Media Issues
New York Times calls for de facto racial quotas in classical music
By Fred Mazelis, 5 August 2020
Anthony Tommasini now opposes the use of blind auditions.
The collapse of the New York Times’ “Russian bounties” campaign
By Patrick Martin, 10 July 2020
Less than two weeks after it kicked off a media frenzy, the Times published an editorial effectively conceding that there was no factual basis for its reporting that Russian military intelligence had paid bounties to Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers.
Why Canada’s media is fawning over the war criminal John Bolton
By Roger Jordan, 4 July 2020
Canada’s ruling elite wants a more stable and strategic-minded partner in the White House, who can more effectively employ intrigue, intimidation and war in pursuing their common imperialist agenda.
Hundreds of jobs axed as Australian Broadcasting Corporation imposes government cuts
By Richard Phillips, 3 July 2020
ABC management, in line with federal government and Murdoch media demands, is imposing another round of job cuts at the public broadcaster.
Another anti-Russian smear from the New York Times
By Patrick Martin, 29 June 2020
The front-page article claiming the Russian government offered “bounties” for the killing of American soldiers in Afghanistan offers not a single fact to support its charges.
CIA releases TV recruiting ad for streaming video services
By Kevin Reed, 27 June 2020
The CIA has released a TV commercial portraying the agency as a diverse workplace and appeals to young people to become US spies.
Quebec court acquits fascist who led mob in threatening journalists
By Hugo Maltais, 26 June 2020
The court decision comes under conditions where capitalist ruling elites around the world are cultivating the extreme right as a weapon against mounting working class opposition.
Following “night of violence” in Stuttgart
German media and politicians stoke massive campaign for a police state
By Jan Ritter and Johannes Stern, 25 June 2020
The campaign is aimed at establishing an authoritarian state in which even journalistic and satirical criticisms of the police are prohibited.
Australia Post restructure threatens over 2,000 jobs
By Oscar Grenfell, 10 June 2020
The overhaul is part of a broader pro-business restructuring across the economy being enforced by the trade unions.
Hundreds of jobs axed as News Corp Australia shuts regional and suburban newspapers
By Richard Phillips, 5 June 2020
The Murdoch-owned company, like other media conglomerates, has seized on the COVID-19 crisis to drastically restructure operations and drive up profits.
Anger over US police assault on Australian journalists in Washington DC
By Oscar Grenfell, 4 June 2020
Had the attack occurred in a country such as China or Iran, the muted response from the Australian political establishment would undoubtedly have been very different.
European media outlets fear bitter class struggles in the US
By Peter Schwarz, 4 June 2020
The European press and ruling elite are not especially troubled by Trump’s plan to erect a presidential dictatorship. Rather, they fear the president could provoke class struggles that would endanger the capitalist system and spread to Europe.
Germany’s right-wing Bild tabloid agitates against leading virologist Christian Drosten
By Marianne Arens, 1 June 2020
The Bild sought specifically to ridicule a study in which Drosten found that children may be just as infectious as adults when they have coronavirus.
Rise in deaths attributed to pneumonia suggests official US coronavirus death toll is grossly undercounted
By Bryan Dyne and Benjamin Mateus, 29 May 2020
The actual number of COVID-19 dead in the United States is likely to be at least 150,000, 50 percent more than what has been officially reported.
Local television stations broadcast fake news stories scripted by Amazon
By Douglas Lyons and Nick Barrickman, 29 May 2020
Reporters at nearly a dozen local news stations in the US dutifully read from scripts prepared by Amazon while broadcasting public relations videos prepared and edited by the company.
Trump bizarrely accuses television talk show host Joe Scarborough of 2001 murder
By David Walsh, 28 May 2020
The unhinged tweets concern the July 2001 death of Lori Klausutis, 28, a Scarborough staffer, who fainted due to an undiagnosed heart condition and struck her head, according to the coroner.
UK: Johnson government crisis worsens after Dominic Cummings press conference
By Thomas Scripps and Chris Marsden, 27 May 2020
Cummings has emerged as the near universally despised embodiment of a hated and crisis-wracked government.
