US Media Issues
The New York Times and Manning’s prison sentence
By Thomas Gaist, 23 August 2013
The New York Times published an editorial Wednesday defending the verdict against Manning while suggesting a slightly reduced prison sentence
Time correspondent “can’t wait” to write defense of drone strike that “takes out Assange”
By Eric London, 19 August 2013
A Twitter message posted Saturday by Time magazine senior national correspondent Michael Grunwald highlights the authoritarian sentiments that predominate in the media establishment.
Journalist Michael Hastings was investigating CIA director at time of deadly crash
By Matthew MacEgan, 16 August 2013
The widow of investigative journalist Michael Hastings confirmed that CIA Director John Brennan was the target of Hastings’ next exposé project.
Friedman of the Times demands Edward Snowden turn himself in
By Bill Van Auken, 16 August 2013
The New York Times columnist assures the former NSA contractor that the US system “will not allow an authentic whistle-blower to be unfairly punished.”
Billionaire Jeffrey Bezos to purchase Washington Post
By Andre Damon, 7 August 2013
The Washington Post, one of the United States' leading national newspapers, announced Monday that it had been sold for $250 million to Jeffrey Bezos, the multi-billionaire founder of the online retail firm Amazon.com.
Questions surrounding 2011 triple murder point to government cover-up in Boston Marathon bombing
By Thomas Gaist and Barry Grey, 12 July 2013
The New York Times published a front-page article Thursday that raises new questions about the alleged perpetrators of the Boston Marathon bombing and adds to the evidence of a government cover-up.
Questions surround death of journalist Michael Hastings
By David Brown, 21 June 2013
The speed with which police have declared no “foul play” is an effort to suppress the many questions that exist about the death of the journalist.
Liberal advocates of a police state turn savagely against Edward Snowden
By David North and Eric London, 14 June 2013
Since Edward Snowden’s exposure of the Obama administration’s domestic and international surveillance program, the political establishment and the media have been engaged in a non-stop campaign to discredit the young man and besmirch his character.
Defend Edward Snowden!
By Barry Grey and David North, 13 June 2013
The World Socialist Web Site and the Socialist Equality Party call on all workers, students and youth within the United States and internationally to come to the defense of Edward Snowden.
On network news show, Nation editor rushes to the defense of Obama
By Andre Damon and Barry Grey, 20 May 2013
Katrina vanden Heuvel, the editor and publisher of the Nation magazine, sprung to the defense of the Obama administration and dismissed charges that its attacks on democratic rights were comparable to those of Nixon and Watergate.
Nation magazine, ISO silent on Boston lockdown
By Tom Mackaman and Barry Grey, 30 April 2013
One searches the TheNation.com and SocialistWorker.org in vain for an article seriously addressing—much less condemning—the police-military lockdown.
The New York Times and terrorism
By Joseph Kishore, 30 April 2013
The attitude of the New York Times to terrorist attacks is entirely determined by the relationship of such attacks to the operations of US military and intelligence agencies.
The New York Times and the state of siege in Boston
By David Brown and Barry Grey, 25 April 2013
The New York Times published an editorial Monday that not only endorses last week’s police-military lockdown of Boston, but suggests that it was entirely consistent with democratic procedures.
Media hysteria grows over Boston bombing
By Barry Grey, 18 April 2013
While the nation, including the people of Boston, have remained calm, deeply saddened and shocked by the bombings as they are, the media and their leading personnel present a picture of disorientation and panic.
Media rush to judgment in Boston Marathon bombing
By Barry Grey, 16 April 2013
At least three people were killed and 144 wounded, including 15 with critical injuries, by two bomb explosions in downtown Boston.
The American media, ten years after the Iraq war
By Alex Lantier, 20 March 2013
Multiple car bomb attacks hit Shiite targets across Iraq yesterday, on the tenth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, killing 65 and wounding at least 200.
The New York Times’ Bill Keller smears Bradley Manning
By Naomi Spencer, 18 March 2013
Attempting to justify the Times’ unprincipled role in the events leading up to Manning’s arrest, the newspaper’s former executive editor wrote a column on March 10, “Bradley Manning’s Confidant.”
