks at big-picture economic issues, from agriculture to transportation to manufacturing. The series underwriter? The Dow Chemical Company, whose commercial interests closely

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Do TV Networks 'Practice' for War?

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

FAIR - Feb. 13 (News) - Alexander Cockburn's latest piece at CounterPunch (2/10/12) included this from a tipster: I was visiting ABC News the other day to see a friend who works on graphics. When I went to his room, he showed me all the graphics he was making in anticipation of

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

ABC's Iran Propaganda

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

FAIR - Feb. 02 (News Analysis) - The January 31 ABC World News broadcast featured a blatantly propagandistic report on the supposed threat from Iran.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

NPR Tries to Track Down Those Millionaire Job Creators

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

FAIR - Dec. 09 (Opinion) -

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Mary Bottari on ALEC Exposed, Marjorie Cohn on prison hunger strike

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - Jul. 22 (Fact Check) - This week on CounterSpin: You've probably never heard of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. So why do they have so much sway over the laws affecting your life? We may get some sunlight on the actions of this influential "public/private membership organization" with the release of a cache of previously secret documents on their work. We'll hear from Mary Bottari of the Center for Media and Democracy about the ALEC Exposed project, and what it all means.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

To WaPo, Planet's Fate Is a 'Second-Tier' Issue'

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - By Peter Hart - Jun. 10 (News Analysis) - The Washington Post had a piece yesterday (6/9/11) on Mitt Romney's views on global warming. It serves as a reminder that Republican political candidates are under enormous pressure from the right-wing base of the party on this issue--any politician who'

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Fed a Line of Bull by the NYT

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - By Jim Naureckas - Jun. 08 (News Analysis) - "Fed Wants Priority Put on Deficit" was the New York Times' headline over Binyamin Appelbaum's June 8 story on the front page of the business section. Summarizing a speech Fed chair Ben Bernanke gave the day before, Appelbaum wrote, "He said that growth

NewsTrust Rating: 4.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Waterboarding 'Worked'?: Media push pro-torture message

Wed, 04 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - May. 04 (Investigative Report) - To hear some tell it, the intelligence clues that ultimately led to Osama bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan were generated by the use of torture. But the evidence available so far does not bear this out.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Surprised by Solidarity in Wisconsin

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - By Peter Hart - Apr. 11 (News Analysis) - One of the early assumptions in media coverage of the Wisconsin protests against Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed anti-labor legislation was that the public wouldn’t sympathize with “overpaid” public-sector workers. But soon enough, reality intervened.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Paul Ryan, Serious Numbers Geek (Aside From His Fuzzy Numbers)

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - Apr. 08 (Opinion) -

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

WaPo Invents Dems' Social Security Split

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

FAIR - By Peter Hart - Mar. 26 (News Analysis) - According to Montgomery, a "growing number of Democratic lawmakers say they are willing to consider controversial measures such as raising the retirement age and reducing benefits for wealthier seniors." That would be big. Who are they? She tells us who they aren't:

NewsTrust Rating: 4.5 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

How to Save Ourselves From the 'Save PBS' Routine

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

FAIR - Feb. 18 (Editorial) - It is as predictable as can be: Invigorated Republican politicians announce their intention to kill public broadcasting, which they claim is a bastion of liberal bias. Defenders of NPR and PBS step in to defend the system. The Republicans, who were unlikely to win a vote on their plan, retreat for the moment. Public broadcasting is "saved."

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average - 5 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer