Wikipedia
CounterSpin is a weekly, half-hour radio program produced by the progressive media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). It is hosted by Janine Jackson, Steve Rendall, and Peter Hart, and describes itself as offering "a critical examination of the major stories every week (that) exposes what the mainstream media might have missed in their own coverage."
The show format consists of a "look back at the weekly news" that examines a set of the week's headline stories and their treatment in the press, followed by one or two segments that focus on particular subjects in depth. These segments often use interviews with the subjects of the news themselves, reporters who have covered the news and/or scholars in media/journalism.
CounterSpin lists their common subjects as biased and inaccurate news; censored stories; sexism, racism and homophobia in the news; the power of corporate influence; gaffes and goofs by leading TV pundits; TV news' narrowing of the political spectrum; and attacks on free speech.
CounterSpin also presents and examines studies on the media, including those conducted by FAIR. Media bias data examined in these studies is often interpreted by CounterSpin to show a mainstream media slant towards conservative and/or corporate interests.
Broadcasts are conducted nationwide in the United States and Canada on over 150 radio stations and are available in MP3 and RealAudio format on the web.
The name "CounterSpin" was originally used for a FAIR fax sheet on election coverage edited by Jim Naureckas.
CounterSpin (counterspin.tv) was a Canadian television program which was broadcast on CBC Newsworld from 1998 to 2004.
A daily panel debate show, CounterSpin guests would debate issues in front of a studio audience. The show also included news reports which tried to examine the day's issue in more depth than a typical newscast.
The show was an independent production created by executive producer Paul Jay, also a documentary filmmaker (Wrestling with Shadows, Return to Kandahar). Jay went on to become the founding chair of The Real News Network.
The show's host in the first season was Avi Lewis. He then left the show to concentrate on other projects, and was replaced by Sharon Lewis (no relation) for one season. Sharon Lewis then went to the CBC's main network to host ZeD, and was replaced by Carol Off.
In 2004 the CBC announced that the series would not be renewed for the fall television season, and instead a new program would be developed for its time slot. The new program, CBC News: The Hour, began on January 17, 2005, with George Stroumboulopoulos as its anchor.
Category:1998 Canadian television series debuts Category:2004 Canadian television series endings Category:CBC News Network shows Category:Debate television series Category:1990s Canadian television series Category:2000s Canadian television series