Thursday, November 21, 2019

FAIR:
"NYT Recycles Polling to Tell Dems Once More: Move to the Right. Last week, the New York Times (11/8/19) published yet another article about polling and the Democratic presidential hopefuls, a year before the general election: “Democrats in Battleground States Prefer Moderate Nominee, Poll Shows."

Curiously, though, the polling graphic the Times featured at the top of the piece showed a different story, in which the top progressive Dems combined (Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren), compared to the major candidates branding themselves as “moderates” (Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg), receive either greater support in those battleground states (Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona), or the difference between the camps is within the margin of error (Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida). 

Many voters polled have yet to make up their minds, but those figures certainly ought to give any journalist pause before drawing the conclusion that those voters are 'counseling' pursuit of the so-called middle ground."

-->Yes, the corporate controlled NYT is urging its readers to go with the moderate candidates who have been bought off by the corporations. Nice how all that fits together. 

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Common Dreams:
"The New York Times sparked fierce backlash from environmentalists Friday for publishing a news story that leads with a matter-of-fact comparison between Sen. Bernie Sanders' plan to finance the Green New Deal by taxing and fining the fossil fuel industry and President Donald Trump's claim that Mexico would pay for the construction of a border wall. ...

The headline of the article states that "experts aren't impressed" by Sanders' ambitious Green New Deal plan, which calls for a 10-year mobilization to transition the U.S. economy to 100 percent renewable energy. But as the left-wing magazine Current Affairs and others pointed out on Twitter, the 'experts' cited by the Times include an adviser to South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a business professor and maxed-out Hillary Clinton donor, and a Democratic strategist who does public relations work for the chemical industry.

'This is pure propaganda, nothing whatsoever to do with science," tweeted Current Affairs. 'If you want a scientific assessment have climate scientists evaluate the plan. Pretty galling that the New York Times doesn't disclose the obvious political biases of its sources.' "

-->Bad science and bad journalism. Out "newspaper of record" puts propaganda for Big Oil above its readers' right to know.

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Common Dreams:
"On  Saturday night, members of the California Young Democrats—one of the largest caucuses within the California Democratic Party (CDP) representing members in local chapters across the state—voted to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2020 presidential primary. ...

Of the 126 votes cast during an evening CYD meeting at the California Democratic Convention held in the city of Long Beach, Sanders received 84 votes (67%) while Sen. Elizabeth Warren received 29 votes (23%), the second-largest number in the crowded field. Sen. Kamala Harris came in third place among caucus members (aged 13 to 35) in the state she represents in the U.S. Senate. The landslide meant that Sanders was able to take the endorsement in just one round of voting. Notably, former Vice President Joe Biden received zero votes while South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg received only one."


-->Here is a story that the NYT would never cover. Bernie surging is not "all the news that's fit to print," when your board of directors is loaded with business cronies. 

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Guardian UK:
"Thailand wants to ban these three pesticides. The US government says no. ... Thailand’s leaders have said that as of 1 December, a ban will take effect on the use of the following farming chemicals: chlorpyrifos, an insecticide made popular by Dow Chemical that is known to damage babies’ brains; Syngenta’s paraquat, a herbicide scientists say causes the nervous system disease known as Parkinson’s that has been banned in Europe since 2007; and Monsanto’s glyphosate herbicide, which is linked to cancer and other health problems. ...

According to Thai news reports, US officials have also been warning that the ban will interfere with lucrative trade. The US is especially upset about a glyphosate ban, arguing that it could limit hundreds of millions of dollars in Thai imports of US grains, which are often laced with glyphosate residues."

-->US corporations spreading cancer for profit. No wonder the NYT didn't print this story. Our newspaper of record is always covering up for the chemical companies. 

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FAIR:
"Chile’s anti-neoliberal rebellion is entering its third week, and the brutal crackdown continues. Hard-right President Sebastian Piñera and his generals have effectively decreed the country’s oligarch-dominated democracy out of existence by sending soldiers into the streets to kill, maim and torture their own people. And, for the most part, the Western corporate media blackout persists unabated. ...

