Conor Smyth
- Curriculum Editor, CareerFoundry
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Articles by Conor Smyth
WaPo So Worried About Deficit It Wants to Increase Pentagon Budget by Half
Left out of the Washington Post‘s deficits chart (1/11/26): 1943 (26.9% of GDP), 2009 (9.8%), 2020 (14.7%), etc. The Washington Post editorial board has been on a resolutely right-wing tear recently, with editorial after editorial promoting reactionary opinions on everything from the Trump administration’s illegal kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (1/3/26, 1/5/26; FAIR.org, 1/6/26) to Washington state’s flirtation with a millionaire’s tax (1/18/26).
WaPo Says ‘Hard Math’ Means Europe Must Lower Its Quality of Life
The European welfare state has to die. At least, that’s what the Washington Post wants you to think. In a recent news article (10/6/25) headlined “Europe’s High Quality of Life Is Getting Hard to Afford. Just Ask France,” the Post went on full offensive against European social spending.
About That ‘AI Job Apocalypse’
Layoffs are scary. They are also rampant. Over the last 25 years, somewhere in the range of 1.5 million to 2 million people lost their jobs in a typical month as a result of being laid off or fired. Such a high level of layoffs means that there are literally always a stunning number of anecdotes about job losses. Even in a month of strong job growth and rising wages, the media can easily churn out hundreds of articles detailing the woes of recently let-go individuals.
AI Job Loss Hype Could Serve as Smokescreen for Trump Recession
Layoffs are scary. They are also rampant. Over the last 25 years, somewhere in the range of 1.5 to 2 million people lost their jobs in a typical month as a result of being laid off or fired. Such a high level of layoffs means that there are literally always a stunning number of anecdotes about job losses. Even in a month of strong job growth and rising wages, the media could easily churn out hundreds of articles detailing the woes of recently let-go individuals.
NYT Obscured Worst Harms of Trump’s Budget
In one of the scariest moments in modern history, we're doing our best at ScheerPost to pierce the fog of lies that conceal it but we need some help to pay our writers and staff. Please consider a tax-deductible donation. By Conor Smyth / Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) President Donald Trump has just signed into law what will go down as perhaps the most significant legislative achievement of his second term in office.
NYT Obscured Worst Harms of Trump’s Budget
President Donald Trump has just signed into law what will go down as perhaps the most significant legislative achievement of his second term in office. Dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the legislation is set to extend most of the tax cuts passed in Trump’s first term, while making deep cuts to social programs and gutting Biden-era climate provisions, among other sweeping changes (FAIR.org, 7/9/25). The bill will have a remarkably regressive distributional impact.
Is Mainstream Media Giving DOGE A Free Pass?
Though critical in much of their reporting, corporate outlets have at the same time substantially legitimized the project of DOGE. For one, longstanding fearmongering about government spending in the news sections of corporate outlets has elevated precisely the right-wing vision of government animating DOGE.
Leading Papers Give Two Cheers for DOGE
Donald Trump is back in office. Tech mogul Elon Musk, now a senior adviser to the president, is helming a government advisory body with an acronym derived from a memecoin: DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). That organization is sinking its teeth into the federal government, and drawing blood. Tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of federal employees are being laid off this year. Over a dozen agencies have been affected.
Media Fail to Inform About Disastrous Economic Effects of Mass Deportations
“GDP Could Take Massive Hit as a Result of Mass Deportations.” “Mass Deportations Could Leave Many Americans Without Jobs.” “Mass Deportations Could Spur .” “Mass Deportations Could Cost Nearly $1 Trillion.” These are hypothetical headlines of the sort you run if you want to drive home the point that mass deportations would not only be a humanitarian outrage, but an economic disaster. Which, according to economists, they very much would be.
It’s the Economic Reporting, Stupid
Ask voters to verify basic facts related to major political issues, and the results are depressing. An Ipsos survey from October of this year, for instance, discovered most Americans were unaware that unauthorized border crossings were at or near their lowest point over the last several years, that violent crime was not at or near all-time highs in most major cities—and that inflation was down from a year earlier and near historic averages.
To Be a Media Expert on Economics, It Helps to Have the Right Politics
“Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.” John Maynard Keynes made this observation in 1936, in his masterwork The General Theory. Nearly a century later, readers and viewers of corporate media face the same fate.
Abandoning Popular Policies Is Crucial to Victory WaPo Tells Harris
By Conor Smyth / Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting With Joe Biden’s historic decision to step aside as Democratic nominee for president and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor, the 2024 presidential race has suddenly transformed from an uninspiring duel between two old white men to something altogether different. Powered by coconut memes and refreshing cognitive competence, Harris has surged in popularity. Young voters, in particular, have shown a burst of enthusiasm.
