Eric Alterman

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Eric Alterman
Born January 14, 1960
Education B.A. in History and Government from Cornell University; M.A. in International Relations from Yale University; Ph.D. in U.S. History from Stanford University
Circumstances
Occupation Journalist, author
Spouse divorced
Children Eve Rose
Ethnicity Jewish - U.S. Flag of the United States
Notable credit(s) runs weblog named Altercation; commentator on MSNBC; Professor of English at Brooklyn College; frequent guest on BloggingHeads.tv; writes column called The Liberal Media for The Nation Magazine

Eric Alterman (b. January 14, 1960[1]) is a liberal American journalist, author, media critic, blogger, and educator, possibly best known for the political weblog named Altercation, which was hosted by MSNBC.com from 2002 until 2006, and now is hosted by Media Matters for America.

Contents

[edit] Education

He earned a B.A. in History and Government from Cornell University, an M.A. in International Relations from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in U.S. History from Stanford University.

[edit] Career

Alterman was hired by MSNBC in 1995, both appearing as a commentator on the cable channel and writing a column posted on its website. In 2002 MSNBC engaged him to create the blog daily Altercation, the first blog hosted by a mainstream media news organization.[2] In September 2006, after a ten-year association, Alterman and MSNBC parted ways. Media Matters for America hired him as a Senior Fellow and agreed to host Altercation, effective September 18, 2006. Regular contributors to his blog Altercation include sportswriter Charlie Pierce and historian and military officer Robert Bateman.

Since the fall of 2004, he has been a Professor of English at Brooklyn College, where he teaches courses in journalism.[3] In 2007 he was named a CUNY Distinguished Professor of English at Brooklyn College and Professor of Journalism at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.[4] He is also a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress [5], Media Matters for America, which currently hosts his blog Altercation, and at the World Policy Institute at New School University.[6]

Alterman's academic expertise is American history. He has said "I have an historical context for understanding what is going on. I can see that a lot of things that are happening have happened already. The New York Times and Newsweek write stories as if there's no history. What are we but our histories?" [7] He has been an historical consultant for HBO films.[citation needed] In September 2004, Viking Press published his sixth book,When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and its Consequences–-a version of his doctoral dissertation––on lies of major consequence told by Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush.

His new book about the history of Liberalism and the various ways in which the word "liberal" has been unfairly maligned in contemporary discussion. Why We're Liberals: A Political Handbook for Post-Bush America was published by Viking Press in March 2008.[8] Alterman also recently published a piece in the New Yorker on the decline of American newspapers and the future role of new media news sites.[9]

He is perhaps best known for his media criticism, which is the subject of two of his books. He writes a political column for The Nation and a weekly column for the Center for American Progress website. In contrast to conservative media commentators, Alterman argues that the press is biased against liberals rather than biased in their favor.

He is also a frequent contributor to BloggingHeads.tv, where he often takes part in video discussions with other media personalities.

[edit] Criticism of Ralph Nader

Alterman was and remains a critic of Ralph Nader for Nader's actions in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election, arguing that Nader is partially to blame for the election of George W. Bush because of vote splitting.[10] He has called Nader "Bush's Useful Idiot,"[11] myopic,[12] and a deluded megalomaniac.[13] In the documentary An Unreasonable Man, he is quoted as saying:

The man needs to go away. I think he needs to live in a different country. He’s done enough damage to this one. Let him damage somebody else's now.[14]

[edit] Arrest

On Sunday, June 3, 2007, Alterman was arrested during a debate among Democratic United States presidential candidates in Manchester, New Hampshire and charged with criminal trespass.[15] On MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, Alterman called the incident a "Marx Brothers mishap." He has written about the incident in his blog Altercation[16], with a version posted in his HuffPo blog, sending his account electronically to be posted at his request in other liberal blogs such as Eschaton[17] and TalkLeft.[18] All criminal charges were eventually dropped.

