Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), progressive media watchdog group that monitors the U.S. news media for inaccuracy, bias, and censorship and advocates for greater diversity of perspectives in news reporting. FAIR is founded on a belief that corporate ownership and sponsorship, as well as government policies and pressures, restrict journalism and thereby distort public discourse. The group calls for the breakup of media conglomerates and for increased public support for nonprofit sources of information. FAIR is based in New York City.

FAIR was founded in 1986 by two activists, Jeff Cohen and Martin A. Lee, in response to concerns about the growth of corporate media conglomerates and the increasing concentration of media ownership. The group publishes Extra!, a magazine of media criticism, and produces the radio program CounterSpin, featuring interviews with journalists, scholars, and activists on topical media-related stories.

While conservative media critics often claim that U.S. media skews toward the political left, FAIR counters that most news programming strongly reflects the interests of elites in business and government while minimizing or ignoring minority, female, public interest, and dissenting viewpoints. FAIR also criticizes media outlets’ tendency when covering contentious topics to shield themselves against accusations of taking sides by imposing “false balance,” meaning that opposing viewpoints are presented as equally valid even when evidence strongly supports one viewpoint over the other.