Eric Alterman is a Distinguished Professor of English, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and Professor of Journalism at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. He is also “The Liberal Media” columnist for The Nation and a fellow of the Nation Institute, a senior fellow and “Altercation” weblogger for Media Matters for America, (formerly at MSNBC.com) in Washington, DC, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC, where he writes and edits the « Think Again » column, a senior fellow (since 1985) at the World Policy Institute at The New School in New York, and a history consultant to HBO Films. Alterman is the author of seven books, including the national bestsellers, What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News (2003, 2004), and The Book on Bush: How George W. (Mis)leads America (with Mark Green, 2004). The others include: When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and its Consequences, (2004, 2005). His Sound & Fury: The Making of the Punditocracy (1992, 2000), won the 1992 George Orwell Award and his It Ain’t No Sin to be Glad You’re Alive: The Promise of Bruce Springsteen (1999, 2001), won the 1999 Stephen Crane Literary Award, and Who Speaks for America? Why Democracy Matters in Foreign Policy, (1998). His newest book is Why We’re Liberals: A Political Handbook to Post-Bush America, (2008). (on FORA.tv).
Termed « the most honest and incisive media critic writing today” in the National Catholic Reporter, and author of “the smartest and funniest political journal out there,” in The San Francisco Chronicle, Alterman is frequent lecturer and contributor to numerous publications in the US, Europe, and Latin America … (full text).
His blog at the Huffington Post.
His personal website on FORA.tv.
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Eric Alterman – USA
Video, authors at Google: Eric Alterman, 57 min, April 21, 2008.
One of the many (many) salutary aspects of Barack Obama’s impending presidential nomination is the sea change his victory marks in the battle for the mind-set of the American foreign policy establishment. Not only was Obama unambiguously opposed to the American invasion of Iraq back when it mattered but – in marked contrast to the Clinton campaign – so were most of his advisers and supporters. Indeed, without this essential distinction from his opponent, coupled with her unwillingness to repudiate or apologize for her vote for George W. Bush’s war, the Obama campaign would likely never have found the base of support it needed to mount a serious nomination fight … (full text, June 29, 2008).
Is Obama a Conservative or a Progressive Realist, June 30, 2008.
He writes: … Taking its place, of course, is the Internet, which is about to pass newspapers as a source of political news for American readers. For young people, and for the most politically engaged, it has already done so. As early as May, 2004, newspapers had become the least preferred source for news among younger people. According to “Abandoning the News,” published by the Carnegie Corporation, thirty-nine per cent of respondents under the age of thirty-five told researchers that they expected to use the Internet in the future for news purposes; just eight per cent said that they would rely on a newspaper … (full text, March 31, 2008).
Out of Print, the death and life of the American newspaper, March 31, 2008.l
Blowhards and windbagsUS elections 2008: The media’s myopic obsession with campaign narratives over events of real significance does a disservice to the public … (full text, January 11, 2008).
The Ideological Crossroads: Will Americans Choose Liberalism, Conservatism, or Something Different in 2008, June 16, 2008.
As Eric Alterman pointed out in a recent New Yorker article, “In the Internet Age,… no one has figured out how to rescue the newspaper in the United States or abroad.” Print circulation is at its lowest level since records have been kept and online revenue from advertising and subscriptions are nowhere close to making up for those declines. It is well known that journals and scholarly presses are also struggling to adapt their business models … (full text, June 26, 2008).
Schlesinger’s more recent intraleft controversy arose when he made another prescient argument about a danger on the left: this was his short 1991 book on Afrocentrism and multiculturalism, The Disuniting of America. Although it was one of his slighter efforts, intellectually, Arthur recognized then, as few did, that by making a fetish of racial and ethnic divisions, the left was playing into the same divide-and-conquer politics that the corporate elite has always used against America’s working classes … (full text, March 8, 2007).
Think Again: New Orleans After the Storm, June 19, 2008.
Many in the media have a not-so-subtle man crush on John McCain. If you don’t believe me, read Eric Alterman’s excellent cover story on McCain and the media in our magazine this week … (full text, June 23, 2008).
Find him and his publications on ; on the Guardian.co.uk; on wikipedia/books/recent articles/video appearances; on Google Video-search; on inauthor Google-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.
He writes also: … The Bush Administration and its ideological allies are employing every means available to undermine journalists’ ability to exercise their First Amendment function to hold power accountable. In fact, the Administration recognizes no such constitutional role for the press. White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card has insisted that the media « don’t represent the public any more than other people do…. I don’t believe you have a check-and-balance function » … (full text, April 21, 2005).
links:
Brooklyn College Magazine, Fall 2007, 48 pages;
The more things change … , June 27, 2008;
No Iraq News is Good News for Troops, June 24,2008;
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story;
McCain, mortgages, gay marriage, graduation, June 28, 2008;
Running For President and Against the Past: Ralph Nader, June 20, 2008.