The New York Times defends drone murder
By Patrick Martin, 11 March 2013
A front-page article in the Times detailing the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki reveals both the criminal character of the killing and the liberal establishment’s contempt for democratic rights.
New York Times describes 2002 US-backed coup against Hugo Chavez as “unwise”
By Bill Van Auken, 9 March 2013
The Times itself had enthusiastically endorsed the military overthrow of Venezuela’s elected president.
US Senate approves John Brennan, tied to torture and drone assassination, as CIA director
By David Walsh, 8 March 2013
The Senate vote confirming the mastermind of Obama’s drone program followed a revealing quarrel within the establishment about the government’s right to assassinate Americans on US soil.
Bradley Manning and the media
By Naomi Spencer, 2 March 2013
At Thursday’s hearing, Bradley Manning revealed this extraordinary fact: before sending files to WikiLeaks, he contacted both the Washington Post and the New York Times, but neither paper responded.
Media covered up US assassination base in Saudi Arabia
By Joseph Kishore, 8 February 2013
At the request of the Obama administration, the New York Times, Washington Post and other media outlets concealed the location of the base, used to carry out drone assassinations.
The Nation defends John Brennan, Obama’s nominee for the CIA
By Joseph Kishore, 26 January 2013
In a comment by leading columnist Robert Dreyfuss, the Nation magazine has jumped to the defense of Obama’s nominee to head the CIA, the former chief of the administration’s drone assassination program.
New York Times prescription for “When the Doctor Is Not Needed”
By Kate Randall, 19 December 2012
In the latest installment of its editorial campaign for sweeping cuts in health care, the Times promotes patient “self care” and “community aides” as substitutes for doctors.
Letters on the British royal pregnancy
8 December 2012
Letters in response to the December 7 perspective, “The American establishment and the British royal pregnancy.”
The American establishment and the British royal pregnancy
By David Walsh, 7 December 2012
The announcement that Kate Middleton, wife of Britain’s Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge, is expecting a baby has produced unseemly squeals of delight from the American media and establishment generally.
Obama administration to allow further US media consolidation
By David Maynard, 5 December 2012
The Obama administration is quietly planning to pass changes proposed under Bush and permit even greater media consolidation.
New York Times gives glimpse of sectarian bloodbath being prepared by Syria intervention
By Bill Van Auken, 8 August 2012
An article published last week in the New York Times on the spillover of sectarian tensions from Syria into Turkey belies the “democratic” and “humanitarian” pretexts for the ever more violent drive for regime change by the US and its allies.
The New York Times hails terror bombing in Damascus
By Alex Lantier, 21 July 2012
The Times’ response to the bombings in Damascus epitomizes the Orwellian character of the American media’s coverage of the war in Syria.
The New York Times makes the “moral case” for drones
By David Walsh, 19 July 2012
”The Moral Case for Drones,” published in the New York Times on July 14, seeks to justify the assassination program run out of the Obama White House.
New Zealand: New evidence about US operation to shut down Megaupload
By John Braddock, 7 July 2012
White House logs demonstrate that meetings took place between Hollywood studio executives and US Vice President Joe Biden six months before the raids on Megaupload.
New York Times lauds Supreme Court’s “exquisite delicacy” in health care decision
By Joseph Kishore, 30 June 2012
The specialty of the Times is to serve up the lying hypocrisy of the liberal bourgeois establishment, which is then transmitted in various forms down through the “left” defenders of the Democratic Party.
Paul Krugman shills for Obama and capitalism
By Patrick Martin, 5 June 2012
The liberal economist and New York Times columnist has become a leading media apologist for Obama’s right-wing, pro-corporate economic policies.
New York Times beats drum for war in Syria … and beyond
By Patrick Martin, 23 April 2012
The New York Times is reprising its role in the run-up to the US invasion of Iraq, mounting an editorial campaign for war against Syria.