After the New York Times’ critique: Former NBC “Today” show host Matt Lauer takes Ronan Farrow to task
By David Walsh, 22 May 2020
Lauer was abruptly fired in late 2017 following complaints by an NBC employee, with whom he was having an affair, about his alleged sexual misbehavior.
As COVID-19 spreads throughout southern US
Florida scientist was fired for ‘refusing to manipulate’ COVID-19 data
By Bryan Dyne, 21 May 2020
The state governments of both Florida and Georgia have been charged with manipulating their coronavirus case counts and death tolls in order to prematurely reopen their economies.
German politicians and media laud right-wing demonstrations against coronavirus restrictions
By Christoph Vandreier, 13 May 2020
The ruling elite is now mobilising the right-wing dregs of society in the “corona” demonstrations to intimidate the population and enforce their back-to-work campaign.
New Zealand: Daily Blog ramps up anti-China campaign
By John Braddock, 29 April 2020
The attempt to foist responsibility for COVID-19 on China, recently endorsed by the Ardern Labour government, is a reactionary political lie.
Australia Post announces major restructure threatening thousands of jobs
By Oscar Grenfell, 23 April 2020
The government and management are utilising the coronavirus pandemic to implement longstanding plans for mass sackings and privatisation.
Australian journalist still faces prosecution despite illegal police raid
By Mike Head, 21 April 2020
The High Court ruled the raid’s search warrant “invalid” but allowed the federal police to keep the seized material for use to lay criminal charges.
Canadian elite promotes anti-China campaign over coronavirus
By Roger Jordan, 18 April 2020
The campaign aims to divert anger over the Western powers’ disastrous response to the pandemic and further integrate Canada into Washington’s offensive against Beijing.
Bournemouth nurse’s letter to WSWS prompts widespread discussion on dangers facing NHS workers during COVID-19 pandemic
By Alice Summers, 17 April 2020
The letter describes the appalling conditions in the hospital's COVID-19 ward and the anger of healthcare workers at management’s failure to provide adequate PPE and towards Boris Johnson’s Conservative government.
Media glorifies New Zealand government’s pro-business response to the pandemic
By Tom Peters, 14 April 2020
The Ardern government is being glorified to cover up the fact that its response to the pandemic protects the wealth of the super-rich, while attacking the living standards of the working class.
Trump, the media, and the COVID-19 disaster
By Andre Damon, 14 April 2020
Even as they focus on Trump’s obvious negligence, the Democratic Party and the New York Times cannot account for their own failure to warn the public and demand emergency measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As COVID-19 death toll mounts, US ruling class demands a more rapid return to work
By Bryan Dyne, 13 April 2020
After a week in which more than 10,000 Americans died from the coronavirus, the US media and political establishment has launched a concerted effort to get workers back to work.
Germany: Weighing economic interests vs. human life in the coronavirus pandemic
By Peter Schwarz, 9 April 2020
The German media are again openly discussing how much a human life is worth and how many lives should be sacrificed to the interests of the economy.
Liberals discover a new savior in New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
By Fred Mazelis, 7 April 2020
The right-wing politician has enforced brutal austerity throughout his decade in office.
Daily Telegraph rails against socialist revival due to coronavirus crisis
By Chris Marsden, 1 April 2020
The fears of the ruling class internationally that the coronavirus crisis is leading to opposition to capitalism on a mass scale are expressed in the commentary in Britain’s Telegraph.
Media blackout of wildcat strikes in US auto industry
By Tom Hall, 20 March 2020
Within hours after wildcat strikes in Fiat Chrysler plants in Michigan and Ohio forced a temporary shutdown of much of the North American auto industry during the coronavirus pandemic, the corporate media entered into full cover-up mode.
Murdoch’s News Corp shuts down Australian Associated Press
By Patrick O’Connor, 9 March 2020
Australia already has one of the most monopolised media industries in the world, with Murdoch publications comprising more than 70 percent of all newspapers sold.
UK television presenter Caroline Flack’s suicide and the “bread and circuses” culture
By Paul Bond, 5 March 2020
The widespread public revulsion over Flack’s mistreatment and death is symptomatic of a broader culture and a generally healthy response, but it points to a wide and complex cultural crisis that will not be addressed simply by media regulation.
