"FAIR gives us a better chance of getting the full story by
calling attention to the facts and stories we are
missing." - Studs Terkel
FAIR is the national media watch organization that offers well-documented
criticism in an effort to correct media bias. In particular, FAIR scrutinizes
media practices that slight public interest and minority viewpoints. FAIR
seeks to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater plurality
and diversity in the press.
FAIR believes that independent, aggressive, and critical media are essential to
an informed democracy. In recent years, however, mainstream media have
grown increasingly close the the economic and political powers they should
be watchdogging. Mergers in the news industry have accelerated, further
limiting the spectrum of viewpoints which have access to mass media. The
concentration of media ownership in fewer corporate hands has a chilling
impact on reporters and compromises the integrity of American journalism.
As TV networks and newspapers become just one more "asset" in a giant
company's portfolio, the news becomes narrower and truth take a back seat
to the bottom line,
FAIR was established in 1986 to shake up the Establishment-dominated
media. An anti-censorship organization, FAIR draws attention to important
news stories that are neglected and defends working journalists when they are
muzzled.
Research & Monitoring
Since most people base their political judgments on a few powerful media
outlets, the performance of these institutions cries out for scrutiny. FAIR
monitors a wide range of national news media -- newspapers, magazines,
television, and radio -- and publishes regular reports documenting that major
news media have a pro-establishment, pro-corporate tilt.
FAIR's acclaimed studies of ABC Night-Line and the MacNeil/Lehrer
NewsHour on PBS exposed that the nation's most influential news shows are
dominated by representatives of conservative, white male, corporate and
government elites.
FAIR's research has shown that news media rely heavily on official sources,
often to the complete exclusion of independent analysts. The views of
progressives, of peace and social justice leaders, of people outside the
system trying to be heard, are usually ignored by mass media. As a result
crucial policy options are foreclosed without a hearing.
Media Outreach
In its ongoing efforts to challenge bias and censorship, FAIR's staff maintains
a regular dialogue with journalists at dozens of news outlets. FAIR makes
recommendations to media professionals on how to expand, diversify, and
improve coverage of a wide range of issues. FAIR openly applauds
exceptional, hard-hitting journalism.
FAIR spokespersons have discussed and debated media issues on many
national and local TV and radio programs. Op-ed columns by FAIR writers
have appeared in dozens of leading dailies.
Media Activism
FAIR is building a grassroots "instant response mechanism" to protest glaring
media distortions or acts of censorship quickly enough to win redress. FAIR's
monitoring apparatus sounds the alarm; community activists and public
interest experts follow up with phone, fax, and letter-writing campaigns.
FAIR has developed a network of local affiliates that focus on key issues in
their communities and participate in national campaigns coordinated by
FAIR's headquarters in New York. FAIR members confront news media
over corporate censorship, the exclusion of public interest and minority
viewpoints from national media debates, and the underrepresentation of
women and people of color.
One of FAIR's main organizing projects seeks to put the "public" back in
public broadcasting. PBS television stations regularly air four corporately
underwritten talkshows hosted by conservatives and three business news
shows; PBS offers no talkshows hosted by progressives and no news shows
devoted to the agenda of labor, ecology, consumer rights or other
constituencies that often conflict with big business. National Public Radio
(NPR) news programs rely largely on the same "experts" that dominate
commercial media, while slighting independent voices.
FAIR is challenging the establishment biases of public broadcasting through
dialogue with program executives, backed by the pressure of thousands of
viewers and listeners demanding more independent and pluralistic news and
public affairs programming at PBS and NPR.
EXTRA!
EXTRA!, FAIR's award-winning journal of media criticism, features articles
on biased reporting, media mergers, censored news, press/state cronyism, the
deleterious influence of military contractors and other corporate sponsors,
and right-wing inroads into the media. Special editions of EXTRA! have
focused on human rights, labor, women, the Gulf War, and other topics.
EXTRA! has repeatedly been credited by Project Censored's panel of judges
for exposing several of the year's "best censored stories." In 1990 the Utne
Reader awarded EXTRA! the top prize in its Alternative Press Awards.
Published six times a year (with the newsletter EXTRA!Update published in
the other six months), FAIR's journal is widely read by journalists, educators,
activists, and interested citizens.
FAIR Resources
FAIR distributes a variety of resource materials for researchers, educators,
and activists. Contact FAIR's office to request information about:
Audio and video tapes that analyze key media issues
Special research reports and back issues of EXTRA!
Media Bias Detector (a concise how-to guide to decode news
distortion)
Resource packets (includes lists of national news media, the
independent press, media criticism journals, facts and figures about the
media business, and an annotated bibliography)
Books about media bias and ownership
Unreliable Sources: A Guide to Detecting Bias In News Media by
Martin A. Lee and Norman Solomon
FAIR representatives lecture regularly at universities and community forums in
the U.S. and abroad. Among the topics addressed by FAIR speakers are:
U.S. News Media: Coverage or Cover-Up?
Reporting on War, Peace, and Military Issues
Media and Environment
Press and Prejudice
Women & Media
Free Speech Under Attack
Human Rights and the Media
All the Usual Suspects: TV's "Experts"
Propaganda from the Middle-of-the-Road: The Centrist Ideology of
the News Media
FAIR representatives also lead workshops on:
Media Con Games: How to See Through Bias
Talking Back to the Media: Strategies for Challenging News Bias