Here's Some Politically Toxic Advice Kamala Harris Can Ignore: The Washington Post's | Common Dreams
With Joe Biden’s historic decision to step aside as Democratic nominee for president and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor, the 2024 presidential race has suddenly transformed from an uninspiring duel between two old white men to something altogether different. Powered by coconut memes and refreshing cognitive competence, Harris has surged in popularity. Young voters, in particular, have shown a burst of enthusiasm. The Washington Post, however, is concerned.
Abandoning Popular Policies is Crucial to Victory, WaPo Tells Harris
With Joe Biden’s historic decision to step aside as Democratic nominee for president and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor, the 2024 presidential race has suddenly transformed from an uninspiring duel between two old white men to something altogether different. Powered by coconut memes and refreshing cognitive competence, Harris has surged in popularity. Young voters, in particular, have shown a burst of enthusiasm. The Washington Post, however, is concerned.
Inequality: The Biggest Story Corporate Media Isn’t Covering
One of the defining features of contemporary U.S. capitalism is rampant inequality. Though there is some scholarly debate about its precise extent, even conservative estimates suggest a rise in income inequality of 16% since 1979 (as measured by the Gini coefficient). Moreover, of the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of mainly high-income countries, the U.S. currently ranks dismally as the sixth-most unequal.
Media that benefit from inequality prefer to talk about other things
One of the defining features of contemporary US capitalism is rampant inequality. Though there is some scholarly debate about its precise extent, even conservative estimates suggest a rise in income inequality of 16% since 1979 (as measured by the Gini coefficient). Moreover, of the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of mainly high-income countries, the US currently ranks dismally as the sixth-most unequal.
Media That Benefit From Inequality Prefer to Talk About Other Things
One of the defining features of contemporary US capitalism is rampant inequality. Though there is some scholarly debate about its precise extent, even conservative estimates suggest a rise in income inequality of 16% since 1979 (as measured by the Gini coefficient). Moreover, of the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of mainly high-income countries, the US currently ranks dismally as the sixth-most unequal.
Election 2024 Archives - FAIR
What’s FAIR FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation. We work to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints. We expose neglected news stories and defend working journalists when they are muzzled.
Reporting On California’s Fast-Food Minimum Wage Raise Comes With Fear
What’s scarier than a shark attack? An increase in the minimum wage. At least that’s what many corporate media outlets seem to want you to believe, given the apocalyptic tone of much of the coverage of California’s recent decision to raise the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 an hour, starting this April, a bump from the current level of $16.
Reporting on California's Fast-Food Minimum Wage Raise Comes With Side Order of Fear
What’s scarier than a shark attack? An increase in the minimum wage. At least that’s what many corporate media outlets seem to want you to believe, given the apocalyptic tone of much of the coverage of California’s recent decision to raise the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 an hour, starting this April, a bump from the current level of $16.
How the Media Obsession With Inflation Drives Discontent
2023 is over, and with it, the great inflation surge of the last few years has essentially come to an end. As the progressive economist Dean Baker trumpeted shortly before Christmas, “This Economy Has Landed, We Are at the Fed’s Target” (Beat the Press, 12/22/23). Inflation is now at 2.6%, according to the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure, and is trending further downward.
Media Obsession With Inflation Has Manufactured Discontent - FAIR
2023 is over, and with it, the great inflation surge of the last few years has essentially come to an end. As the progressive economist Dean Baker trumpeted shortly before Christmas, “This Economy Has Landed, We Are at the Fed’s Target” (Beat the Press, 12/22/23). Inflation is now at 2.6%, according to the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure, and is trending further downward.
Some Lives More Valuable Than Others on Cable News
In response to Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack, Israel has unleashed mass destruction on Gaza. Into a region the size of Las Vegas, with a population of 2.1 million, nearly half children, Israel has dropped more than 25,000 tons of bombs, the equivalent of nearly two Hiroshimas. It has killed journalists and doctors, wiped out dozens of members of a single family, massacred fleeing Palestinians, and even bombed a densely populated northern refugee camp. Repeatedly.
For Cable News, a Palestinian Life Is Not the Same as an Israeli Life
Overflowing morgues. Packed hospitals. City blocks reduced to rubble. In response to Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack, Israel has unleashed mass destruction on Gaza. Into a region the size of Las Vegas, with a population of 2.1 million, nearly half children, Israel has dropped more than , the equivalent of nearly two Hiroshimas.
For Cable News, a Palestinian Life Is Not the Same as an Israeli Life
Overflowing morgues. Packed hospitals. City blocks reduced to rubble. In response to Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack, Israel has unleashed mass destruction on Gaza. Into a region the size of Las Vegas, with a population of 2.1 million, nearly half children, Israel has dropped more than , the equivalent of nearly two Hiroshimas.