[edit] Books

[edit] Recent Articles

  • [1] "Who Are They Calling Elitist?" The Nation, March 27, 2008 (Adapted from Why We're Liberals)
  • [2] - "Out of Print: The death and life of the American newspaper," The New Yorker, March 31, 2008.
  • [3] - "Accounting for Kristol," The American Prospect, February 25, 2008
  • [4] - “My Marty Peretz Problem—and Ours” (On the history of The New Republic) The American Prospect, July/August, 2007
  • [5] - “Lives of the Democrats,” The New York Times Book Review, April 22, 2007
  • [6] - “First Casualty of War,” The Los Angeles Times, November 3, 2005
  • [7] - "Bush’s War on the Press," The Nation, May 9, 2005
  • [8] - "Big Ideas Need Sharp Elbows," The Nation, December 9, 2004.
  • [9] - "When Presidents Lie," The Nation (adapted from book), October 7, 2004
  • [10] - "The Hollywood Campaign," Atlantic Monthly, September, 2004
  • [11] - "Me and My Moguls," Atlantic Monthly, April 2004

[edit] Appearances (Video)

  • [12] Eric Alterman speaking at Strand Bookstore in New York City on May 6, 2008, as part of his 2008 book tour for Why We're Liberals.
  • [13] Eric Alterman speaking at Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon, on March 27, 2008, as part of his 2008 book tour for Why We're Liberals.
  • [14] Eric Alterman speaking at Authors@Google on March 25, 2008, as part of his 2008 book tour for Why We're Liberals
  • [15] Eric Alterman speaking at Cody's Books in Berkeley, CA on March 25, 2008, as part of his 2008 book tour for Why We're Liberals
  • [16] "Eric Alterman in Conversation," FORA.tv, March 2008
  • [17] Eric Alterman speaking at Center for Ethics at Yeshiva University, on Factors of Ethical Presidential Leadership, Jan. 30, 2008
  • [18] "The Rise and Fall of American Liberalism," UC Davis. Nov 8, 2007
  • [19] "The Conservatives Have No Clothes," The Century Foundation. Sept. 25, 2007
  • [20] "The American News Media: Media Bias, with Eric Alterman and Tucker Carlson," UC Santa Barbara. January 14, 2006
  • [[21] Eric Alterman on Charlie Rose, discussing the future of political pundits. March 21, 2005
  • [22] Eric Alterman on Charlie Rose, discussing "The Book on Bush" with Mark Green. March 17, 2004
  • [23] Eric Alterman on Charlie Rose, discussing the Iraq war with Christopher Hitchens. June 6, 2003
  • [24] Eric Alterman on the Daily Show with John Stewart. March 17, 2003
  • [25] Eric Alterman on Charlie Rose, discussing “Democracy’s Discontent," by Michael Sandel. August 28, 1996

[edit] References

  1. ^ Eric Alterman
  2. ^ Eric Alterman (September 11, 2006). I'm Fired. Retrieved on 2006-09-11.
  3. ^ New Faculty Bring Worlds of Knowledge to Brooklyn College (August 26, 2004). Retrieved on 2007-06-05.
  4. ^ CUNY Board Names Alterman Distinguished Prof at Brooklyn College (July 10, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
  5. ^ Center for American Progress. Eric Alterman, Senior Fellow. Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
  6. ^ World Policy Institute. Eric Alterman, Senior Fellow. Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
  7. ^ Distinguished Profiles - Eric Alterman (January, 2007). Retrieved on 2008-03-24.
  8. ^ Why We're Liberals: A Handbook for Post-Bush America." (March, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-24.
  9. ^ "Out of Print: The Death and Life of the American Newspaper" (March 31, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  10. ^ Eric Alterman (February 8, 2006). Dancing days are here again. Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
  11. ^ Eric Alterman (September 16, 2004). Bush's Useful Idiot. Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
  12. ^ Eric Alterman (March 22, 2001). Tweedledee, Indeed. Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
  13. ^ Eric Alterman (June 6, 2004). Phew. Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
  14. ^ Democracy Now (February 5, 2007). Ralph Nader on Why He Might Run In 2008, the Iraq War & the New Documentary "An Unreasonable Man". Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
  15. ^ Steve Brusk (June 3, 2007). Columnnist/author arrested in spin room. Retrieved on 2007-06-03.
  16. ^ Eric Alterman (June 4, 2007). When I was just a baby, my mother told me, "Son, always be a good boy. Don't ever play with guns ...". Retrieved on 2007-06-23.
  17. ^ Duncan Black (June 3, 2007). Freed Alterman. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.
  18. ^ Jeralyn Merritt (June 3, 2007). Eric Alterman Released After Arrest in Debate Spin Room. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.

[edit] External links