Bring CounterSpin to Your Station
CounterSpin is FAIR's weekly radio show, hosted by Janine Jackson, Steve Rendall and Peter Hart. CounterSpin is heard on more than 130 noncommercial stations across the United States and Canada. CounterSpin provides a critical examination of the major stories every week, and exposes what the mainstream media might have missed in their own coverage.
Roberto Lovato on Mexico, Ann Jones on Afghanistan
This week on CounterSpin: The disappearance of 48 student activists in Mexico has brought hundreds of thousands of activists to the streets, demanding accountability from the US-allied president who just months ago was being cheered by Time magazine as the man who would save Mexico. We'll talk to journalist Roberto Lovato about the crisis in Mexico and the reasons the story isn't getting enough coverage in the US press.
Also this week: US media presented the election of Ashraf Ghani as Afghanistan's president as good news, largely because he would sign an agreement allowing US forces to remain in the country. Afghan women had different reasons to be tentatively hopeful; but then, who remembers Afghan women? We'll talk with journalist Ann Jones about her new article, The Missing Women of Afghanistan.
Chris King on Ferguson, Mark Weisbrot on Brazil's Election
This week on CounterSpin: Ferguson was back in the headlines recently with leaks from an autopsy report that, we're told, seem to corroborate police officer Darren Wilson's version of events from the day he killed Michael Brown. We'll talk about the impact of those leaks along with other aspects of a story that is far from over, despite the fact that most corporate media appear to have moved on, with Chris King, managing editor of the St. Louis American.
Also this week: When the New York Times refers to a politician as 'a former Marxist guerrilla who praises Hugo Chavez' you know they don't mean that in a good way. The Brazilian election saw a leftist incumbent challenged by a business-friendly candidate who we were told would grow the economy. Economist Mark Weisbrot will join us to talk about what the press was getting wrong about Brazil.
Harriet Washington on Ebola, Carl Conetta on 'Isolationism' and US Public
As the Ebola fear-mongering seems to be letting up a little, one thing that hasn’t changed is media inattention to the xenopobia that has gone hand in hand with the panic, and any real exploration issues of inequality and how they play out in treatment of the deadly disease. We’ll talk to medical ethicist and award winning author Harriet Washington about Ebola.
syria-protestAlso this week: Polls show pretty clearly that the public isn't enthusiastic about getting involved in more wars. To many elites, this is dangerous isolationism and a retreat from America's rightful position as a superpower. Carl Conetta of the Project on Defense Alternatives has taken a deep look at public opinion and the problem with elite rhetoric about isolationism. He'll join us to talk about it.
Richard Wolff on the State of the Economy
This week on CounterSpin: In the past few years as some economic indicators have suggested a recovery is under way, US media have generally responded with celebratory reporting. But according to polls, Americans aren't so sure. According to a recent NBC poll just 18 percent say the economy is excellent or good. How can we best understand an economy that seems to be serving some but slighting others?
Today we'll feature a special extended interview with economic professor Richard Wolff on how to reconcile mixed messages about the health of the economy.
Gary Webb & Kill the Messenger, Katha Pollitt on Abortion Rights
This week on CounterSpin: The new film Kill the Messenger tells the story of investigative journalist Gary Webb, whose 1996 Dark Alliance series exposed links between drug traffickers and the US-backed Contras in Nicaragua. Prestige outlets like the New York Times devoted serious resources to going after Webb in an attempt to discredit his reporting. We'll go back to the CounterSpin archives to hear from Webb himself.
Also on the show: You might think you hear enough about abortion in the press. A new book says: We need to talk about abortion differently. PRO: Reclaiming Abortion Rights is the latest from author, poet and Nation columnist Katha Pollitt. We'll talk with her about reframing that conversation.
Murtaza Hussain on Khorasan Group, Vijay Prashad on Narendra Modi
This week on CounterSpin: When the US military attacks on Syria got underway, there was a sudden shift in the coverage: We weren't just bombing the Islamic State, but something called the Khorasan Group. But who are they and how come no one had ever heard of them before? We'll talk to reporter Murtaza Hussain of the Intercept about that.
Also this week: Indian prime minister Narendra Modi received a royal welcome when he arrived in the US for a visit on September 26. For a republic, it's always been a little strange how the US treats foreign heads of states like royalty, but with his controversial past and politics, Modi's treatment was even more curious than most. We'll talk with Trinity College history professor Vijay Prashad about Modi's American reception.
Laurie Garrett on Ebola Crisis, Anne Petermann on Climate March
This week on CounterSpin: The current outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa is unprecedented in its scale. But while some media focus on experimental vaccines, health experts say we ought to be talking about fundamental inequities in basic healthcare delivery. We'll talk about ebola with Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Also on the show: The largest environmental march ever brought hundreds of thousands into New York City streets, but the People's Climate Watch was mostly ignored by the media. As was its companion action, Flood Wall Street, which targeted corporations behind climate instability with civil disobedience. Is the people's voice on climate change being ignored by the corporate media just as it's been ignored by corporate backed governments? We'll speak with Anne Petermann, director of the Global Justice Ecology Project, and the Climate-Connections blog.
Raed Jarrar on Iraq & ISIS, Robert Weissman on Democracy for All
This week on CounterSpin: "We have no choice," CBS's Bob Schieffer told viewers, calling for US military attacks on the extremist group ISIS, because "this evil must be eradicated." Though the shouts of warmongers may make them hard to hear, we do have choices – choices more likely to lead to longterm peace in Iraq and Syria than dropping bombs. We'll hear from Raed Jarrar, policy impact coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee.
Also on the show: In response to the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, there's a grassroots movement to amend the Constitution to try to curtail the influence of big money in politics. But it's not getting much sympathy from the press-- the AP says it's an election year stunt, and pundits like George Will call it an attack on free speech. Robert Weissman of Public Citizen will join us to talk about the Democracy for All amendment.