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Eric Alterman
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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, a senor fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC, where he writes the “Think Again” column, a senior fellow (since 1985) at the World Policy Institute at The New School in New York, and a regular contributor to The Daily Beeast. Alterman is the author of nine books, including the national bestseller, What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News (2003, 2004), and 2004). The others include: The Book on Bush: How George W. (Mis)leads America, Kabuki Democracy: The System vs. Barack Obama, When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and its Consequences, (2004, 2005)m 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 most recent book is The Cause: The Fight for American Liberalism from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama . 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 the winner of the 2011 Mirror Award for media criticism. In n recent years, he has also been a columnist for: Worth, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, and The Sunday Express (London). A former Adjunct Professor of Journalism at NYU and Columbia, Alterman received his B.A. in History and Government from Cornell, his M.A. in International Relations from Yale, and his Ph.D. in US History from Stanford. He lives with his family in Manhattan where he is completing his seventh book, Why We’re Liberals: A Political Handbook to Post-Bush America, to be published by Viking in March 2008.

For more details, please go to www.ericalterman.com. For media or speaking inquiries, please contact him at whatliberalmedia@aol.com

Entries by Eric Alterman

Think Again: The Mainstream Media Needs to Break Its Addiction to the Drudge Report

(3) Comments | Posted June 13, 2013 | 9:58 AM

In a recent column called "Matt Drudge was right," Washington Post political reporter Chris Cillizza recalls a speech that Matt Drudge, publisher of the Drudge Report, gave at the National Press Club 15 years ago in which, as Cillizza observed, the early Internet phenom "outlined his vision of the future...

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Think Again: The Power of Money, Not Logic

(5) Comments | Posted June 6, 2013 | 11:11 AM

When economic historians look back at the current moment, they will likely be shocked first and foremost by the following paradox: During an era when global and technological developments were pushing most nations toward greater economic inequality, the U.S. government did almost everything possible to accelerate these trends and further...

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Think Again: Blame the News for the Public's Ignorance About the Climate

(32) Comments | Posted May 30, 2013 | 1:33 PM

In a blog post titled, "Scientists agree on climate change. So why doesn't everyone else?," The Washington Post's Brad Plumer covers a new survey by John Cook and Dana Nuccitelli of Skeptical Science. According to the survey, "Among abstracts [of published scientific papers] expressing a position...

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Think Again: Remembering The Feminine Mystique

(1) Comments | Posted May 23, 2013 | 12:18 PM

The Center for American Progress is hosting a forum today to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. The forum participants include CAP President Neera Tanden, current New York Times pundit Gail Collins, former New York Times pundit Anna Quindlen, and CAP Senior Fellow...

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Think Again: Worse Than Watergate?

(39) Comments | Posted May 16, 2013 | 5:07 PM

In a new poll from Public Policy Polling, 74 percent of Republicans polled said they think the actions of the Obama administration during the crisis in Benghazi were worse than Watergate. The results, however, might be taken with a grain of salt as half of that 74 percent appear to...

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Think Again: Niall Ferguson's Gay Theory for the World's Economic Problems Is Nothing If Not Novel

(13) Comments | Posted May 9, 2013 | 1:24 PM

When renowned Harvard University historian Niall Ferguson attacked John Maynard Keynes, claiming the iconic, long-dead economist did not care about future generations because he was gay, effete, and childless, the remarks made headlines and triggered outrage.

During the question-and-answer period of a May 2 speech before a group of investors...

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Think Again: A Realistic Approach to Syria

(6) Comments | Posted May 2, 2013 | 9:37 AM

Syria, as the cliche goes, is a "problem from Hell." Listening to conservative experts on the Sunday morning talk shows, however, it all appears to be pretty simple. As New York Times correspondent Sheryl Gay Stolberg noted:

On Sunday, several leading Republicans -- including Senators Lindsey Graham of...
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Think Again: 'Class Warfare' Revisited

(2) Comments | Posted April 18, 2013 | 3:32 PM

The first time I clicked on this Politico article, titled "Obama, class warrior," I had to check my calendar. Had I forgotten April Fools Day? What else could explain what otherwise struck me as a purposeful -- indeed, expertly executed -- parody of a Politico article?

Authored by...

