Eric Alterman
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News connects us to the issues and events happening around us. We learn whats going on in the world, in our country, in our province, and in our community from news sources. From these we form opinions and ideas that change everything from who we vote for to what we chit-chat about. This is why its important for us to have access to unbiased, balanced news.
There is much bickering between about whether the political right or left Ж that is to say, the political ideology behind such issues as taxation, abortion and religion Ж holds more influence in the media, but most commonly it is believed the media holds a liberal bias. Eric Alterman is a media critic and theorist who challenges this belief and strives to prove the liberal media is a myth. To analyze Altermans ideas, its first important to know a bit about him, and become familiar with his works Ж especially What Liberal Media?.
Alterman has an impressive resume. Academically, he did undergraduate study in history and government at Cornell University, holds a masters degree in international relations from Yale, and has a PhD in U.S. history from Stanford. Right now, he is an English professor at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, media columnist for political magazine The Nation, writer of a blog call Altercation for MSNBC.com, and a senor fellow at the Center for American Progress Ж a policy research and advocacy organization Ж where he writes and edits the Think Again column.
As an author, Alterman has written 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). His Sound & Fury: The Making of the Punditocracy (1992, 2000), won the 1992 George Orwell Award, and It Aint No Sin to be Glad Youre Alive: The Promise of Bruce Springsteen (1999, 2001), won the 1999 Stephen Crane Literary Award. He has also written When Presidents Lie: A History of Deception and its Consequences (September 2004) and Who Speaks for America? Why Democracy Matters in Foreign Policy (1998). Alterman is also a frequent columnist. Recently he has written for Worth, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones and The Sunday Express (London).
Right now he lives in Manhattan with his family. His next book will be Why Were Liberals: A Political Handbook to Post-Bush America. It set for release in March.
With two national bestsellers and two prestigious awards, it is difficult to determine Altermans most important work. When it comes to challenging perceived media biases, and to what extent the news industry is organized to send right-wing messages, it is clear that What Liberal Media? is Altermans hardest hitting book.
Alterman starts off by targeting and discrediting several clear conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, and Ann Coulter.
He points out inaccuracies, inventions, and even plagiarism from these media personalities in his book. He uses Ann Coulter as a particularly effective example against conservative media with several quotes, one being her wish that Timothy McVeigh had blown up perceived liberal publication The New York Times. Coulter describes herself as “Christian first and a mean-spirited, bigoted conservative second.” From here, he moves to a more serious argument, saying “the right is working the refs.” By saying this, he is comparing the conservatives with the way loudmouthed sports coaches act Ж they yell and yell to draw attention to themselves, hoping to gain whatever tactical advantage they can, while the other team is overshadowed. This, says Alterman, is one of the main things that undermines liberals and makes them even more ineffective competitors for the conservative media.
He goes on to say that the liberal media is often psychologically “cowed by a combination of conservative criticism and patriotic self-censorship.” For an example of this he refers to the last presidential election. He says, “the elite media had so internalized the false message of their own Ðliberalism they had lost the ability to defend themselves convincingly. Alterman says the liberal media favour self-criticism, diversity and fairness while the conservatives place emphasis on discipline, organization, and a uniform message as the conservative media does. Liberals dont define themselves by ideological movements, making their efforts and opinions seem weak in comparison to the conservatives.
Another advantage the conservatives have is in storytelling, he says. Alterman says the right is better at telling moral tales, providing excitement and controversies that create enemies and politics free from ambiguity. One thing