Part One of a series on critiquing the media watchdog organizations...this article is on FAIR, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, found at "http://www.fair.org/"
A few months ago I started receiving the FAIR Media Action Alerts through e-mail (you can subscribe by going to the above URL). these alerts report on a media issue, usually a criticism of how some of the mainstream media organs handle--or don't handle--important stories, and tell the reader at the bottom what they can do to make the media more responsible to consumers. For instance, you can write or e-mail a TV network if you think they did not accurately report a story and let them know how you feel or what you think.
Some of the issues FAIR's alert newsletters have been eye openers, like their issue last week on the media's failure to report on the effects of depleted unranium. Or ones on such issues as media lying about the bombing of Serbia or UN occupation of Bosnia.
Some are more telling about how off the beat FAIR can be, such as their prattling on about the "takeovers" of Pacifica Radio Stations, WBAI (which in my left-wing days I listened to regularly) being the latest. FAIR must think most of its supporters live in places like Berkley. The fact is, however, Pacifica has only six stations--most in Southern California--and thus is not a powerful force for advocacy nationwide. So why does FAIR keep on pushing Pacifica's problems down our throats? Pacifica, as I have stated in this column a number of times and have put a link to it's web site in the "Best on the Web" links pages, is an important voice for free speech, but unfortunately it only reaches a limited audience. It is not worth all that attention from FAIR, it seems.
So why is FAIR devoting so much energy to exposing the shennannigans of those who are trying to change Pacifica's mission to advocate for local autonomy (albeit, the left-wing kind)? Bingo--"left-wing" is the operative phrase here. It is its "left-wing-ness" that means it will cover some issues like a glove and ignore others.
As for its criticsim of the mainstream's reporting on depleted uranium, if FAIR paid attention to what the alternative (often conservative) media was writing about this issue, it would have nothing to complain about! But FAIR doesn't pay much attention to sites like Antiwar.com or Worldnetdaily.com, either because they are not "mainstream" or because they are not the "papers of record" for the power elites. Yet, I don't see any praise either for these right-leaning news sites for covering issues like depleted uranium, as if these sites are of no consequence (which is wishful thinking maybe. Consider the fact that WorldNetDaily has scooped this story as well as the stories about FOX Network's "Temptation Island" series, which have been picked up by major dailies giving credit to WND!).
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