Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting

by Joshua Cho When wealth-tax advocates like senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are two of the top three contenders for winning the 2020 Democratic primaries, you can bet that the US ruling class is terrified by the possibility of being slightly less rich (FAIR.org, 4/16/19). Notably, US oligarch Jeff Bezos (who owns the Washington … Read morePapers Owned by Oligarchs Unsurprisingly Oppose a Wealth Tax

Janine Jackson interviewed SPLC’s Michael Edison Hayden about Stephen Miller for the November 22, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Janine Jackson: That White House senior policy advisor and speechwriter Stephen Miller believes in white nationalism is evident: By their policy, ye shall know … Read more‘This Is Not a Troll. This Is Real Life.’ – CounterSpin interview with Michael Edison Hayden about Stephen Miller

Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link   (cc photo: Bloomberg campaign) This week on CounterSpin: Informing the public about candidates running for president is among media’s most important jobs. In a relatively crowded Democratic field, the public is looking to media to lift up issues that are important to them, and assess how various … Read moreJulie Hollar on Election 2020 Coverage

Janine Jackson interviewed the ACLU’s Melissa Goodman about the PATRIOT Act for the September 30, 2005, episode of CounterSpin—a conversation that was reaired on the November 29, 2019, show. This is a lightly edited transcript of the rebroadcast. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Janine Jackson: Librarians might be described as the canaries in … Read more‘It’s This Culture of Secrecy That’s Pervading the Courts’ – CounterSpin interview with Melissa Goodman on the PATRIOT Act

Janine Jackson interviewed the Village Voice’s Wayne Barrett about Rudy Giuliani and 9/11 for the August 17, 2007, episode of CounterSpin; that conversation was rebroadcast for the November 29, 2019, show. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link HarperCollins Janine Jackson: “It was so well-orchestrated that you would have … Read more‘Giuliani Did All the Wrong Things on That Day’ – CounterSpin interview with Wayne Barrett on Rudy Giuliani and 9/11

Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Mayor Rudy Giuliani at the WTC site. CounterSpin this week revisits two interviews from the past, on topics very much of today. First up: Now that Rudy Giuliani is known as Donald Trump’s rabid fixer, whom we learned none other than John Bolton described as “a hand grenade” … Read moreWayne Barrett on Rudy Giuliani, Melissa Goodman on the PATRIOT Act

Janine Jackson interviewed reproductive rights advocate Mallory McMaster about Katie Hill for the November 22, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Rewire.News (10/31/19) Janine Jackson: Among the most striking things about the case of California Rep. Katie Hill is how eager some people are … Read more‘This Was a Test Case to See How a Couple of Photos Could Silence Women’ – CounterSpin interview with Mallory McMaster on Katie Hill

by Joshua Cho The death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October, during a raid by US special forces in Syria’s Idlib province, would have been an opportune time for US media to reflect on the 18-year-long “War on Terror,” and US policy more broadly in the Middle East. But the circumscribed coverage of … Read moreAfter Al-Baghdadi’s Death, Media Failed to Ask Where ‘War on Terror’ Is Going

Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link (image: SPLC) This week on CounterSpin: Calls are coming in for the resignation of Trump policy advisor Stephen Miller, after leaked emails show him promoting white nationalist books and ideas to the far-right outlet Breitbart. I wouldn’t call the documents a “smoking gun”; the smoking gun is the … Read moreMichael Edison Hayden on Stephen Miller, Mallory McMaster on Katie Hill

Janine Jackson interviewed CEPR’s Alex Main about the Bolivian coup for the November 15, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link New York Times print edition (11/11/19) Janine Jackson: When a president announces his involuntary resignation—after weeks of law enforcement mutiny backed by armed forces … Read more‘Years From Now, It’ll Be Clear to Everyone There Was a Coup in Bolivia’ – CounterSpin interview with Alex Main on Bolivia coup

Janine Jackson interviewed IPS’s Netfa Freeman about Trump’s police “surge” for the November 8, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link New York Times (10/28/19) Janine Jackson: Corporate media made Donald Trump’s recent speech to a conference of police chiefs in Chicago a story about … Read more‘Community Control Over Police Should Be a Democratic Right’ – CounterSpin interview with Netfa Freeman on police militarization

by Gregory Shupak To endorse the coup in Bolivia, numerous editorials in major US media outlets paint President Evo Morales as undemocratic. Exhibit A in their case is the Organization of American States’ (OAS) claims that there was fraud in the October 20 Bolivian election in which Morales was elected for a fourth term. They … Read moreUnpacking Media Propaganda About Bolivia’s Election – Pro-coup editorials rely on—and misreport—questionable evidence from the dubious OAS

Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link (Washington Post, 11/1/19) This week on counterspin: The Washington Post doesn’t want you to be confused, so they headlined their editorial, “Bolivia Is in Danger of Slipping Into Anarchy. It’s Evo Morales’s Fault.” Elite US media, you understand, are deeply invested in the well-being of Bolivia’s people, who … Read moreAlex Main on Bolivia Coup