For Cable News, a Palestinian Life Is Not the Same as an Israeli Life
Overflowing morgues. Packed hospitals. City blocks reduced to rubble. In response to Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack, Israel has unleashed mass destruction on Gaza. Into a region the size of Las Vegas, with a population of 2.1 million, nearly half children, Israel has dropped more than , the equivalent of nearly two Hiroshimas.
Nomi Prins Explains the Difference Between the Market and the Economy
Nomi Prins is one of the country’s leading financial journalists, who has gone from working on Wall Street to exposing the inner workings of the economy and how it is rigged in favor of the powerful. Her books include Other People’s Money: The Corporate Mugging of America, Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World, and most recently Permanent Distortion: How Financial Markets Abandoned the Real Economy Forever. Nomi joined Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J.
Media Ignores Progressive Economic Recovery for Inflation Mania
By a wide range of metrics, the U.S. is in the midst of a historic economic rebound. In January of this year, the unemployment rate hit a 53-year low of 3.4%. Two months later, prime-age (25–54) employment surpassed its pre-recession peak, putting to shame the sluggish job growth that followed the Great Recession of 2007–09, when it took a full 12 years for prime-age employment to return to its pre-recession level.
Media Push Doom and Gloom in Face of Historic Progressive Recovery
By a wide range of metrics, the US is in the midst of a historic economic rebound. In January of this year, the unemployment rate hit a 53-year low of 3.4%. Two months later, prime-age (25–54) employment surpassed its pre-recession peak, putting to shame the sluggish job growth that followed the Great Recession of 2007–09, when it took a full 12 years for prime-age employment to return to its pre-recession level.
The New York Times Thinks Worker Suffering Is a Fair Price for Lower Inflation
Good news: Inflation is down! Way down, actually: It came in at 4% in May, after peaking at just over 9% last summer. But don’t get too excited. The New York Times is here to tell you that inflation is still a problem, and more suffering for the working class is the solution. In a recent episode of the Times’ flagship podcast The Daily (6/20/23), reporter Jeanna Smialek argued that the Fed may have more work cut out for itself.
NYT Says More Worker Suffering Needed to Bring Inflation Down Original
Good news: Inflation is down! Way down, actually: It came in at 4% in May, after peaking at just over 9% last summer. But don’t get too excited. The New York Times is here to tell you that inflation is still a problem, and more suffering for the working class is the solution. In a recent episode of the Times’ flagship podcast the Daily (6/20/23), reporter Jeanna Smialek argued that the Fed may have more work cut out for itself.
WaPo Mad That Debt Ceiling Deal Didn’t Cut Social Security
If there’s one thing the Washington Post doesn’t like about the debt ceiling deal—which expanded work requirements for food stamp recipients (FAIR.org, 6/9/23) and took a knife to social spending more broadly—it’s that it didn’t cut Social Security. As the editorial board (6/1/23) lamented, following the passage of the debt ceiling bill in the House of Representatives: In other words, why are we doing these little tweaks when we should be screwing over seniors?
WSJ Celebrates Making It Harder for Poor People to Access Food
After holding the economy hostage for months, some Republicans are going through a bit of a depressive slump. “We got rolled,” is how one Republican congressmember (Roll Call, 6/6/23) described the outcome of the debt ceiling negotiations. “It was a bad deal.” But don’t cry too much, guys! The Wall Street Journal is here to cheer you up, and remind you that, though you didn’t get all the austerity you wanted, you did get to hurt the poor a bit.
WSJ Celebrates Making It Harder for Poor People to Access Food
After holding the economy hostage for months, some Republicans are going through a bit of a depressive slump. “We got rolled,” is how one Republican congressmember (Roll Call, 6/6/23) described the outcome of the debt ceiling negotiations. “It was a bad deal.” But don’t cry too much, guys! The Wall Street Journal is here to cheer you up, and remind you that, though you didn’t get all the austerity you wanted, you did get to hurt the poor a bit.
WSJ Says Corporate Profiteering Is Good, Actually
Greed is good, actually. At least that’s the journalistic line the Wall Street Journal has decided to take, with a recent headline (5/25/23) reading, “‘Greedflation’ Is Real—and Probably Good for the Economy.” To refresh your memory, “greedflation” is the idea that corporate profiteering has contributed to inflation—a thesis that was, up until recently, generally downplayed or outright ridiculed by the media (New York Times, 1/3/22, 6/11/22; Bloomberg, 5/19/22, Washington Post, 5/12/22).
Radio Free - Independent Media for People, Not Profits.