US television personality Mike Wallace dead at 93
By David Walsh, 12 April 2012
Mike Wallace, the longtime American television journalist best known for his almost four decades on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” died April 7 at the age of 93.
New York Times’ Bill Keller sets ground rules for next war
By Bill Van Auken, 21 March 2012
On the ninth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, New York Times columnist and former editor Bill Keller has penned a self-serving piece that obscures his own role in justifying that war,while setting ground rules for launching the next one.
The New York Times and “liberal” warmongering against Iran
By Bill Van Auken, 7 March 2012
The New York Times tried Tuesday to maneuver between Israel’s threats of imminent strikes against Iran and the Obama administration’s strategy of allowing crippling economic sanctions to force Tehran into submission before launching a shooting war.
The US media responds with hostility to this year’s Academy Awards show
By David Walsh, 2 March 2012
A number of US media critics have attacked this year’s Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles with such venom that it invites a second look.
The New York Times and the drive to war against Iran
By Barry Grey, 31 January 2012
The New York Times on Sunday published a lengthy article in its weekly magazine that sympathetically and clinically lays out the arguments of Israeli policy makers in favor of a military attack on Iran sometime this year.
Journalist, scoundrel Christopher Hitchens dies at 62
By David Walsh, 17 December 2011
Christopher Hitchens began his public life as a “left” journalist in Britain and moved on, without undergoing any apparent internal struggle, to become a proponent of imperialist war and oppression, residing in Washington, D.C.
Article sheds light on the fabrication of charges against Strauss-Kahn
By Patrick Martin, 30 November 2011
A lengthy article by long-time investigative journalist Edward Jay Epstein, published in the New York Review of Books, sheds new light on the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund, last May in New York City on bogus rape charges.
US business magazine: Military coup best solution for Greece
By Bill Van Auken, 4 November 2011
Forbes magazine, which bills itself as “Information for the World's Business Leaders,” has published an article on its web site entitled “The real Greek solution: a military coup.”
FBI to investigate allegations News Corp. hacked 9/11 victims’ phone records
By Kate Randall, 15 July 2011
The FBI has opened an investigation into allegations that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. tried to obtain phone records of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The New York Times’ Roger Cohen lavishes praise on Rupert Murdoch
By David Walsh, 14 July 2011
The New York Times published a column July 11 that portrays media mogul Rupert Murdoch as “alive and vigorous and noisy and relevant” and a “visionary” who shows “risk-taking determination.”
New York Times questions spending on “Extremely Expensive Cancer Drugs”
By Kate Randall, 9 July 2011
A recent New York Times editorial challenges Medicare payments for two drugs: Provenge for prostate cancer and Avastin for breast cancer.
The acquittal of Casey Anthony
By David Walsh, 8 July 2011
The acquittal of 25-year-old Casey Anthony in Orlando, Florida Tuesday on charges of murdering her child in June 2008 points to a fact of some social significance.
The New York Times and the presumption of guilt
By Tom Carter, 7 July 2011
In the aftermath of the collapse of the prosecution’s case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the New York Times is conducting a rearguard action to justify the conduct of the prosecutor.
New York Times decries “squandering” of Medicare funds
By Kate Randall, 7 June 2011
The New York Times continued its deceitful campaign against “wasteful” Medicare spending and “unnecessary” tests and procedures in an opinion piece last week by Rita Redberg.
The New York Times and the Joplin tornado’s “silver lining”
By Naomi Spencer, 3 June 2011
With 138 dead in the worst US tornado disaster in more than 60 years, the New York Times published an article Tuesday, prominently displayed on the main left column of its front page, under the headline, “Reconstruction Lifts Economy After Disasters.”
New York Times reporter subpoenaed in leak case
By Patrick Martin, 27 May 2011
James Risen could face contempt of court charges and imprisonment if he refuses to testify against a former CIA operative.
The American “left” and the Strauss-Kahn affair
By David Walsh, 23 May 2011
The response of the Nation magazine and the International Socialist Organization (ISO) to the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn on sexual assault charges.
