Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting

Last updated
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
Formation1986;38 years ago (1986)
Founder Jeff Cohen, Martin A. Lee
TypeNonprofit
Purpose Media criticism
Products Extra! magazine, CounterSpin radio program
Key people
Janine Jackson, Jim Naureckas
Website fair.org

Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) is a progressive left-leaning [1] [2] [3] [4] media critique organization based in New York City. [5] The organization was founded in 1986 by Jeff Cohen and Martin A. Lee. [6] FAIR monitors American news media for bias, inaccuracies and censorship, and advocates for more diversity of perspectives in the news media. [7] FAIR describes itself as "the national media watch group". [6]

Contents

FAIR publishes Extra! , a magazine of media criticism, and also produces the radio program CounterSpin, which features interviews with journalists, scholars, and activists on current media-related news stories. [7]

Mission

FAIR describes itself on its website as "the national media watch group" and defines its mission as working to "invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints." FAIR refers to itself as a "progressive group that believes that structural reform is ultimately needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting and promote strong nonprofit sources of information." [6] [8]

Commentators on FAIR's syndicated radio program, CounterSpin, have frequently argued that American media is biased in favor of conservatism. [9] Professor of public policy Terry J. Buss has argued that FAIR combines media criticism and partisan advocacy for progressive causes, and that their criticism of conservative groups is done "more on ideological grounds than on substance". [8]

FAIR believes that corporate sponsorship and ownership, as well as government policies and pressure, restricts journalism and therefore distorts public discourse. [7] FAIR also believes that most news media reflects the interests of business and government elites while ignoring or minimizing minority, female, public interest, and dissenting points of view. [7] FAIR criticizes media outlets for engaging in false balance in order to not be accused of taking sides on controversial topics. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

Media bias occurs when journalists and news producers show bias in how they report and cover news. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening of the standards of journalism, rather than the perspective of an individual journalist or article. The direction and degree of media bias in various countries is widely disputed.

Accuracy in Media (AIM) is an American non-profit conservative news media watchdog founded in 1969 by economist Reed Irvine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom House</span> American non-profit organization

Freedom House is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, with Wendell Willkie and Eleanor Roosevelt serving as its first honorary chairpersons. Most of the organization's funding comes from the U.S. State Department and other government grants. It also receives funds from various semi-public and private foundations, as well as individual contributions.

David Brock is an American liberal political consultant, author, and commentator who founded the media watchdog group Media Matters for America. He has been described by Time as "one of the most influential operatives in the Democratic Party".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sensationalism</span> Type of editorial tactic used in mass media

In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emotionally loaded impressions of events rather than neutrality, and may cause a manipulation to the truth of a story. Sensationalism may rely on reports about generally insignificant matters and portray them as a major influence on society, or biased presentations of newsworthy topics, in a trivial, or tabloid manner, contrary to general assumptions of professional journalistic standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Propaganda model</span> Conceptual model in political economy

The propaganda model is a conceptual model in political economy advanced by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky to explain how propaganda and systemic biases function in corporate mass media. The model seeks to explain how populations are manipulated and how consent for economic, social, and political policies, both foreign and domestic, is "manufactured" in the public mind due to this propaganda. The theory posits that the way in which corporate media is structured creates an inherent conflict of interest and therefore acts as propaganda for anti-democratic elements.

Media democracy is a democratic approach to media studies that advocates for the reform of mass media to strengthen public service broadcasting and develop participation in alternative media and citizen journalism in order to create a mass media system that informs and empowers all members of society and enhances democratic values.

Journalistic objectivity is a considerable notion within the discussion of journalistic professionalism. Journalistic objectivity may refer to fairness, disinterestedness, factuality, and nonpartisanship, but most often encompasses all of these qualities. First evolving as a practice in the 18th century, a number of critiques and alternatives to the notion have emerged since, fuelling ongoing and dynamic discourse surrounding the ideal of objectivity in journalism.

Advocacy journalism is a genre of journalism that adopts a non-objective viewpoint, usually for some social or political purpose.