This media bias in favor of Piñera’s hardline neoliberal administration must also be juxtaposed with the unfolding coverage of anti-government protests in Bolivia. In yet another case of self-serving hypocrisy, US corporate media have moved to revoke left-wing President Evo Morales’ democratic credentials after his recent re-election."

-->Yes, the corporate controlled media is always cheering on the dictators and their generals, while attacking regimes that the Pentagon dislikes. Media has to favor regimes that are profitable for major US corporations, of course. But what that says for our supposed "free" press is difficult to ignore.

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Common Dreams:
"Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign alleged Monday that corporate media outlets are intentionally ignoring—and attempting to undermine—the Vermont senator's significant gains in recent polls with 'cartoonishly inaccurate' reporting and headlines.

'In the last week, a wave of polls has emerged showing a genuine, full-on Bernie surge—but you might not know that if you tuned into cable TV or read the headlines from the national press corps,' Sanders speechwriter David Sirota wrote in the campaign's Bern Notice newsletter. 'In fact, you might not even know Bernie is running for president.' ...

The polls, Sirota noted, show Sanders is leading in New Hampshire, in second place and gaining momentum (pdf) in Iowa, in second place and surging in the key battleground state of Michigan, and the only 2020 Democrat leading President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. "

-->The media including the NYT is very skilled at erasing Bernie. Maybe when enough readers catch on, they will issue their standard apology. Like the apologies the newspaper prints for warmongering in the Middle East and covering up corporate corruption. 

Wednesday, November 06, 2019

Common Dreams:
"The United Nations special rapporteur on torture reiterated Friday a warning that Julian Assange's life is at risk and said the WikiLeaks founder must not be extradited to the United States as a consequence of  'exposing serious governmental misconduct.'

'While the U.S. government prosecutes Mr. Assange for publishing information about serious human rights violations, including torture and murder, the officials responsible for these crimes continue to enjoy impunity,' said special rapporteur Nils Melzer in a new statement.

Free press advocates see Assange as victim of an unprecedented assault on journalism because the WikiLeaks publisher faces 18 charges in the U.S. under the Espionage Act—making Assange the first publisher to face charges under that law."

-->This very strong statement on Assange's life at risk wasn't reported by the NYT or any other major newspaper in the US. Our media outlets print what the national security state tells them they can. 

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FAIR:
"It’s all kicking off everywhere in 2019. Haitians are revolting against a corrupt political system and their President Jovenel Moïse, who many see as a kleptocratic US puppet. In Ecuador, huge public manifestations managed to force President Lenín Moreno to backtrack on his IMF-backed neoliberal package that would have sharply cut government spending and increased transport prices.

Meanwhile, popular Chilean frustration at the conservative Piñera administration boiled over into massive protests that were immediately met with force. ... Huge, ongoing anti-government demonstrations are also engulfing Lebanon, Catalonia and the United Kingdom.

Yet the actions that have by far received the most attention in corporate media are those in Hong Kong, where demonstrations erupted in response to a proposed extradition agreement with the Chinese central government ... A search for 'Hong Kong protests' on October 25, 2019, elicits 282 responses in the last month in the New York Times, for example, compared to 20 for 'Chile protests,' 43 for Ecuador and 16 for Haiti.

--Yes, the neoliberal corporate press plays down these revolts against neoliberalism abroad. The NYT prefers to cover Hong Kong, the Pentagon's favorite topic. 

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Common Dreams:
"A new study out this week provides more evidence of harm caused by a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, with researchers linking use of the chemicals on a Japanese lake with impacts to an entire food web that resulted in the collapse of two fisheries.

'No surprise,' tweeted former UK Green Party leader leader Natalie Bennett, 'soaking our planet in pesticides has broad systemic effects on biodiversity and bioabundance.'

For the study, published in the November 1 issue of the journal Science, the researchers looked at Lake Shinji and analyzed over two decades of data. They found cascading impacts that appeared to stem from the first use of neonicotinoids on nearby rice paddies.

-->The NYT is as addicted to neonics as our nation's farmers. It didn't report this story of how Monsanto poisons our world. 
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