Obama on “60 Minutes:” A political assessment
By Bill Van Auken, 10 May 2011
In his first and so far only interview since the assassination of Osama bin Laden, US President Barack Obama spent half an hour on the CBS News program “60 Minutes” reveling in the details of the extra-judicial killing.
US football player targeted for criticizing celebration of Bin Laden killing
By Jerry White, 7 May 2011
The media and corporate sponsors have gone after Pittsburgh Steeler running back Rashard Mendenhall for criticizing the jingoistic celebrations following the killing of Bin Laden.
The killing of Osama bin Laden: Obama’s “historic moment”
By David North, 4 May 2011
After Bin Laden had been liquidated, the White House and the media moved quickly to orchestrate the celebration of what was, in fact, an extra-legal state killing.
New York Times demands escalation of killing in Libya
By Bill Van Auken, 9 April 2011
Having endorsed the Obama administration’s war in Libya on the pretext of “protecting civilians,” the editors of the New York Times are now demanding a sharp escalation in the killing through the reintroduction of the US military’s flying gunships.
UN investigator repudiates Gaza war findings under US and Israeli pressure
By Jean Shaoul, 6 April 2011
The op-ed piece in Friday’s Washington Post by Judge Richard Goldstone presents an unedifying spectacle.
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow lines up behind Obama’s attack on Libya
By David Walsh, 24 March 2011
On March 21, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, a principal voice of the American liberal-left in the mainstream media, offered a defense of the Obama administration and its role in launching a military assault on Libya.
US: National Public Radio chief quits in new surrender to extreme right
By David Walsh, 10 March 2011
Vivian Schiller, president and CEO of National Public Radio (NPR), resigned March 9 in the wake of another “dirty tricks” incident staged by extreme right operatives.
The New York Times and CIA killer Raymond Davis
By Barry Grey, 1 March 2011
The New York Times on Sunday published a column by its public editor, Arthur S. Brisbane, defending the newspaper’s decision to withhold, at the request of the Obama administration, the fact that CIA killer Raymond Davis is an employee of the US spy agency.
Wall Street Journal flaunts its support for dictatorship
By David Walsh, 19 February 2011
The recent events in the Middle East and North Africa help expose the claim that the US government has an interest in democracy anywhere in the world. The Wall Street Journal has come to the defense of brutal regimes backed by Washington.
AOL buys Huffington Post for $315 million: So much for America’s “progressive” media
By David Walsh, 8 February 2011
The announcement that AOL (formerly America Online), the internet services and media company, is purchasing Huffington Post for some $315 million in cash and stock is a commentary on the “progressive” media in the US.
The New York Times’ Bill Keller on WikiLeaks: A collapse of democratic sensibility
By David Walsh, 3 February 2011
The New York Times posted a lengthy piece January 26 by Bill Keller, its executive editor, on the subject of the newspaper’s relations with WikiLeaks and its co-founder, Julian Assange.
WikiLeaks cable shows close US ties with new Egyptian vice president
By Joseph Kishore, 31 January 2011
The new vice president of Egypt, Omar Suleiman, has long-standing ties with the United States and has collaborated closely in efforts to suppress oppositional struggles throughout the Middle East.
Keith Olbermann leaves MSNBC: Another rightward lurch in US media
By Joseph Kishore, 24 January 2011
MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann abruptly announced his departure on Friday, the week before the formal transfer of NBC to its new corporate owner, Comcast.
The media and the man with the “golden voice”
By Andrea Peters, 8 January 2011
Over the past week the US media, and in particular the cable news networks, have exploited the story of Ted Williams for the most reactionary and self-serving purposes.
The media and Obama: Image and reality
By Barry Grey, 28 December 2010
For the past two weeks the US media has been pumping out admiring commentaries on the “comeback” of Barack Obama.
The New York Times and WikiLeaks
By Joseph Kishore, 16 December 2010
The role of the Times as an adjunct of the state in the campaign against WikiLeaks was brazenly proclaimed by Executive Editor Bill Keller in extraordinary comments posted November 29.
