US Media Issues
New York Times lines up with anti-China hawks
By Nick Beams, 12 March 2019
The key US demand is that China must make “structural” changes to its economy, including abandoning state subsidies to major industries.
The attacks on Green Book and the racialist infection of the affluent middle class
By David Walsh and Joanne Laurier, 8 March 2019
The decision to bestow the Best Picture award on Green Book (directed by Peter Farrelly) at the Academy Awards on February 24 has triggered a furious and ongoing response in the American media.
US media passes over in silence Trump’s fascistic diatribe in Miami
By Bill Van Auken, 20 February 2019
To the extent that the corporate media reported the speech it was limited to foreign policy and electoral calculations, ignoring the echoes of 1930s fascism in Trump’s remarks.
NBC’s Tom Brokaw provokes backlash over “assimilation” comment
By Patrick Martin, 29 January 2019
During Sunday’s broadcast of “Meet the Press,” former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw gave vent to the racism, anti-immigrant bigotry and sheer ignorance that media pundits usually keep under wraps.
Critic-at-large Wesley Morris on the Academy Awards
Why does the New York Times keep pushing pernicious racialism?
By David Walsh, 28 January 2019
The New York Times critic-at-large Wesley Morris published an article January 23 headlined “Why Do the Oscars Keep Falling for Racial Reconciliation Fantasies?”
US-born anchor for Iranian TV jailed without charges
By Bill Van Auken, 18 January 2019
The police state style abduction and imprisonment of Marzieh Hashemi is part of Washington’s wider preparations for war against Iran.
The American media revives the methods of McCarthyism
By Patrick Martin, 15 January 2019
The campaign sparked by reports over the weekend by the New York Times and Washington Post harks back to the anti-communist witch-hunt of the 1950s.
8 January 2019
NBC journalist resigns, blasting media as “defender of Washington and the system”
By Bill Van Auken, 5 January 2019
William Arkin, a veteran reporter and security consultant for NBC, delivered a scathing critique of the corporate media as stenographer and apologist for the military-intelligence apparatus.
The New York Times’ #MeToo smear against Bernie Sanders
By Barry Grey, 5 January 2019
The Times wants the next Democratic campaign, like the last, to be dominated by the politics of gender, race and sex—not class.
Mary Queen of Scots and The Favourite: The unimpressive recent results of “women in film”
By Joanne Laurier, 24 December 2018
Mary Queen of Scots and The Favourite belong to this year’s flood of “women” films. Many others have already disappeared without a trace.
The New York Times targets McKinsey for doing business with China and Russia
By Peter Symonds, 20 December 2018
The article’s overriding purpose is not to expose the collusion of American companies with autocrats, but rather to ensure that they march in lockstep with the US war drive against China and Russia.
Sully at George H.W. Bush’s funeral: Washington goes to the dogs
By Eric London, 6 December 2018
A service dog in the (unwitting) service of the political establishment.
CNN fires contributor accused of “anti-Semitism” for defending Palestinian rights
By Kayla Costa, 1 December 2018
While CNN has not provided a full explanation, the firing of Marc Lamont Hill came one day after he made public statements critical of Israeli policy against Palestinians.
New York Times: Our crime was telling the truth
By Andre Damon, 29 November 2018
The Times and the Washington Post are arguing that by publishing true information about political corruption, the US press committed what amounts to treason.
New York Times ramps up smear campaign against Julian Assange
By Tom Hall, 6 November 2018
The latest round of slanders is aimed at preparing public opinion for an eventual indictment of the WikiLeaks founder on espionage charges.
Letters protest censorship of Niles Niemuth election campaign by WDIV
3 November 2018
The WSWS is publishing a selection of the letters which were sent in response to the open letter written by Niemuth, the Socialist Equality Party candidate for Congress in Michigan’s 12th District.
New York Times tries to shame “disillusioned young voters” into supporting the Democrats
By Barry Grey, 2 November 2018
As masses of people grow increasingly disillusioned with capitalism and the two-party system, the Times is doing its best to shore up support for the Democratic Party.
An open letter to WDIV Local 4 News in Detroit
Stop the censorship of the Socialist Equality Party campaign!
By Niles Niemuth, 2 November 2018
The following open letter was sent to Kim Voet, the news director of WDIV Local 4 News and ClickonDetroit.com, protesting the exclusion of any information about the SEP election campaign from their coverage.
After Pittsburgh massacre: New York Times covers up Trump’s role in instigating fascist violence
By Patrick Martin, 30 October 2018
The leading US newspaper’s editorial on the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre effectively absolves President Trump and his fascistic politics of any responsibility for the bloodbath.
