Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting

07/04/2025

Zohran Mamdani, who New York magazine described as “crash[ing] the party,” has won the Democratic mayoral primary here in New York City. Suffice to say, fissures are being revealed, lines are being drawn, and whatever you think of Mamdani or New York City in particular, the question of whether the Democratic Party, as it is, wants to be part of the future or not is on the table in front of us. And here’s the thing: Plenty of people are not being scared off by the idea that things could change! Because they actually want them to! Elite media have no place in their brain for this concept, and so we can expect to confront coverage reflecting that.

Elite news media are Trojan-horsing their hatred for any ideas that threaten their ill-gotten gains, via very deep “concerns” about Zohran Mamdani as a person.

07/03/2025

Whether it’s Iran’s supposed support for terrorism or Iran’s nonexistent and non-imminent nuclear weapons, the propaganda follows the same formula: make an unsubstantiated claim about Iranian malfeasance, and use that as a premise on which to defend Washington openly carrying out acts of aggression, perhaps the gravest violation of international law.

Rather than condemning the US bombing of Iran as a blatant violation of international law, commentators gushed over the “brilliant military operation.”

07/02/2025

The ruling ideology of Washington is we have two parties, they do their job, they do their job pretty well. The differences between them limit the terms of the debate. But we know that real change comes from outside the consensus. Real change comes from people making history, challenging history, dissenting, protesting, agitating, organizing.
--Bill Moyers (1934-2025)

The 1967 Carnegie Commission called for public TV to “provide a voice for groups...that may otherwise be unheard.” Bill Moyers exemplified that ideal.

07/01/2025

By downplaying critiques of Trump, the Sunday talkshows used their inside-the-Beltway influence to tell insiders that the MAGA presidency should get a more deferential reception the second time around.

In 2024, when Trump's rhetoric and cabinet picks became even more extreme, fewer Sunday show guests voiced criticism of Trump and his cabinet than in 2016.

06/27/2025

It is not surprising that Rupert Murdoch’s editorial boards savaged Mamdani. But the onslaught from the more centrist outlets is telling: Like the business establishment, they fear progressive economic policies when it comes to housing, education, transit and public safety, despite all overtures to the contrary.

Zohran Mamdani's victory exposes the out-of-touchness of establishment media outlets that twisted like pretzels to scare voters away.

06/27/2025

Transcript of CounterSpin's interview with LaToya Jackson on the Trump budget's racial impact:

"What stands out is a reverse wealth transfer. The ultra-wealthy get billions in tax breaks, while Black families lose the very programs that have historically provided pathways to the middle class."

"The ultra-wealthy get billions in tax breaks, while Black families lose the very programs that have historically provided pathways to the middle class."

06/27/2025

The US went to war with Iran last week – without congressional, much less public, approval. But most of us only know what we know through corporate news media, and that’s a problem.

US corporate media in war mode are a force to reckon with. We do some reckoning with media analyst Adam Johnson.

06/26/2025

CounterSpin interview with CEPR's Michael Galant on immigration and sanctions:

"Migrants should be welcomed into our communities. They should not be scapegoated, they should not be repressed. And, at the same time, we should not be creating the conditions that force them to leave their homes."

"Sanctions are presented as this peaceful alternative to warfare, but often for civilians on the ground, the effects are very similar to war."

06/26/2025

Transcript of CounterSpin's interview with Chip Gibbons on Mahmoud Khalil:

"The goal is to take away your right to criticize a foreign apartheid state’s genocide, with the eventual goal of taking away your right to criticize US foreign policy. And this is the vehicle for doing it. It starts today, with the visa holders and the Green Card holders, but they will come for the natural-born citizens eventually, too, if they get away with this."

"This is a case about whether or not we have a First Amendment right to criticize Israel for engaging in a genocide in Gaza."

06/25/2025

For much of this election cycle, it has been easy for a casual consumer of news to believe that only one person was in the running to be the Democratic nominee for New York mayor: former New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo’s name appeared in headlines seven times more often than Zohran Mamdani's, and nine times more often than Brad Lander's.

A FAIR analysis of New York mayoral primary coverage found that Andrew Cuomo’s name appeared in headlines seven times more often than Zohran Mamdani's.

06/25/2025

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