ABC News suspends veteran reporter who called himself a socialist, criticized network in secret recording
By Matthew Taylor, 28 February 2020
In the video ABC News reporter David Wright criticized the network for abandoning serious reporting in favor of sensationalism.
China expels three Wall Street Journal journalists
By Ben McGrath, 26 February 2020
The US media has exploited the outbreak of the Covid-19 to ramp up the campaign to vilify China as Washington mounts an across-the-board confrontation with Beijing.
Australian court backs police raids on journalists
By Mike Head, 18 February 2020
The ruling highlights the driving forces behind the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Australian media maintains an unconscionable blackout on the case of Julian Assange
By James Cogan, 17 February 2020
Meetings should be convened by the staff of every media organisation and resolutions adopted opposing Assange’s extradition and insisting that his case is accurately and honestly reported.
New York Times falsifies history to claim Sanders is “transforming” the Democratic Party
By Eric London and Tom Mackaman, 17 February 2020
Georgetown historian Michael Kazin’s February 13 column falsifies history in an attempt to convince an increasingly radical population that they must not break from the Democratic Party.
2020 Academy Awards: Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite from South Korea wins major awards
By David Walsh, 11 February 2020
Parasite deserved to win the most serious awards, being markedly superior to every other film up for consideration. Bong’s effort is a complex, troubling work.
Amid global war on journalism, Tamil journalists sent death threats in Sri Lanka
By Naveen Dewage, 31 January 2020
Violence and intimidation against media workers has increased since last year’s election of President Gotabhaya Rajapakse.
Swiss newspaper raises important questions about the Harvey Weinstein trial
Why will no one in the American media do the same?
By David Walsh, 30 January 2020
Journalist Sarah Pines, in “Weinstein trial: Believe the one who shouts ‘Wolf!’ the loudest,” paints a highly unflattering portrait of the American media and the lynch-mob atmosphere.
How Canada’s corporate media smeared WikiLeaks publisher and journalist Julian Assange
By Roger Jordan, 30 January 2020
Canada’s leading media outlets have vilified Assange, while bemoaning the impact of WikiLeaks’ exposures on the global interests of American and Canadian imperialism.
Murder of Slovakian journalist Ján Kuciak reveals close ties between political establishment, corporate elite and criminal underworld
By Markus Salzmann, 27 January 2020
The reintroduction of capitalism did not bring democracy, freedom, and prosperity, but the opposite.
Consortium News sues for libel over claims it aided “Russian disinformation” campaign against Canada
By Kevin Reed, 24 January 2020
Consortium News has filed libel lawsuits against a Canadian state security agency and a television network over their false claims that the Virginia-based independent news organization spearheaded a pro-Russian disinformation campaign in Canada.
The prosecution of Glenn Greenwald and the global war on free speech
By James Cogan, 23 January 2020
The arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has opened the floodgates for a global war on independent and critical journalism and the imposition of sweeping censorship.
New Year’s Eve in Leipzig: German media and police spread false reports about left-wing violence
By Christopher Lehmann and Christoph Vandreier, 8 January 2020
The aim of the latest campaign surrounding the events in Leipzig is to intimidate anyone who stands in the way of the far right.
Saudi Arabia sentences hit men to death, shields organizers of Jamal Khashoggi murder
By Kevin Reed, 24 December 2019
The announcement by Saudi Arabia of death sentences for five members of the death squad that brutally assassinated the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018 is part of a cover-up to protect the role of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Journalist Peter Hartcher and the anti-China campaign in Australia
By James Cogan, 24 December 2019
Hartcher’s essay in the Quarterly Essay is textbook propaganda for war. It seeks to cultivate nationalist fear and even paranoia about the intended enemy—China.
“It’s a much more complicated story than reducing it down to slavery being the engine of capitalism”
An interview with historian Dolores Janiewski on the New York Times’ 1619 Project
By Tom Peters and John Braddock, 23 December 2019
Professor Janiewski is a lecturer in American history at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand with a focus on the post-Civil War reconstruction, the Civil Rights movement and anti-communist witch hunts.