Feigning moral outrage, the Times’ Thomas Friedman comes to the defense of the Saudi killer regime
By Barry Grey, 18 October 2018
Friedman poses the problem of how to respond to the murder of Khashoggi from the “practical” standpoint of imperialist Realpolitik.
The New York Times’ Alexis Grenell denounces white women for upholding the “patriarchy”
By Genevieve Leigh, 12 October 2018
Grenell’s piece is an extreme example of the obsession with gender and race that has infected the upper middle class and the pages of the New York Times in particular.
The New York Times laments the exit of Nikki Haley
By Patrick Martin, 11 October 2018
The leading Democratic Party-aligned newspaper joined the Republican president in gushing over the US Ambassador to the United Nations.
The case of Sydney Schanberg
How the NY Times shielded Trump and the Manhattan real estate mafia
By Barry Grey, 11 October 2018
The Times got rid of Schanberg because he was writing column after column exposing the Westway project—a $4 billion highway-luxury apartment development that was being avidly promoted by Trump and his fellow real estate speculators.
The ouster of New York Review of Books editor Ian Buruma: The #MeToo movement assaults free speech
By David Walsh, 22 September 2018
In an extraordinary act of political censorship, Buruma was forced out this week after he published an article by Jian Ghomeshi, the former Canadian radio broadcaster accused of sexual misconduct in 2014.
New York Times’ fraudulent “election plot” dossier escalates anti-Russia hysteria
By Bill Van Auken, 21 September 2018
The Times regurgitates unsubstantiated claims that Russia “hijacked” the 2016 election and carried out a “stealth cyberage Pearl Harbor” to further an agenda of criminalizing domestic dissent and censoring the internet.
Ronan Farrow’s #MeToo campaign brings down Leslie Moonves at CBS
By Fred Mazelis, 13 September 2018
The ousting of Moonves is part of an ongoing struggle for power and wealth within the media and entertainment industries.
A warning to the working class
Facebook’s partnership with the Atlantic Council
By Kevin Reed, 8 September 2018
The campaign against “fake news,” “election meddling” and “disinformation” is emerging as the integration of the social media monopolies with the US military-intelligence apparatus.
New York Times covers up Google’s censorship
By Andre Damon, 7 September 2018
The Times’ report on allegations that Google is censoring the Internet is a white-wash, echoing the company’s self-serving denials without any serious examination of the facts.
New York Times op-ed by anonymous Trump official gives implicit support for palace coup
By Eric London, 6 September 2018
The official wrote that “we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until—one way or another—it’s over.”
The US media declares war, once again, on comic Louis C.K.
By David Walsh, 4 September 2018
A significant portion of the American media castigated a villainous figure this past weekend, lamenting the fact he had essentially gone unpunished for his crimes. Was it the late Sen. John McCain?
Disney stands by firing of James Gunn, director of Guardians of the Galaxy
By Tim Avery, 29 August 2018
The Walt Disney company has remained firm in its decision to dismiss director James Gunn over tweets unearthed by right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich.
The “unmaking” of #MeToo’s Asia Argento
By David Walsh, 22 August 2018
The latest episode in the #MeToo drama unfolded earlier this week following the revelation that actress Asia Argento, one of the alleged victims of producer Harvey Weinstein, purportedly paid off a young man who accused her of sexual abuse.
Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Who Is America?” on Showtime: Scattershot satire, with hits and misses
By Carlos Delgado, 22 August 2018
Cohen conducts “prank” interviews intended to ridicule and humiliate his subjects. Some of them are more deserving than others.
Political warfare deepens as Democrats, ex-spies circle the wagons around Brennan
By Tom Hall, 20 August 2018
The intervention by Brennan and other ex-intelligence officials on the Sunday talk shows demonstrates the degree to which the spy agencies have become a dominant political force.
The New York Times defends Sarah Jeong after racist tweets come to light
By Hiram Lee, 8 August 2018
After a series of anti-white tweets by reporter Sarah Jeong emerged online, the New York Times and the pseudo-left came to her defense.
Under massive pressure, Trump backpedals on Russia “meddling”
By Andre Damon, 18 July 2018
This entire sordid episode demonstrates the degree to which the intelligence apparatus, with its single-minded pursuit of military conflict with Russia, holds sway over the American state, media and political establishment.
Trump under pressure from US intelligence agencies over North Korea
By Peter Symonds, 2 July 2018
The Washington Post, citing unnamed US intelligence officials and undisclosed “evidence,” claimed that North Korea was planning to deceive the US over its pledge to denuclearise.
