In Episode 131 [12] of the CounterVortex podcast [13], Bill Weinberg calls out the ironically named [14] Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR [15]) for openly spreading Russian disinformation. FAIR serially portrays the 2014 Maidan Revolution [16] as a US-instrumented, Nazi-tainted, unconstitutional [17] "coup." FAIR commentators Luca Goldmansour [18], Gregory Shupak [19] and Bryce Greene [20] are all guilty of this. They do not bother to consult voices of Ukrainian civil society—academics [21], media watchdogs [22] and human rights groups [23]—that refute this notion. Glomming onto the notorious Nuland phone call [24] to dismiss a grassroots pro-democracy uprising as a Washington "regime change" intrigue reveals chauvinistic contempt for the Ukrainians. And hyping the supposed "Nazi" threat [25] in Ukraine (while ignoring the Nazi-nostalgist and neo-fascist elements on the Russian side [26]) abets Putin's ultra-cynical propaganda stratagem of fascist pseudo-anti-fascism [27]. Rather than calling out Fox News for its propaganda service [28] to Putin, FAIR instead joins them. How did a supposed progressive media watchdog become a de facto arm of Kremlin war propaganda? Listen on SoundCloud [12] or via Patreon [29].
Production by Chris Rywalt
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