This week on CounterSpin, our Executive Director Malkia Cyril called in to talk about what’s happening in Ferguson, the role of social media, and the current state of news media.
CounterSpin is Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting’s (FAIR’s) weekly radio show, hosted by Janine Jackson, Steve Rendall and Peter Hart. CounterSpin exposes and highlights biased and inaccurate news; censored stories; sexism, racism and homophobia in the news; the power of corporate influence; gaffes and goofs by leading TV pundits; TV news’ narrow political spectrum; attacks on free speech; and more.
This week on CounterSpin: The New York Times’ David Carr says “nothing much good was happening in Ferguson until it became a hashtag.” It’s naive to think that media attention to the police killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown is enough to address the crisis it represents, but Carr’s not wrong that it was the Internet and not corporate media that put the story on the front burner. We’ll talk about Ferguson and media with Malkia Cyril of the Center for Media Justice.
Also on the show: Will New York Times reporter James Risen go to jail for refusing to testify against a source? Risen’s case is seen by many as a clear-cut example of how the Obama administration’s war on whistleblowers is also a war on journalists and journalism. We’ll talk to FAIR founder Jeff Cohen, director of the Park Center for Independent Media, about the state of the case and the activist pushback.
LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE
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