Janine Jackson interviewed FairVote’s Rob Richie about ranked choice voting for the November 8, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Politico (11/5/19) Janine Jackson: As media critics in election season, our preeminent concern is less how fair the press are to this or that … Read moreRanked Choice Voting  ‘Allows You to Vote for the Person You Really Like’ – CounterSpin interview with FairVote’s Rob Richie on ranked choice voting

  When the military forces the elected president to “step down” (New York Times, 11/10/19), there’s a four-letter word for that. Army generals appearing on television to demand the resignation and arrest of an elected civilian head of state seems like a textbook example of a coup. And yet that is certainly not how corporate … Read moreThe Bolivian Coup Is Not a Coup—Because US Wanted It to Happen

Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link   (image: RepresentUs) This week on CounterSpin: The November 5 elections had some big news: Virginia Democrats flipping both houses of the state legislature and, as we record, something very much still happening in the race for Kentucky governor. Other results, outside the spotlight, could have even more … Read moreRob Richie on Ranked Choice Voting, Netfa Freeman on Police Militarization

Janine Jackson interviewed the Democracy Collaborative’s Johanna Bozuwa about public utilities for the November 1, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link USA Today (10/28/19) Janine Jackson: It’s difficult to grasp the distress and dystopia of Californians right now, on alert for the next wildfire … Read more‘This Is a Huge Opportunity to Create an Energy System Rooted in Climate Justice’ – CounterSpin interview with Johanna Bozuwa on public utilities

Janine Jackson interviewed CEPR’s Jake Johnston about Haiti for the November 1, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link New York Times (10/20/19) Janine Jackson: The New York Times chose to headline an October 20 report, “‘There Is No Hope’: Crisis Pushes Haiti to Brink … Read more‘International Actors in Haiti Have Been Guarantors of the Status Quo’ – CounterSpin interview with Jake Johnston on Haiti

Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link (photo: Wikimedia) This week on CounterSpin: People are using words like “unlivable” to describe parts of California, where wildfires and power outages are driving new kinds of crisis and exacerbating existing ones. At the heart of it: climate disruption, of course, but also a private utility system that … Read moreJohanna Bozuwa on Public Utilities, Jake Johnston on Haiti

Janine Jackson interviewed writer/activist Dorothee Benz about LGBT rights for the October 25, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Medium (10/7/19) Janine Jackson: In early October, the Supreme Court took up three related cases involving the rights of LGBTQ people, deemed “significant,” “blockbuster” or … Read more‘The Law Is Only Ever a Part of What Creates a Just and Free Society’ – CounterSpin interview with Dorothee Benz on LGBTQ rights

Janine Jackson interviewed Brooklyn College’s Alex Vitale about the role of policing for the October 27, 2017, episode of CounterSpin; a portion of that interview was reaired on the October 18, 2019, show. This is a lightly edited transcript of the rebroadcast. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Atatiana Jefferson Janine Jackson: Some people … Read more‘There Are Noncoercive Solutions to Our Problems’ – CounterSpin interview with Alex Vitale on the role of policing

Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link (cc photo: Ted Eytan) This week on CounterSpin: The Supreme Court won’t rule until spring on the cases it recently took up, involving employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. But that doesn’t mean we have to wait until then to assess the state of fairness … Read moreDorothee Benz on LGBTQ Rights, Joe Emersberger on Ecuador Protests

by Lucas Koerner Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, people are rising up against right-wing, US-backed governments and their neoliberal austerity policies. Currently in Chile, the government of billionaire Sebastian Piñera has deployed the army to crush nationwide demonstrations against inequality sparked by a subway fare hike. In Ecuador, indigenous peoples, workers and students recently … Read moreWhitewashing Neoliberal Repression in Chile and Ecuador

by Joe Emersberger AP piece in the LA Times (10/14/19) Bernie Sanders tweeted an Associated Press article in the LA Times (10/14/19) about Ecuador’s recent protests, in which eight protesters were killed in 11 days. “Economic elites keep pushing austerity worldwide, making life unbearable for working people,” Sanders declared. Unfortunately, that AP piece was itself … Read moreEcuador’s Austerity Measures, Repression Based on Lies AP Happily Spread

Janine Jackson interviewed IPS’s Khury Petersen-Smith about the Turkish invasion of Syria for the October 18, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Janine Jackson: As we record on October 17, Turkey continues its offensive in northern Syria, a move seen as greenlighted by Donald … Read more‘This Is the Latest Chapter of a Long History of US Betrayal of Kurds’ – Khury Petersen-Smith on the Turkish Invasion of Syria

Janine Jackson interviewed Public Bank LA’s Trinity Tran about public banking for the October 11, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Fresno Bee (10/2/19) Janine Jackson: The October 2 Fresno Bee reported that California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law allowing cities in California … Read more‘Finance Can Be Something That Helps Rather Than Harms Our Communities’ – CounterSpin interview with Trinity Tran on public banking

Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link (cc photo: Kurdishstruggle) This week on CounterSpin: “US withdraws from Syria, in a remarkable betrayal of the Kurds”  is a fair characterization of corporate news media’s take on recent events—the only problems being that the US has not withdrawn from Syria, and a US betrayal of the Kurds … Read moreKhury Petersen-Smith on Turkey & the Kurds, Alex Vitale on the Purpose of Policing

Janine Jackson interviewed Payday Report’s Mike Elk about the GM strike for the October 11, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Janine Jackson: As we record the show on October 9, we understand contract talks are resuming between the United Auto Workers and GM. … Read more‘People Taking Action Inspires Other People’ – CounterSpin interview with Mike Elk on the GM strike

Janine Jackson interviewed Free Press’s Craig Aaron about the net neutrality setback for the October 4, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Janine Jackson: A federal appeals court has ruled that it was OK for the FCC, over the overwhelming, openly stated will of … Read more‘The Public Is Clearly on the Side of Net Neutrality’

Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link   (image: UAW) This week on CounterSpin: One of the ways corporate media coverage of the now more than three-week-old GM strike is like coverage of every strike is the use, so common as to be invisible, of constructions like “GM strike leaves thousands of outside workers without … Read moreMike Elk on GM Strike, Trinity Tran on Public Banking

Janine Jackson interview the Government Accountability Project’s Dana Gold about whistleblower protection for the October 4, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link New York Times (9/26/19) Janine Jackson: The New York Times stands by its decision to publish identifying details about the whistleblower at … Read more‘Political Interference in the Whistleblower Disclosure Process Is Horrifying’ – CounterSpin interview with Dana Gold on whistleblower protection

Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Trump threatens a whistleblower. (image: AP via VOA) This week on CounterSpin: Who knows what will have happened by the time you hear this show, as Donald Trump seems to think nothing goes better after evidence that you tried to strongarm a country into digging up dirt on … Read moreDana Gold on Whistleblower Protections, Craig Aaron on Net Neutrality Setback

The September 27, 2019, episode of CounterSpin rebroadcast a portion of an interview Janine Jackson conducted with Frances Fox Piven about poverty and Occupy Wall Street, originally aired November 11, 2011. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Janine Jackson: In November of 2011, a New York Times headline … Read more‘Poverty Is Not Just a Measure of How Much Cabbage and Potatoes You Need to Live On’ – CounterSpin interview with Frances Fox Piven about poverty and Occupy Wall Street

Janine Jackson interviewed the Kairos Center’s Shailly Gupta Barnes about defining and ending poverty for the September 27, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Washington Post (6/20/19) Janine Jackson: Washington Post factchecking seems to be weaponized in favor of the status quo. The paper … Read more‘Maybe It’s Time We Broaden What We Mean by “Poor”’ – CounterSpin interview with Shailly Gupta Barnes on defining and ending poverty

Janine Jackson interviewed The Next System Project’s Dana Brown about medicine for all for the September 20, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Janine Jackson: Having made billions of dollars from aggressively and irresponsibly promoting the painkiller OxyContin, spurring a wave of opioid addiction … Read more‘We Can Assure Long-Term, Affordable Access to All Essential Medication’ – CounterSpin interview with Dana Brown on medicine for all

Janine Jackson interviewed Justice for Muslims’ Maha Hilal about the “terrorist watchlist” for the September 20, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Janine Jackson: We don’t need the anniversary of September 11, 2001, to remind us of the devastating legacies of that day: the … Read more‘The Remedies That Were Proposed Weren’t About Ending the List’ – CounterSpin interview with Maha Hilal on ‘terrorist watchlist’

Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Image: National Priorities Project This week on CounterSpin: “‘When I use a word,’” says Lewis Carroll’s Humpty Dumpty “in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.’” So it is with corporate media when it comes to money—the idea, if … Read moreShailly Gupta Barnes, Frances Fox Piven on Defining and Ending Poverty

Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link   This week on CounterSpin: A District Court judge ruled that the Terrorist Screening Database, or Watchlist as it’s usually called, is unconstitutional—people don’t know when they’re on it, they can be added with zero evidence of criminal activity, and the designation follows them everywhere. What the judge … Read moreMaha Hilal on Anti-Muslim Watchlist, Dana Brown on Public Option for Pharmaceuticals

Janine Jackson interviewed Public Citizen’s Amit Narang about Trump’s corporate deregulation for the September 13, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link CNN (8/14/19) Janine Jackson: “There’s a New Culture Divide Between Trump and Corporate America,” says CNN. “Many Businesses Oppose Trump’s Deregulatory Agenda,” says … Read more‘Trump’s Deregulatory Agenda Has Been Driven by Corporations’ – CounterSpin interview with Amit Narang about Trump’s corporate deregulation

Janine Jackson interviewed author Marjorie Cohn about the unending US war in Afghanistan for the September 13, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3 Link Washington Post (8/19/19) Janine Jackson: Outrage poured in when it was revealed that Donald Trump had invited representatives of the Taliban … Read more‘It Was Illegal and Still Is Illegal’ – CounterSpin interview with Marjorie Cohn on the unending US war in Afghanistan