Why did major news outlets virtually ignore the only cost-effective plan for universal health care coverage - even though polls showed the plan had majority support? Why did leading journalists go out of their way to attack Bill Clinton's rivals in the 1992 Democratic primary - while focusing unprecedented attention on Clinton's personal life? Why do establishment media consider falling unemployment to be bad news? In the tradition of I. F. Stone and George Seldes, the contributors to The FAIR Reader probe the often mysterious connections between press and politics in the 1990s. The essays are filled with startling information about the critical issues of our time - from the Gulf War and the Clarence Thomas hearings to the debates over health care reform and NAFTA - documenting the deceptive, one-sided mainstream reporting that leaves the public in the dark.