# Is F.A.I.R. an unbiased organization **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 30, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537 "2004-07-30T01:32:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537/1 "2004-07-30T01:32:44Z")
Is Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting a non-partisan organization or left wing? I am looking at their website and it seems they go after right wing pundits. Plus i see FAIR’s website listed among a variety of left wing websites like ‘votetoimpeach’ on another website i’m reading. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537/2 "2004-07-30T01:39:08Z")
They’re the left-wing counterpart to people like Brent Bozell and Reed Irvine. Definitely biased, though not always wrong. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537/3 "2004-07-30T01:41:08Z")
I think it’s generally accepted that they are liberal and [http://www.mediaresearch.org/](http://www.mediaresearch.org/) is the conservative counterpart. I think you would be hard-pressed to find a genuinely unbiased organization on such an issue. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537/4 "2004-07-30T06:36:15Z")
…the difference being that FAIR deals with the truth. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537/5 "2004-07-30T13:09:40Z")
I’m somewhat biased toward the left myself, and Fair seems pretty biased to me. I wouldn’t dismiss what they say out of hand, but I’d look for corroborating reports. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537/6 "2004-07-30T13:29:01Z")
One other thing- if you’re going to create an acronym, the word you spell out should NOT be one of the component words! Reed IRvine’s old group was called AIM, which stood for Accuracy In Media. Irvine was frequently just an old crank, but at least his acronym worked. FAIR = Fairness & Accuracy In Media. Sorry, guys, but if FAIRness is a component word, FAIR is a lousy acronym. But that’s what happens when you START with what you think is a clever acronym and THEN try to find component words that fit. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537/7 "2004-07-30T15:16:50Z")
Here I thought the issue was Federation for American Immigration Reform. They, at least, are quite biased. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537/8 "2004-07-30T15:54:50Z")
FAIR calls itself “progressive,” a fashionable synonym for liberal. There’s a difference in style and tone, though, from Media Matters for America, a similar group. FAIR’s pieces tend to be awash in stats about the ratio of conservatives to liberals among people interviewed on a network or show. When they refer to Mansoor Ijaz as a source of poorly grounded stories, for example, they gusset that with a handful of examples. Media Matters, on the other hand, tends to give you individual examples of inaccurate on-air statements by specific people. When some TV person calls somebody else a “rat bastard communist” or suggests that all of America’s muslims should be killed, you’ll see it reported at [MediaMatters.com](http://MediaMatters.com) They’ll irately tell you who said what lie. They’re not as calm and dry about it as FAIR is. I hope this is useful info to you. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537/9 "2004-07-30T16:00:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Sorry, guys, but if FAIRness is a component word, FAIR is a lousy acronym. I’m inclined to agree, but it’s not too uncommon to see this in computer-related acronyms. The most obvious is GNU=GNU’s Not Unix. I think the fairest thing out there (that I know of, anyway) is Annenberg’s [www.factcheck.org](http://www.factcheck.org). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537/10 "2004-07-30T17:22:22Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > One other thing- if you’re going to create an acronym, the word you spell out should NOT be one of the component words! OTOH, computer geeks think this is something to aspire to, e.g.: GNU, “Gnu is Not Unix” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537/11 "2004-07-31T12:51:43Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > One other thing- if you’re going to create an acronym, the word you spell out should NOT be one of the component words! > > Reed IRvine’s old group was called AIM, which stood for Accuracy In Media. Irvine was frequently just an old crank, but at least his acronym worked. > > FAIR = Fairness & Accuracy In Media. Sorry, guys, but if FAIRness is a component word, FAIR is a lousy acronym. > > But that’s what happens when you START with what you think is a clever acronym and THEN try to find component words that fit. Doh! REPORTING! Fairness & Accuracy In REPORTING! Sigh… ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537/12 "2004-07-31T15:40:13Z")
I don’t work for FAIR, but if I did, I would be happy that the worst complaints from critics are that FAIR is liberal (which FAIR tells you up front,) and that the acronym sucks. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Live\_Better\_Electrically](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@Live\_Better\_Electrically](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Live_Better_Electrically)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-f-a-i-r-an-unbiased-organization/257537/13 "2004-07-31T15:52:27Z")
I listen to _CounterSpin_, FAIR’s weekly syndicated radio program, almost every week, and it often has a smart-alecky tone that can be off-putting. That said, although FAIR usually target instances of right wing bias in the mainstream news, they also perform non-partisan fact-checks. For example, they have talked in the past about distortions in Kerry campaign ads. So I wouldn’t say they are unbiased (who is?), but they are fact-based, which gives them some respectibility even if you dislike their politics.