“I don’t believe this stuff about ‘intrinsic differences’ between people”
Workers respond to New York Times’ 1619 Project’s claim of an unbridgeable racial divide in US
By our reporters, 17 December 2019
In contrast to the Times’ dystopian portrayal of American society as riven by different races with unbridgeable differences, workers who spoke to the World Socialist Web Site expressed a broad striving for unity.
Corporate media silent on journalists’ letter demanding freedom for Julian Assange
By Oscar Grenfell, 11 December 2019
The media blackout continues the nine-year collaboration of major outlets in the US-led campaign to smear, vilify and silence the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Australian media’s “Chinese spy defection” story unravels
By Oscar Grenfell, 5 December 2019
The collapse of Wang Liqiang’s story, and the revelation that he is most likely “the spy who wasn’t,” is an object lesson in the fraudulent character of the entire anti-China campaign.
WikiLeaks editor Kristinn Hrafnsson: “If Julian is taken to that Devil’s Island across the Atlantic, his life is lost”
By Oscar Grenfell and Richard Phillips, 3 December 2019
In an interview with the WSWS, Hrafnsson stated: “The case of Julian Assange is, in all senses, the turning point. It is the biggest and the most serious attack on journalism and the free press in decades, if not 100 years.”
US media ramps up anti-China campaign over Uyghur “human rights”
By Peter Symonds, 28 November 2019
Washington has a long record of cynically exploiting “human rights” to justify regime-change operations, military provocations and wars, while ignoring the gross abuses of key allies.
Australian media and intelligence agencies reveal “Chinese spy” defection
By Oscar Grenfell, 26 November 2019
Despite the implausible character of many of the defector’s claims, they have been presented uncritically by media outlets seeking to bolster the escalating and protracted campaign against supposed “Chinese interference.”
Sydney Morning Herald columnist defends Swedish frame-up of Assange
By Oscar Grenfell, 22 November 2019
Miller’s article had the character of a rearguard action, aimed at defending the discredited lies and slanders that have been used to justify the persecution of Julian Assange.
Wall Street Journal investigation confirms Google operates censorship blacklist
By Andre Damon, 18 November 2019
A report published Friday confirms many of the central allegations made by the World Socialist Web Site in 2017 regarding Google’s censorship of the internet.
“Vietnam was the first and last war with no censorship”
Veteran photojournalist Tim Page discusses his “21” exhibition
By Richard Phillips, 14 November 2019
The “21” exhibition is just a small sample of the diverse and humane character of Page’s work.
Remembrance Day and Rearmament:
Why Canada’s elite finally turned on notorious right-wing hockey commentator Don Cherry
By Carl Bronski, 14 November 2019
Don Cherry, the long-time intermission commentator on the iconic “Hockey Night in Canada” television broadcast, was fired Monday after delivering the latest in a decades-long string of right-wing, xenophobic rants.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the forgotten history of Iraq
By Andre Damon, 29 October 2019
Whether Baghdadi was an enemy of the United States, a CIA asset, or both, one thing is certain: the rise of ISIS was the byproduct of criminal actions by the US government spanning four decades.
German media gripped by war fever
By Peter Schwarz, 28 October 2019
It is remarkable how little effort is made by the journalists to conceal their battle cries behind the usual phrases about “peace,” “human rights,” and “democracy.”
The New York Times, China, and the specter of the “Yellow Peril”
By Andre Damon, 22 October 2019
In a full-page editorial in its Sunday edition, the New York Times engaged in a vicious anti-Chinese rant, warning of a “dangerous and growing threat” by the “aggressive … Communist state.”
Democrats praise CIA whistleblower on Ukraine, persecute Manning, Assange and Snowden
By Andre Damon, 30 September 2019
While the Democrats declare that “Congress must do all it can to protect… all whistleblowers,” they support exile and prison for the men and women who have exposed the crimes of US imperialism.
Scandal erupts over Público exposure of state complicity in Barcelona attack
Part II: The Barcelona daily La Vanguardia tries to discredit Público
By Alejandro López, 11 September 2019
The spearhead of the ruling elite’s counterattack on the Público exposure was a series of one-sided and provocative articles in La Vanguardia.