New York Times restates Washington’s anti-China agenda in Sri Lanka
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 29 June 2018
The article is a warning to the politically divided Sri Lankan ruling elite not to deviate from Washington’s military-strategic script.
Sex and the New York Times: When “Her Too” isn’t “Me Too”
By David Walsh, 27 June 2018
The New York Times discovers nuance in sexual behavior when it involves a reporter and a valuable source.
Following merger of AT&T and Time Warner
Fox accepts Disney takeover bid
By Barry Grey, 21 June 2018
Control of the media and telecommunications industries by a handful of mega-monopolies received fresh impetus Wednesday with 21st Century Fox’s announcement that it had agreed to a revamped takeover offer from Walt Disney Company.
Washington Post staff sign open letter to Jeff Bezos asking for fair pay
By Alec Andersen, 19 June 2018
More than 400 workers at the paper released an open letter Thursday beseeching the newspaper’s owner and world’s richest man to intervene on their behalf in protracted contract negotiations.
US media turns blind eye to the death of 5,000 Puerto Ricans
By Genevieve Leigh, 4 June 2018
The Harvard study on the impact of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico is a damning exposure of one of the most monstrous cover-ups in US history.
The New York Times and the murder that wasn’t
By Andre Damon, 1 June 2018
The response to the staged murder of the Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko stands as an exposure of the US media.
By Barry Grey, 31 May 2018
Wealth-X report shows billionaires gained $1.8 trillion in 2017
By Eric London, 21 May 2018
The social needs of the working class can be met and its democratic rights defended only by expropriating the wealth of the super-rich.
The US political police and the 2016 elections
By Patrick Martin, 18 May 2018
A 4,000-word front-page report in the New York Times paints a picture of an American political system in which the FBI and CIA play a critical and at times decisive role.
Michelle Wolf’s Flint comment touches a nerve in Michigan’s capital
By Jim Brewer, 4 May 2018
Comedian Michelle Wolf’s comment on Flint’s water at the White House correspondents dinner elicited an indignant rejoinder from the Michigan governor’s office.
Comedian Michelle Wolf exposes a cynical and hypocritical media
By Andre Damon, 1 May 2018
The corporate media is outraged by the truth.
US media escalates #MeToo witch hunt after Cosby verdict
By Tom Carter, 30 April 2018
The media seized on Bill Cosby’s conviction Thursday to attack the presumption of innocence and demand an intensification of the reactionary crusade over sexual allegations.
220 Rudd on 1968 Columbia protest
25 April 2018
The Pulitzer Prize rewards witch-hunting and state propaganda
By Eric London, 19 April 2018
The Washington Post and New York Times won prizes for their role in the anti-Russia campaign, while the Times and the New Yorker won an award for promoting the #MeToo campaign.
205 Pulitzers to NYT and New Yorker
18 April 2018
The New York Times on race and class
What determines social mobility in America?
Part two
By Eric London, 6 April 2018
The New York Times cites a new working paper published by the non-profit Equality of Opportunity as proof that race, not class determines social status. But what does the data really show?
The New York Times takes on the social media “hordes”
By Andre Damon, 3 April 2018
Times columnist Farhad Manjoo demanded in a recent article that the government do something to “fix” social media to keep the online “herd” from voicing their opinions.
“If only there were more female billionaires!”— New York Times
By David Walsh, 14 March 2018
The New York Times Sunday Review prominently featured an article by Susan Chira, a senior correspondent and editor on gender issues, headlined, “Money Is Power. And Women Need More of Both.”
The Oscar speech we’d like to hear Sunday night: “Members of the Academy, what hypocrites and conformists so many of you are!”
By David Walsh, 3 March 2018
The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, ostensibly honoring the best films and performances of 2017, will be held Sunday evening at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
The New York Times procures salacious details of “gray-zone sex”
By Eric London, 1 March 2018
The Times has issued a call for college students to describe and submit images related to sexual encounters.
Ex-CIA head John Brennan hired as news analyst by NBC
By Julian James, 28 February 2018
Brennan is implicated in some of the most criminal policies enacted under the Bush and Obama administrations, including the CIA torture program and the drone assassination program.
New York Times exploits Parkland tragedy to escalate anti-Russian campaign
By Andre Damon, 21 February 2018
The New York Times and the broadcast media have sought to exploit the deaths of 17 high school students to justify US military aggression against Russia and promote Internet censorship.
New York Times columnist Charles Blow blames Russia for the fall in black voter turnout
By Fred Mazelis, 21 February 2018
Blow brands the decision not to choose between two candidates of the ruling class as an illegitimate display of “apathy.”