Comic Jon Stewart attacks WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange
By David Walsh, 7 December 2010
Comic Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show, went out of his way November 30 to attack WikiLeaks’ co-founder Julian Assange and the exposure of American government conspiracies around the world.
The New York Times and the mystery missile
By Bill Van Auken, 16 November 2010
The New York Times carried its first article Monday on what appeared to be an unexplained missile launch off the coast of southern California. The article, buried deep inside the paper, came a full week after the event.
Media drops story of apparent missile launch
By Andre Damon, 13 November 2010
Only days after the a Los Angeles television station reported an unexplained missile launch off of the coast of California, the American media has completely dropped coverage of the event.
The New York Times argues against promising lung cancer test
By Kate Randall, 11 November 2010
Following a government study showing CT scans reduce the risk of death from lung cancer, the New York Times calls for rationing their use.
MSNBC’s suspension of Keith Olbermann: US media shifts further to the right
By David Walsh, 8 November 2010
Keith Olbermann, the host of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, a news commentary program on US cable channel MSNBC, was suspended November 5 for having donated $2,400 each to three Democratic candidates for Congress.
New York Times defends its coverage of WikiLeaks exposures
By Barry Grey, 3 November 2010
Last Sunday, one week after it published a front-page smear against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the New York Times ran a self-serving column defending its coverage of the nearly 400,000 classified military logs exposing US war crimes in Iraq.
New York Times tries character assassination against WikiLeaks founder Assange
By Barry Grey, 25 October 2010
The response of the New York Times to WikiLeaks’ posting of classified American military documents exposing US war crimes in Iraq is to downplay the atrocities and portray WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as the criminal party.
National Public Radio fires Juan Williams
By Patrick Martin, 23 October 2010
National Public Radio fired long-time analyst and Fox News commentator Juan Williams Thursday, declaring that his remarks on the Fox program “The O’Reilly Factor” had “crossed the line” into anti-Muslim bigotry.
The New York Times’ Roger Cohen attacks French workers
By Alex Lantier, 18 October 2010
The mass strikes mounted in the last week by workers in France against the pension cuts of President Nicolas Sarkozy have attracted the ire of Roger Cohen, the New York Times’ chief foreign affairs editor.
The Detroit News and the DSO strike
By Kate Randall, 6 October 2010
A recent column in the Detroit News, “Cost of DSO too rich for Detroit,” lashes out against striking Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians and those supporting their struggle against management’s draconian contract demands.
New York Times publishes scurrilous attack on Marxism
By David Walsh, 2 October 2010
As its “Idea of the Day” on September 29, the New York Times posted an absurd and slanderous article entitled, “Communism’s Nuremberg” by French rightwing pundit Guy Sorman.
The New York Times and the FBI raids
By Hiram Lee, 28 September 2010
An editorial in Monday’s New York Times ostensibly criticizing the FBI for spying on political groups makes no mention of Friday’s raids on antiwar activists in Chicago and Minneapolis.
Frank Rich on the “mystery” of Obama
By Barry Grey, 8 September 2010
Frank Rich’s critique of Obama’s speech on Iraq is the latest in a series of commentaries by the New York Times columnist reflecting the growing dismay and disappointment with Obama within the left-liberal constituency of the Democratic Party.
Corporate media downplays Gulf oil spill
By Josué Olmos, 30 July 2010
A number of recent articles in the corporate media have sought to minimize the effects of the Gulf oil spill and purge the event from the consciousness of the American people.
The New York Times and the Afghan documents
By Bill Van Auken, 28 July 2010
The posting by WikiLeaks of some 92,000 secret documents on the Afghanistan war has sparked comparisons with the leaking nearly 40 years ago of the Pentagon Papers, which provided a devastating exposure of US policy in the Vietnam War.
The Sherrod affair and American social reality
By David Walsh, 27 July 2010
The Shirley Sherrod affair, the case of the black US Department of Agriculture official fired July 20 because of an allegedly racist remark, is profoundly discrediting to every wing of the American establishment.
An exchange with a reader on “Liberal television host Rachel Maddow solidarizes herself with US military in Afghanistan”
By David Walsh, 20 July 2010
The WSWS responds to a reader about television host Rachel Maddow’s attitude toward the war in Afghanistan.