Peter Greste’s panel discussion in Sydney: Support for censorship and throwing Assange to the wolves
By James Cogan, 7 September 2019
Greste advocates the anti-democratic conception that a “responsible journalist” censors information that is deemed too controversial for the population to know.
The New York Times’s 1619 Project: A racialist falsification of American and world history—Part Two
By Niles Niemuth, Tom Mackaman and David North, 4 September 2019
The 1619 Project, launched by the New York Times, presents racism and racial conflict as the essential feature and driving force of American history.
Guardian columnist Owen Jones attacked by fascist thugs in London
By Robert Stevens, 19 August 2019
The attack is the latest on prominent left-wing figures and political organisations.
The German media and Julian Assange: Silence and slander
By Gregor Link and Johannes Stern, 13 August 2019
Over a week after a US federal court threw out a civil case brought by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) against Julian Assange, the German media has been dominated by an embarrassed silence.
Australian actor John Jarratt sues Daily Telegraph after jury throws out rape charge
By Richard Phillips, 13 August 2019
The jury of five men and seven women took just over 15 minutes to unanimously reject the #MeToo-inspired rape allegation against the veteran actor.
Persecuted Sri Lankan writer released on bail
By Vimukthi Vidarshana, 13 August 2019
Although Shakthika Sathkumara is out on bail, the threat to his freedom of expression and that of other artists remains.
The ABC documentary “Hero or Villain”: Undermining the defence of Julian Assange
By James Cogan, 12 August 2019
The program’s pernicious subtext was that Assange should be viewed as dubious, at best, and undeserving of sympathy, let alone active political support.
Canada’s Liberal government steps up internet censorship with creation of new media fund
By Penny Smith and Roger Jordan, 18 July 2019
Drawing on the language used by Google to justify its censorship, the Trudeau government plans to dispense $600 million to media outlets deemed to be producing “authoritative content.”
CNN peddles intelligence agencies’ lies against Assange
By Oscar Grenfell, 17 July 2019
A recent CNN broadcast recycles the discredited claim that WikiLeaks was involved in a Russian conspiracy to deprive Hillary Clinton of the US presidency.
The Assange precedent: Journalists in Britain threatened with Official Secrets Act
By Robert Stevens and Laura Tiernan, 16 July 2019
What the Metropolitan Police proposed was the de facto criminalisation of journalism so that it could be bracketed within terrorist activity.
Australian government seeking to prosecute journalists over exposure of war crimes
By Oscar Grenfell, 16 July 2019
The federal police are investigating journalists over the 2017 publication of the “Afghan Files,” which revealed Australian military involvement in extrajudicial killings and other crimes.
Racialism and money-grubbing: The New York Times explains why “more critics of color” are needed
By David Walsh and Fred Mazelis, 9 July 2019
In the interests of honesty, “Race-fixated upper middle class continues its campaign for positions and money” ought to have been the headline of an opinion piece published by the New York Times July 5.
US Border Patrol agents joke about immigrant deaths in secret Facebook group with 9,500 members
By George Marlowe, 2 July 2019
A report by ProPublica revealed that Border Patrol agents used a secret Facebook group to make sadistic and violent jokes about immigrants as well as members of Congress.
Human rights imperialism, social media censorship and the fraud of Facebook’s “Oversight Board”
By Kevin Reed, 2 July 2019
Behind the recent report on the creation of an Oversight Board to oversee “content decisions” at Facebook is a plan for social media censorship in defense of the global capitalist system.
UN Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer exposes propaganda and censorship in Assange reporting
By Chris Marsden, 1 July 2019
Melzer was offered various reasons by newspaper editors for rejecting an op-ed on Assange: “Some of them said it wasn’t high enough on their news agenda, some of them said it wasn’t within their core area of interest.”
Terry Hicks, father of former Guantánamo Bay prisoner David Hicks, demands freedom for Assange and Manning
28 June 2019
“There’s only one word to describe the victimisation and persecution of Assange and Manning, and that word is barbaric.”