Greed is good, actually. At least that’s the journalistic line the Wall Street Journal has decided to take, with a recent headline (5/25/23) reading, “‘Greedflation’ Is Real—and Probably Good for the Economy.” To refresh your memory, “greedflation” is the idea that corporate profiteering has contributed to inflation—a thesis that was, up until recently, generally downplayed or outright ridiculed by the media (New York Times, 1/3/22, 6/11/22; Bloomberg, 5/19/22, Washington Post, 5/12/22).
Wall Street Journal Should Not Cry for Military Contractors in Debt Ceiling Fight
The Wall Street Journal is very concerned about the effects of the debt limit fight… on military contractors.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Drone Contractor is Suffering in the Debt Limit Fight
The Wall Street Journal is very concerned about the effects of the debt limit fight . . . on military contractors.
WSJ Worries Debt Limit Fight Could Jeopardize Military Contractors’ Profits
The Wall Street Journal is very concerned about the effects of the debt limit fight…on military contractors.
A Teacher Explains Why Politics Belong In The Classroom
Sam Shain is a public school teacher whose book Education Revolution: Media Literacy for Political Awareness argues that K-12 students need to be equipped with the ability to analyze media and spot misinformation. This crucial skill, which helps them become informed participants in democracy and resist demagogues, is not actually widely taught.
NYT Fearmongers Debt as GOP Holds Economy Hostage
In a recent op-ed for the New York Times (3/10/23), the economist and longtime Times columnist Paul Krugman gave readers “a pro tip”: It would be great if his own paper would listen to him. Republican hostage-taking Instead, the Times has been engaged in outright fearmongering over the size of the US federal debt over the past several months. This at the same time that the Republican Party has taken the economy hostage, in order to exact wildly unpopular cuts to government programs.
How To Debunk Sexist Pseudoscience
Cordelia Fine is a psychologist and philosopher of science whose work brilliantly demolishes myths about the “nature” of differences between men and women. Prof. Fine has written three books, A Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives, Delusions of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences, and Testosterone Rex: Unmaking the Myths of Our Gendered Minds. In this conversation, which originally aired on the Current Affairs podcast, Prof.
NYT Blames American Public for Collapse of Pandemic Safety Net Original
A ban on evictions. Required paid leave. Continuous Medicaid coverage. Free school meals. Emergency SNAP allotments. An extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits. Child tax credit expansion. Thousands in stimulus checks. These measures were part of a suite of policies the US government passed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic fallout it precipitated. They were meant to blunt the damage, to protect the population from a much darker alternative. And they were remarkably successful.
US Corporate Media Celebrate France's Attack on Pensions
“The Party Is Ending for French Retirees.” That’s the headline the Wall Street Journal (3/14/23) went with just days before French President Emmanuel Macron invoked a special article of the constitution to bypass the National Assembly and enshrine an increase in the retirement age in national law.
Conor Smyth
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US Media Cheer as France Forces Old People to Work
“The Party Is Ending for French Retirees.” That’s the headline the Wall Street Journal (3/14/23) went with just days before French President Emmanuel Macron invoked a special article of the constitution to bypass the National Assembly and enshrine an increase in the retirement age in national law. The Journal proclaimed: The possibility that this “golden age” could be extended is not even entertained.
Bret Stephens Says Journalists Admitting Values Would 'End United States'
Leonard Downie Jr., executive editor for the Washington Post from 1991 through 2008, last month published an article in the Post opinion section (1/30/23) headlined “Newsrooms That Move Beyond ‘Objectivity’ Can Build Trust.” He observed that “increasingly, reporters, editors and media critics argue that the concept of journalistic objectivity is a distortion of reality.” He added that younger, more diverse reporters “believe that the concept of objectivity has prevented truly accurate...
Social Security Full Retirement Age Increased by 2 Years While Life Expectancy Decreased 0.4 Years
In 1983, Ronald Reagan into law a cut to Social Security benefits. Under the law, the Social Security full retirement age gradually increased from from 65 in 2000 to 67 at the end of 2022. What this actually meant was not that the age at which people could retire and start drawing Social Security benefits changed—that remained at 62.
The Washington Post Is Coming for Your Retirement Benefits
When Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post for $250 million in 2013, he didn’t transform it into a paper that elevated the perspectives of the wealthy elite—it had already been that for decades. What he did do was put it on steroids: Over the next three years, the Post doubled its web traffic and surpassed the New York Times in its volume of online postings. One result: The paper’s traditional hostility to federal retirement programs has become only more amplified.
Goldilocks Wants to Eat the Poor
The 19th century English fable Goldilocks tells the story of a young girl who breaks into the home of three bears and eats their porridge. Luckily, they have three different bowls ready for consumption: One is too hot. One is too cold. The other is just right. Naturally, in setting monetary policy, the Federal Reserve wants to be like Goldilocks. But its concern is not porridge; it’s the US economy. How does it want it? Not too hot. Not too cold. Just right.
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