Liberal television host Rachel Maddow solidarizes herself with US military in Afghanistan
By David Walsh, 15 July 2010
The visit by MSNBC news program host Rachel Maddow to Afghanistan in early July was as revealing as it was repugnant.
CNN fires senior Mideast editor over comments on cleric
By David Walsh, 9 July 2010
CNN’s firing of Octavia Nasr, its senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs, for expressing respect for a Shiite cleric, is a right-wing, cowardly act.
Army charges soldier for leaking video of US massacre in Baghdad
By Barry Grey, 7 July 2010
The United States Army on Monday filed charges against Private 1st Class Bradley Manning, accusing the 22-year-old of giving a video of a US military massacre in Baghdad to the WikiLeaks web site.
Washington “discovers” Afghanistan’s mineral wealth
By Alex Lantier, 15 June 2010
The New York Times’ description of Pentagon plans to hand over Afghan mineral riches to major international mining corporations and financial firms exposes the imperialist character of the NATO occupation of Afghanistan.
Letters on Glenn Beck, socialism and anti-Semitism
15 June 2010
A selection of letters on a recent David Walsh article, “US cable television host slanders socialism.”
US cable television host slanders socialism
By David Walsh, 10 June 2010
Glenn Beck is a reactionary know-nothing who hosts a commentary program on Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News Channel in the US. On his June 3 program Beck offered an incoherent tirade alleging “a rich history… of socialism and anti-Semitism.”
Helen Thomas ousted over anti-Zionist comments
By Patrick Martin, 9 June 2010
The ouster of veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas, after an anti-Israeli comment, is yet another demonstration of the politically foul and utterly conformist milieu of official Washington.
Frank Rich on Obama: Liberal fears and illusions
By Barry Grey, 8 June 2010
In a column published Sunday, New York Times commentator Frank Rich expresses the mounting frustration and concern of Obama’s liberal supporters over the president’s response to the BP oil spill
George Will: a pompous defender of wealth and privilege
By David Walsh, 20 May 2010
Not to put too fine a point on it, Washington Post columnist George Will is a pompous windbag, one of the most obnoxious right-wing media figures in America, and that is saying a good deal.
Following exposure of military massacre in Iraq
The New York Times fingers whistleblower WikiLeaks
By David Walsh, 8 April 2010
The release of video footage Monday showing cold-blooded murder committed by US military forces on the streets of eastern Baghdad in July 2007 has evoked widespread outrage.
New York Times fashions “egalitarian” defense of Obama health plan
By Alex Lantier, 25 March 2010
As the press moves to dispel popular anxiety over Obama's health care plan, the New York Times' David Leonhardt has received the assignment of presenting Obama's health care plan as part of a struggle for social equality.
The New York Times and the Obama health care plan
By Kate Randall, 23 March 2010
The New York Times weighed in predictably on Monday with praise for passage of the Obama health care plan, capping a yearlong campaign by the newspaper to promote the legislation.
The Hurt Locker and the rehabilitation of the Iraq war: New York Times journalists weigh in
By David Walsh, 16 March 2010
On Sunday and Monday, the New York Times carried no fewer than three columns in which the supposed merits of The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow’s award-winning film about the Iraq war, were extolled.
New York Times history lesson on civilian control of the military: Why now?
By Tom Eley, 17 February 2010
The New York Times’ decision to run a column stressing military subordination to civilian authorities comes amid growing assertiveness and impunity of the military and intelligence establishments.
The “Tea Party” movement in the US: A right-wing media creation
By David Walsh, 9 February 2010
The “Tea Party” movement, which held a convention last weekend in Nashville, Tennessee, is largely a media concoction, aimed at shifting American politics even further to the right.
Liberalism and Wall Street
By Barry Grey, 16 January 2010
In an op-ed piece published January 10, New York Times columnist Frank Rich paints an accurate picture of the American political system, “where the banking lobby rules in both parties and the revolving door between finance and government never stops spinning.”
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