The Guardian’s direct collusion with media censorship by secret services exposed
By Thomas Scripps, 22 June 2019
The facts provide damning proof of the Guardian’s total integration into the propaganda wing of the Ministry of Defence following its involvement in the WikiLeaks and Snowden files releases.
Behind the cover-up of the 2008 Universal Music Group vault fire
By Kevin Reed, 17 June 2019
The recent exposure of Universal Music Group's concealment of the loss of a huge trove of postwar popular music reveals the corruption of the corporate elite, as well as the compliance of news media.
Russian journalist Ivan Golunov released after campaign against his arrest
By Clara Weiss, 12 June 2019
While supporting the US-led persecution of Julian Assange, Western media and politicians, as part of their campaign for regime change in Moscow, decried the arrest of Golunov.
Dr. King and Mr. Garrow
By Patrick Martin, 4 June 2019
The historian and King biographer David Garrow has unleashed a #MeToo-style slander campaign against the martyred civil rights leader.
Julian Assange and the degraded spectacle of Britain’s Guardian
By Robert Stevens, 30 May 2019
Under conditions in which the WikiLeaks journalist is facing life in prison or worse, the Guardian cannot bring itself to defend him.
French government threatens “national security” charges against journalists who revealed Yemen war arms sales
By Will Morrow, 30 May 2019
Macron’s actions are part of a drive by capitalist governments around the world to criminalize whistleblowing and destroy the freedom of the press.
New Zealand PM leads global Internet censorship campaign
By Tom Peters, 18 May 2019
New Zealand’s Labour Party-led government is heading international efforts to exploit the Christchurch terrorist attacks to ramp up restrictions on social media.
Media lies in service of war for regime change in Venezuela
By Bill Van Auken, 3 May 2019
As top Trump administration officials make increasingly explicit military threats, the corporate media acts as a propaganda service for imperialist intervention.
The sentencing of Julian Assange: A legal travesty
By Andre Damon, 2 May 2019
Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher and journalist, was sentenced to almost a year in prison by a UK judge Wednesday, in what can only be called a show trial.
Chinese authorities arrest editors involved with workers’ protests
By Navin Dewage and Peter Symonds, 18 April 2019
Amid a slowing economy and growing signs of working class unrest, Beijing is using its police state apparatus to clamp down on opposition.
The media’s role in persecuting Julian Assange
By Andre Damon, 17 April 2019
The newspapers, the broadcast news, and, perhaps worst of all, the late-night talk shows have targeted crude insults against a persecuted man who cannot defend himself.
German media denounce Assange
By Peter Schwarz, 15 April 2019
Reading the comments of the German media on the arrest of Julian Assange, one can only conclude that democracy and press freedom in Germany are in a dire state.
Worldwide outrage over arrest of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange
By Niles Niemuth, 12 April 2019
After nearly seven years of confinement to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Assange now faces the possibility of a year in a UK prison and extradition to the United States.
Amid corruption scandals and deals with IMF and Washington, Ecuador’s government betrays Assange
By Bill Van Auken, 12 April 2019
The handing over of Assange to his British and US persecutors is part of a sharp drive to the right by the corruption-stained government of Lenín Moreno.
Free Julian Assange!
Statement of the World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board, 12 April 2019
The World Socialist Web Site emphatically condemns the forcible seizure and arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The media and the Mueller report
By Barry Grey, 27 March 2019
The Mueller report is a political debacle for the Democratic Party, the New York Times and the bulk of the corporate media, which day after day pumped out unsubstantiated claims and outright lies.
New York Times lines up with anti-China hawks
By Nick Beams, 12 March 2019
The key US demand is that China must make “structural” changes to its economy, including abandoning state subsidies to major industries.
Australian media union complicit in the persecution of Julian Assange
By Oscar Grenfell, 27 February 2019
The MEAA claims to defend journalists, but only those who have not fallen afoul of the US and Australian governments and the major media conglomerates with which it collaborates.
US media passes over in silence Trump’s fascistic diatribe in Miami
By Bill Van Auken, 20 February 2019
To the extent that the corporate media reported the speech it was limited to foreign policy and electoral calculations, ignoring the echoes of 1930s fascism in Trump’s remarks.
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