209 Charles Blow
20 February 2018
Censorship, witch hunts and dirty money at the New York Times
By Andre Damon, 12 February 2018
The Times has made little effort to hide the fact that its record-breaking profits have been driven in large measure by state censorship and media scandalmongering.
New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof promotes #MeToo witch-hunt of Woody Allen
By Will Morrow, 12 February 2018
The intervention of Kristof, who has devoted his career to promoting illegal US wars in the name of “human rights,” helps expose the right-wing character of #MeToo.
The suicide of Jill Messick: #MeToo campaign claims a victim
By David Walsh, 10 February 2018
Messick was the manager of actress Rose McGowan at the time of an incident involving producer Harvey Weinstein in January 1997 at the Sundance Film Festival, during which McGowan alleges a sexual assault occurred.
Chomsky’s pro-imperialist Afrin petition
By Nick Beams, 6 February 2018
Right on cue, as if acting in accordance with a carefully drafted script, pseudo-left organisations and individuals have stepped forward to provide justifications for new US operations in the Middle East.
Veteran investigative reporter Robert Parry dies at 68
By Bill Van Auken, 5 February 2018
Parry, who won journalism awards for exposing CIA crimes in Nicaragua, founded Consortiumnews.com after confronting the corporate media’s impediments to serious investigative journalism.
US media glorifies small protests by right-wing Putin opponent Alexei Navalny
By Clara Weiss, 1 February 2018
Though tens of thousands protested last year against social inequality and corruption, Navalny has been unable to tap into the massive social discontent, largely due to his fascistic politics.
New York Times cashes in on Facebook’s news censorship
By Will Morrow, 27 January 2018
Establishment news organizations such as the Times, publicly discredited by their role as state propaganda outlets for decades, see censorship as a means to regain lost readers.
US AFRICOM blacklists reporter Nick Turse as “not a legitimate journalist”
By Eddie Haywood, 15 January 2018
The move is of a piece with the global effort to censor oppositional and alternative viewpoints on the Internet.
Daphne Merkin’s “Publicly, We Say #MeToo. Privately, We Have Misgivings”
The New York Times’ reactionary sexual harassment campaign runs into opposition
By David Walsh, 6 January 2018
In a column Friday, critic and novelist Daphne Merkin acknowledges there is considerable hostility to the current sexual misconduct witch-hunt even within its target demographic.
Sulzbergers pass gilded baton at the New York Times
By Bill Van Auken, 5 January 2018
In assuming the post of Times publisher, A.G. Sulzberger, 37, inherits his father’s $5.1 million annual paycheck.
The petition against Matt Damon and the “erasing” of Kevin Spacey: The fiercely antidemocratic character of the sexual misconduct campaign
By David Walsh, 28 December 2017
The New York Times is at the forefront of the reactionary witch-hunt, defending various efforts at censorship and repression.
Court quashes subpoena of reporter who uncovered Chicago police murder coverup
By George Marlowe, 27 December 2017
An anti-press subpoena against independent journalist Jamie Kalven would have forced him to disclose his confidential sources.
Disney to purchase 21st Century Fox for $66.1 billion, creating new mega-conglomerate
By Gabriel Black, 20 December 2017
The merger is expected to lead to as many as 10,000 layoffs.
Opposition mounts to sexual harassment witch-hunt
By Joseph Kishore, 16 December 2017
With the initial shock of the campaign beginning to wane, opposition is emerging from some of those targeted, including PBS personality Tavis Smiley.
National Public Radio’s This American Life promotes anti-immigrant propaganda
By Eric London, 13 December 2017
The episode broadcast last week provided a platform for ultra-right-wing, anti-immigrant figures and lent credibility to their racist agenda.
Why has Time magazine endorsed the #MeToo “revolution”?
By David Walsh, 12 December 2017
Given the ongoing frenzy, the magazine’s decision was entirely predictable. Had its editors made any other choice there would have been a media-organized uproar.
Capitol Hill journalists revoke RT America’s news credentials
By Trévon Austin, 5 December 2017
The decision prevents the Russian-based television network from accessing members of Congress as news reporters
US sexual witch-hunt
NBC’s “Today” co-anchor Matt Lauer and “Prairie Home Companion” creator Garrison Keillor latest to be purged
By David Walsh, 30 November 2017
The spinelessness and contempt for democracy within the media and political establishment seems almost universal and unlimited.
The New York Times promotes an American Nazi
By Patrick Martin, 29 November 2017
A lengthy Times profile published Saturday gave a flattering portrayal of a white racist activist as the “boy next door.”
