Counterspin

Economic pressure is presented as a way of avoiding violence. But there's a problem with seeing sanctions as an alternative to war. The post Khury Petersen-Smith on Economic Sanctions, Greg LeRoy on Amazon Subsidies appeared first on FAIR.

Is what we call "higher" education an individual investment or a public good? The way news media talk about it could be decisive. The post Braxton Brewington on Student Loan Debt, Andy Marra on Trans Youth Rights appeared first on FAIR.

  This week on CounterSpin: Black History Month has always been something of a double-edged sword: It implies that Black history is somehow not “history,” that it has to be shoehorned in, “artificially,” to garner any value, with the corollary implication that if you choose to ignore it, you aren’t missing anything crucial. The idea […] The post Joseph Torres on Tulsa Massacre appeared first on FAIR.

Understanding the Ukraine crisis involves letting go of the storyline in which the US equals benevolent democracy and Russia equals craven imperialism. The post Bryce Greene on Ukraine appeared first on FAIR.

Why has the system broken down? You could say media's reluctance to critically break down systems is itself a system problem. The post Rakeen Mabud on Supply Chain Breakdown appeared first on FAIR.

The  spate of new election-meddling laws proposed in Arizona suggests that looking away from Trumpists' "audit" is not the answer. The post Steven Rosenfeld on Arizona ‘Audit,’ Sohale Mortazavi on Cryptocurrency appeared first on FAIR.

A judge has approved a debt restructuring deal for Puerto Rico and the deal's architects are saying it means a "new day" for the territory. The post Natalia Renta on Puerto Rico Debt Deal appeared first on FAIR.

While corporate media have largely let the water crisis in Flint go, the story isn't over, nor has justice been served. The post Jordan Chariton on Flint Water Crisis, Maurice Carney on Lumumba Assassination appeared first on FAIR.

We are a long way from understanding the full meaning of Guantánamo. But we can get the remaining detainees out. The post Pardiss Kebriaei on Guantánamo Prisoners appeared first on FAIR.

The loss of an information source—a particular place for debate, for conversation, on issues relevant to you—is incalculable, but very real.  The post Craig Aaron on Local Journalism, Barbara Briggs on Workplace Disasters appeared first on FAIR.

This annual round-up reflects all the conversations we hope have offered a voice that might help you interpret the news you read. The post Best of CounterSpin 2021 appeared first on FAIR.

This week on CounterSpin, we talk about the recent Honduran election and signs of hard-won hope in that country. The post Suyapa Portillo Villeda on Honduran Election appeared first on FAIR.

Libraries aren't just a meaningful reality, but a meaningful symbol of the fact that there is a thing called the public interest. The post Caleb Nichols on Defending Public Libraries appeared first on FAIR.

A small group of people, willing to confront entrenched ideas and power, really can make change in the public interest. The post Ralph Nader on Journalism and the Public Interest appeared first on FAIR.

As the year nears its end, it’s hard not to think back to how it started—with the violent assault on the Capitol. The post Dorothee Benz on January 6 Insurrection, Vera Eidelman on Anti-Protest Laws appeared first on FAIR.

This can be a turning point, if more of us understand that history isn't something that happens to us, but something we DO. The post Carol Anderson on White Supremacy vs. Democracy appeared first on FAIR.

You don't need to understand inflation, elite media seem to say, but you do need to be mad about it. The post Jon Schwarz on Inflation, Enrique Armijo on Alex Jones appeared first on FAIR.

Drugs are developed by the government, and then pharmaceutical companies get patents on them and sell them back to the public. The post Peter Maybarduk on Moderna Patent, Tracy Rosenberg on Aaron Swartz Day appeared first on FAIR.

  This week on CounterSpin: The impacts of climate disruption are not theoretical; they are happening. Those already worst off are facing the worst of it, and those who profit from it continue to profit. There are finer points, but that’s reality. And it’s fair to measure journalism not by its cleverness, or by demonstrated […] The post Michael K. Dorsey on Climate Summit, Nekessa Opoti on Haitian Refugees appeared first on FAIR.

  This week on CounterSpin: An early October survey showed that while 60% of those polled knew that the Build Back Better legislative package was “$3.5 trillion,” only 10% had any sense of what was in it. That is many things, but preeminently a failure of news media—the demonstrably harmful effect of months of reporting […] The post Karen Dolan on Build Back Better, Tim Karr on Changing Facebook appeared first on FAIR.