| Genre | News analysis |
|---|---|
| Running time | 28 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English |
| Syndicates | 150+ stations |
| Hosts | Janine Jackson Steve Rendall Peter Hart |
| Producers | Janine Jackson Steve Rendall Peter Hart |
| Recording studio | New York City |
| Audio format | Stereophonic sound |
| Website | CounterSpin |
| Podcast | rss feed |
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.