Repressive political agenda of the “sexual harassment” campaign comes into the open
By David Walsh, 28 November 2017
The torrent of allegations and denunciations of sexual misconduct against media figures, Hollywood personalities and politicians continues to flow unabated.
Trump’s Justice Department sues to prevent Time Warner-AT&T merger
By Gabriel Black, 27 November 2017
The deal would result in the largest vertically integrated content and distribution company in the world.
Google’s Eric Schmidt admits political censorship of search results
By Niles Niemuth, 22 November 2017
Remarks by the executive chairman of Google’s parent company about efforts to “de-rank” news sites critical of the US government expose the corporate-government conspiracy to block oppositional voices on the Internet.
New York Times outlines Democrats’ “compromise” tax windfall for the rich
By Barry Grey, 15 November 2017
What is presented by the corporate media as a fierce conflict between the Republicans and Democrats is in reality a bipartisan conspiracy to increase the already stratospheric levels of social inequality in the United States.
US Justice Department forces RT America to register as “foreign agent”
By Trévon Austin, 10 November 2017
The move is a product of the ongoing anti-Russia witch hunt led by the Democratic Party, together with the US intelligence agencies, aimed at delegitimizing and outlawing domestic political opposition.
Billionaire CEO Joe Ricketts shuts down DNAinfo and Gothamist after unionization vote
By Michael Walters and Alexander Fangmann, 4 November 2017
The sudden shutdown of the popular local news websites illustrates the dangers posed by the financial aristocracy’s control over the media and the internet.
Behind the New York Times’ concern about Washington’s “forever wars”: Plans for new war authorization and conscription
By Bill Van Auken, 24 October 2017
The roiling public debate surrounding the deaths of four special forces troops in Niger has threatened to lift the lid on the unbridled power of the Pentagon and the drive toward world war.
How the Internet keeps us safe from people like Thomas Friedman
By Andre Damon, 14 October 2017
Friedman, the notorious war propagandist, is demanding that technology companies censor news outlets that would hold him to account for his lies.
Rap artist Eminem and his popular tirade against Donald Trump
By Nick Barrickman, 14 October 2017
Under the right conditions, the rapper is capable of giving expression to some of the pent-up social angst and oppositional feelings held by wide layers of the population, especially young people.
The politics of the Harvey Weinstein scandal
By David Walsh, 12 October 2017
The sex scandal is a mechanism through which other issues are resolved, often to the satisfaction of powerful economic interests.
Senate witch-hunters expand on their anti-Russia horror story
By Patrick Martin, 6 October 2017
The Senate Intelligence Committee claims of Russian subversion of American democracy are factually absurd and politically sinister.
New York Times, Democrats lead push for Facebook censorship
By Andre Damon, 25 September 2017
Leading Democrats, working with intelligence agencies and media outlets, are using the campaign against Russian “meddling” in the 2016 election to justify social media censorship.
Obama adviser Samantha Power calls for crackdown on social media
Internet censorship and government war plans
By Andre Damon, 21 September 2017
Samantha Power, US ambassador to the United Nations under Barack Obama, has penned a column in the New York Times advocating the use of “professional gatekeepers” to police public discourse on the Internet.
US media response to Trump’s fascistic UN tirade ranges from complacency to concurrence
By Bill Van Auken, 21 September 2017
The US media response to a speech that could have been delivered by Hitler largely fails to rise above quibbling over tactics and style.
In “60 Minutes” interview, Bannon elaborates plans for American fascist movement
By Eric London, 13 September 2017
The corporate media is elevating Bannon, while, at the same time, the Democratic Party’s identity politics aids the growth of the far-right.
New York Times stokes anti-Russia campaign to promote Facebook, Twitter censorship
By Bill Van Auken, 12 September 2017
Invoking an alleged Russian menace to American democracy, the New York Times is spearheading a campaign for a crackdown on political expression on social media.
The New York Times and “white nationalism”
By Barry Grey, 17 August 2017
The politics of race, whether in the form of anti-black racism or black nationalism, has long been used as an ideological weapon of the capitalist class to divide the working class and impede the struggle for socialism.
The hacking of HBO and the “Russian meddling” campaign
By Barry Grey, 10 August 2017
The massive hack of HBO is but the latest case demonstrating the proliferation of hacker groups all over the world that employ advanced technology to successfully attack giant corporations.
Apple, Amazon help Chinese government censor the Internet
By Josh Varlin, 5 August 2017
The Chinese government has launched a crackdown on virtual private networks (VPNs), which allow Internet users to circumvent state censorship.
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