Journalistic ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and good practice applicable to journalists. This subset of media ethics is known as journalism's professional "code of ethics" and the "canons of journalism". The basic codes and canons commonly appear in statements by professional journalism associations and individual print, broadcast, and online news organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Flanders</span> English journalist (born 1961)

Laura Flanders is an English broadcast journalist living in the United States who presents the weekly, long-form interview show The Laura Flanders Show. Flanders has described herself as a "lefty person". The brothers Alexander, Andrew and Patrick Cockburn, all journalists, are her half-uncles. Author Lydia Davis is her half-aunt. Her sister is Stephanie Flanders, a former BBC journalist. Actress Olivia Wilde is her cousin.

Claims of media bias generally focus on the idea of media outlets reporting news in a way that seems partisan. Other claims argue that outlets sometimes sacrifice objectivity in pursuit of growth or profits.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) is an American non-profit pro-Israel media-monitoring, research and membership organization. According to its website, CAMERA is "devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East." The group says it was founded in 1982 "to respond to The Washington Post's coverage of Israel's Lebanon incursion", and to respond to what it considers the media's "general anti-Israel bias".

Civic journalism is the idea of integrating journalism into the democratic process. The media not only informs the public, but it also works towards engaging citizens and creating public debate. The civic journalism movement is an attempt to abandon the notion that journalists and their audiences are spectators in political and social processes. In its place, the civic journalism movement seeks to treat readers and community members as participants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alternative media (U.S. political right)</span> American conservative journalism

The term right-wing alternative media in the United States usually refers to internet, talk radio, print, and television journalism. They are defined by their presentation of opinions from a conservative or right wing point of view and politicized reporting as a counter to what they describe as a liberal bias of mainstream media.

The Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) is a self-described nonpartisan and nonprofit research and educational organization that is affiliated with George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. It was founded in 1985 by political scientists Samuel Robert Lichter and his ex-wife Linda Lichter. It published a newsletter called Media Monitor from 1987 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political journalism</span> Political reporter

Political journalism is a broad branch of journalism that includes coverage of all aspects of politics and political science, although the term usually refers specifically to coverage of civil governments and political power.

The Fiscal Times (TFT) is an English-language digital news, news analysis and opinion publication based in New York City and Washington, D.C. It was founded in 2010 with initial funding from businessman and investment banker Peter G. Peterson. Jacqueline Leo serves as the publication's editor-in-chief.

The code of ethics in media was created by a suggestion from the 1947 Hutchins Commission. They suggested that newspapers, broadcasters and journalists had started to become more responsible for journalism and thought they should be held accountable.

Political bias is a bias or perceived bias involving the slanting or altering of information to make a political position or political candidate seem more attractive. With a distinct association with media bias, it commonly refers to how a reporter, news organisation, or TV show covers a political candidate or a policy issue.

References

  1. Goodman, Walter (June 17, 1990). "TV VIEW; Let's Be Frank About Fairness And Accuracy –". New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  2. Shepard, Alicia C. (12 April 2011). "What to Think about Think Tanks?". NPR . Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  3. Callahan, David (2010). Fortunes of change : the rise of the liberal rich and the remaking of America . Hoboken, N.J.: J. Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN   978-0470177112.
  4. Sheppard, Si (2008). The partisan press : a history of media bias in the United States. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. ISBN   978-0786432820.
  5. Hays, Constance L. (May 19, 1996). "MAKING IT WORK;FAIR or Not?". New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "What's FAIR?". Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. 30 August 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting". Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved 2022-08-14.
  8. 1 2 Buss, Terry F.; Buss, Nathaniel J. (2006). "The Internet, Politics, and Democracy". In Redburn, F. Stevens (ed.). Modernizing Democracy: Innovations in Citizen Participation (1st ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 319. ISBN   978-0-7656-1934-1.
  9. Vance, Lucian (2017). Fake News and Media Bias. Greenhaven Publishing LLC. p. 84. ISBN   978-1-5345-6200-4.