Of the top 100 US newspapers, 47 ran editorials on President Donald Trump’s Syria airstrikes last week: 39 in favor, seven ambiguous and only one opposed to the military attack.
Apr 7 2017
Five Top Papers Run 18 Opinion Pieces Praising Syria Strikes–Zero Are Critical
By Adam Johnson
Five major US newspapers—the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and New York Daily News—offered no opinion space to anyone opposed to Donald Trump’s Thursday night airstrikes. By contrast, the five papers ran a total of 18 op-eds, columns or “news analysis” articles (dressed-up opinion pieces) that either praised the strikes or criticized them for not being harsh enough.
Mar 31 2017
Study: Sean Spicer’s Handpicked Press Corps
45 percent of reporters he's called on come from the right
A new FAIR study finds that 45 percent of the reporters Spicer called on were from conservative outlets. Fifteen percent of questions came from journalists working under the Fox brand.
Feb 4 2017
A Lesson Media Missed About the Dangers of Scapegoating
An attack on a Canadian mosque could have provided a critical lesson in the fallacy, and the danger, of singling out particular categories of people. That is, if US media had paid more than passing attention to the story.
Apr 20 2016
When ‘Both Sides’ Are Covered in Verizon Strike, Bosses’ Side Is Heard More
By Adam Johnson
Corporate media coverage of the Verizon strike illustrated the fundamental asymmetry of power that still exists between multi-billion-dollar corporations and comparatively small unions.
Mar 31 2016
Anonymity in the New York Times: By the Numbers
By FAIR
A new report from FAIR looks at a year’s worth of anonymity in the New York Times, with media critic Reed Richardson taking an in-depth look at how unnamed sources were used in the paper in 2015.
Mar 29 2016
Journalism’s Dark Matter
Uncovering a year of anonymous sources at the New York Times
Far from being a “last resort,” anonymous sources remain stubbornly common within the New York Times, and are even more likely to be found lurking among high-profile and front-page stories.
Dec 22 2015
Do Racists Like Fox News, or Does Fox Make People Racist?
Since the election of Obama in 2008, Americans have become increasingly polarized about racial issues. At the same time, Americans have also become more polarized in their news media viewing habits. In the wake of horrifying events like the racially motivated mass murder in a Charleston church, some have connected these trends; Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 3/19/15), for example, criticized Fox News for ignoring the reality of systemic racism. Is there any merit to such criticisms? Do media and racial polarization reinforce each other? Is there a connection between news media viewing habits and attitudes about racial equality? Based on […]