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Think Again: Campaign-Finance Reform in an Age of Corporate Influence

(13) Comments | Posted April 11, 2013 | 11:05 AM

Fred Wertheimer wrote a new op-ed this week arguing for campaign-finance reform, including the need for public financing of elections to help reduce corporate influence in our elections. This one happens to be in Politico, but given the level of importance and longevity of the issue,...

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Think Again: Why Didn't the Iraq War Kill 'The Liberal Media'?

(1) Comments | Posted April 4, 2013 | 3:11 PM

We're three weeks into our "Lessons Learned from the Iraq War" -- more accurately titled, "Lessons Unlearned." One of the most glaring of these is the notion of a "liberal media" during the war. Given President George W. Bush's deceptive case for invading Iraq, a "lapdog media" is more accurate.

...
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Think Again: Liberal Hawks on Iraq Anniversary: 'We Were Right to Be Wrong'

(5) Comments | Posted March 29, 2013 | 12:21 PM

For better or worse, the Vietnam War proved itself to be a learning experience for Americans and the U.S. government. In the military, it resulted in what became known as "The Weinberger Doctrine," which set up a number of demanding conditions for a president to consider before committing...

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Think Again: Are Journalists Any Less Gullible Today Than They Were 10 Years Ago?

(2) Comments | Posted March 21, 2013 | 4:09 PM

It's a tribute to the good sense of the broader American public that on the 10th anniversary of President George W. Bush's disastrous decision to invade Iraq, a majority of Americans are aware that the entire enterprise was a bad idea, according to a poll by the Gallup...

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Think Again: Real Reporting and Right-Wing Ideology Don't Mix

(28) Comments | Posted March 14, 2013 | 9:56 AM

Erick Erickson of CNN and the conservative RedState blog recently announced that RedState plans to hire a few real reporters for the site. This is ironic for a number of reasons. First, Erickson is best known--to liberals, anyway--for calling former Associate Supreme Court Justice David Souter...

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Think Again: The Terrible Power of Purposeful Ignorance

(7) Comments | Posted March 7, 2013 | 9:11 AM

On the unhappy 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, those of us who spoke out against the impending catastrophe a decade ago are naturally tempted to rehearse the argument, particularly given the proclivity of our opponents to question the patriotism, perseverance, and perspicacity of the so-called dovish side....

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Think Again: Republicans Ignore the Evidence About Higher Taxes on the Wealthy

(9) Comments | Posted February 28, 2013 | 10:11 AM

Shortly before Election Day in November, The New York Times published a report about a Congressional Research Service study that had been withdrawn after publication due to demands by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The economic report, "Taxes and the Economy: An Economic Analysis of the Top...

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Think Again: Mainstream Media Is Missing the Point

(3) Comments | Posted February 21, 2013 | 10:02 AM

According to a much-discussed recent report in Politico, members of the press are frustrated by their lack of face time with President Barack Obama. Their anger apparently boiled over when they found themselves excluded from the president's golf outing with Tiger Woods over Presidents Day weekend.

Still, it...

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Think Again: The Mainstream Media Is Gobbling Up Conservative Crazies

(62) Comments | Posted February 14, 2013 | 8:52 AM

Perhaps liberals ought to send Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) flowers and a box of chocolates. The Texas Republican -- who recently threatened President Barack Obama with impeachment should the president use his executive power to strengthen the nation's gun control laws -- escorted Ted Nugent to President Obama's...

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Think Again: Pity the Poor Folks at Fox News

(73) Comments | Posted February 8, 2013 | 9:19 AM

Not a day goes by lately that Fox News does not itself make news. In the past few days, we've learned that the station dropped longtime commentator and pollster Dick Morris from its team of analysts. This comes after the decisions to renew the station's lucrative contract with...

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Think Again: It's Not Really 'Krugman vs. the World'

(26) Comments | Posted January 31, 2013 | 11:07 AM

Economist and columnist Paul Krugman appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe last week with show co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, as well as Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) to discuss the deficit. The five of them spent more than...

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Think Again: The 'Virtually Voiceless'

(5) Comments | Posted January 24, 2013 | 10:56 AM

When literary critic Lionel Trilling wrote in 1950 that liberalism was "not only the dominant but even the sole intellectual tradition" in the United States, he meant it as a lament. He noted that while some conservative opposition to liberal thought did exist, its proponents remained inarticulate and...

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