Bob Dreyfuss on Syria airstrike, Wally Bowen on 'white spaces'
Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: The election is not over as we record this show, but no matter who wins, the Iraq War was largely a second-tier issue for the media, more of a discussion of the...
View ArticleConn Hallinan on Syria, Tom Tresser on the Olympics
Download MP3 This week on CounterSpin: Journalistic access to the unfolding crisis in Syria is dangerous and sparse. But that hasn't kept Western officials from insisting that the situation is black...
View ArticleSkepticism Essential in Syria Reporting - Real atrocities, dubious sources
As I.F. Stone taught us, all governments are liars, and the Syrian government is a particularly good example, refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of a homegrown opposition and denying the...
View ArticleA Familiar Script on Syrian WMDs - Official claims once more treated as facts
Anonymous government sources speaking to the New York Times, along with intelligence based on satellite imagery, tell a frightening story: The brutal leader of an unfriendly Arab country is preparing...
View ArticleSyria Skepticism - Chemical claims should be investigated, not used as...
U.S. suggestions that the Syrian government could have used chemical weapons have been treated as fact by some media outlets, and are helping to fuel the case for greater U.S. military involvement.
View ArticlePeter Hart on Syria and Sarin, Dilip Hiro on Afghan Corruption
Peter Hart talks about Syria and chemical weapons claims, and author Dilip Hiro joins the show to talk about how stories about Afghan corruption fail to explain the U.S. role in creating that corruption.
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The Syrian Refugee Crisis and the ‘Do Something’ Lie
Photo of Syrian refugees coming ashore on the Greek island of Lesbos that accompanied the Guardian‘s editorial (9/3/15) condemning “the refusal to intervene against Bashar al-Assad.” (photo: Angelos...
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Raed Jarrar on Syrian Refugee Crisis, Tim Karr on Net Neutrality Trickery
PlayStop pop out X MP3 Link This week on CounterSpin: People around the world have been riveted by heartbreaking images of refugees fleeing Syria, as well as heartening ones of European citizens...
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NYT Plays Up Risks to Bomber Pilots, Downplays the Civilians They Kill
New York Times photo of Navy pilots returning from bombing Iraq. (photo: Adam Ferguson/NYT) Trying to wring some melodrama out of the not particularly dangerous lives of US bomber pilots, the New York...
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‘Military Intervention in the Middle East Started This Crisis in the First...
Janine Jackson interviewed Raed Jarrar on coverage of the refugee crisis for the September 11 CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. PlayStop pop out X MP3 Link Raed Jarrar: “Claiming that...
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Down the Memory Hole: NYT Erases CIA’s Efforts to Overthrow Syria’s Government
The New York Times depicts a sad Obama to accompany its story claiming that he trained Syrian rebels against his better judgment. (photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) FAIR has noted before how America’s...
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To NYT, ‘Diplomatic’ and ‘Unilateral’ Don’t Mean What You Think They Mean
A New York Times story by Michael Gordon (9/27/15) contains a line that sums up corporate media’s spin on the US role in the Syrian conflict: Even as the United States has banked on a diplomatic...
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No ISIS Where Russia Is Bombing–Except Last Week, When ISIS Was Killing Gay...
Photo allegedly showing ISIS killing a man in Homs, Syria, for homosexuality earlier this year (Daily Mail, 7/23/15) President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia suddenly escalated the stakes in his contest...
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Fox, Daily Beast Stories on Cubans in Syria Lack One Thing: Evidence of...
Fox News illustrated its report on Cubans in Syria with a Reuters photo of Cubans not in Syria. Fox News (10/14/15) reported last week that Cuba has sent Gen. Leopoldo Cintra Frias and hundreds of...
View Article‘They’re Not Americans’: CNN Guest Justifies Massive Attacks on Civilians
CNN host Michael Smerconish (Huffington Post, 11/23/15) brought onto his November 21 show former CIA officer Michael Scheuer, who said that if the US is going to go after ISIS, it should take out every...
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Pentagon Must Be Thankful for the Turkey Washington Post Gave Its Readers
The Washington Post illustrates a story contrasting Russian and US bombing of Syria with a slideshow of photos of the results of Russian bombing (or, as in this case, Syrian government bombing)–but no...
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NYT Plays Up Risks to Bomber Pilots, Downplays the Civilians They Kill
New York Times photo of Navy pilots returning from bombing Iraq. (photo: Adam Ferguson/NYT) Trying to wring some melodrama out of the not particularly dangerous lives of US bomber pilots, the New York...
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‘Military Intervention in the Middle East Started This Crisis in the First...
Janine Jackson interviewed Raed Jarrar on coverage of the refugee crisis for the September 11 CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. PlayStop pop out X MP3 Link Raed Jarrar: “Claiming that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Down the Memory Hole: NYT Erases CIA’s Efforts to Overthrow Syria’s Government
The New York Times depicts a sad Obama to accompany its story claiming that he trained Syrian rebels against his better judgment. (photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) FAIR has noted before how America’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
To NYT, ‘Diplomatic’ and ‘Unilateral’ Don’t Mean What You Think They Mean
A New York Times story by Michael Gordon (9/27/15) contains a line that sums up corporate media’s spin on the US role in the Syrian conflict: Even as the United States has banked on a diplomatic...
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