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Eric Alterman

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Eric Alterman
Alterman in 2012
Born(1960-01-14)January 14, 1960(age 64)
Education
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • author
  • professor
Children1

Eric Alterman(born January 14, 1960) is an American historian and journalist. He is aCUNYDistinguished Professor of English and Journalism atBrooklyn Collegeand the author of twelve books.

From 1995 to 2020, Alterman was "The Liberal Media" columnist forThe Nation.He is a contributing writer there, and atThe American Prospect,where under a two-year grant he wrote the newsletter,Altercation,until January 27, 2023. In his farewell newsletter column Alterman stated that he opened a Substack page also entitled,Altercation,on January 21, 2023,[1]and that although publication plans were only in development, he was accepting free subscriptions.[2]

Early life and education

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Alterman was born to aJewishfamily in 1960.[3]He graduated fromScarsdale High Schoolin the New York suburb.[4][5]

He earned a BA in history and government fromCornell University,anMAin international relations fromYale University,and aPhDinU.S. historyfromStanford University.[6]His doctoral dissertation, completed in 2002 withBarton Bernsteinas primary advisor, was entitled,Two lies: the consequences of presidential deception.[7]

Career

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Journalism

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Alterman began his journalism career in 1983, freelancing originally forThe Nation,The Washington Monthly,The New Republic,Harper's,Le Monde diplomatique,and later, forVanity Fair,The New York Times Magazine,The New Yorker,andThe Atlantic Monthly,among others, while working as a senior fellow for the World Policy Institute inNew York CityandWashington, D.C.Not long after, he became the Washington correspondent forMother Jonesand, soon thereafter,Rolling Stone,before returning toThe Nationas a columnist in 1995.[citation needed]

Alterman has been a contributing editor or columnist for many publications includingElle,Worth,Rolling Stone,andThe Sunday Express(London), while he has also contributed toThe New Yorker,The Atlantic,andLe Monde Diplomatique.[8][9]In 2021, he restarted "Altercation" as a newsletter published byThe American Prospect.It previously had been a daily blog featured by MSNBC beginning in 2002.[citation needed]

Television

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Alterman was hired byMSNBCin 1996, appearing as a commentator on the cable channel and writing a column posted on its website. In 2002, MSNBC engaged him to create theblogdaily "Altercation", one of the first blogs hosted by amainstream medianews organization.[10]In September 2006, after a ten-year association, Alterman and MSNBC parted ways.Media Matters for Americahired him as a senior fellow and agreed to host "Altercation", effective from September 18, 2006. Regular contributors to "Altercation" included the sportswriterCharlie Pierceand the historian and military officer Robert Bateman. On December 22, 2008, Alterman announced that "Altercation" would be moving to the website forThe Nationin 2009, and would appear on a less regular basis than its previous Monday to Friday schedule.[11]He also has worked as a history consultant forHBO Films.[citation needed]

Teaching career

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Alterman has taught journalism at bothNew York UniversityandColumbia University.Since fall 2004, he has been a professor of English atBrooklyn College,where he teaches courses in media and media history.[12]In 2007, he was named aCUNYdistinguished professor of English at Brooklyn College and professor of journalism at theCUNY Graduate School of Journalism.[13]

Books

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Alterman's first book was entitled,Sound & Fury: The Making of the Punditocracy,which won the 1992George Orwell Award.Alterman wrote the book while studying for his doctorate in U.S. history atStanford University.Alterman's other books include the national best-sellers,What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News(2003, 2004) andThe Book on Bush: How George W. (Mis)leads America(2004). Other books he has authored includeWho Speaks for America? Why Democracy Matters in Foreign Policy(1998) and the second edition ofSound & Fury(2000). HisIt Ain't No Sin to be Glad You're Alive: The Promise of Bruce Springsteen(1999, 2001) won the 1999Stephen CraneLiterary Award. In September 2004,Viking PresspublishedWhen Presidents Lie|When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and its Consequences– a version of his doctoraldissertation– on lies of major consequence told by American presidents.[citation needed]

His seventh book, published in 2008 byVikingwas entitled,Why We're Liberals: A Political Handbook for Post-Bush America.[14]Also in 2008, Alterman published a lengthy essay inThe New Yorkeron the decline of American newspapers and the future role of new media news sites.[15]His eighth book,Kabuki Democracy: The System vs. Barack Obama,[16]was published in early 2011. It was an extension of a lengthy article by him that was published byThe Nationin summer 2010. Alterman's ninth book,The Cause: The Fight for American Liberalism from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama(2012), is a history of postwar American liberalism co-authored with the historianKevin Mattson.Three years later, in 2015, his tenth book,Inequality in One City: Bill de Blasio and the New York Experimentwas published.

In 2020, he published his eleventh book,Lying in State: Why Presidents Lie and Why Trump is Worse.

His twelfth book was published in 2022 and is entitledWe Are Not One: A History of America’s Fight Over Israel.[17]

Media criticism

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Alterman's media criticism was the subject of two of his books. In contrast to conservative media commentators, Alterman argues that the press is biased against liberals rather than biased in their favor. He was called "the most honest and incisive media critic writing today" in theNational Catholic Reporterand the author of "the smartest and funniest political journal out there" inTheSan Francisco Chronicle.In 2008, Alterman became a regular columnist for the Jewish magazine,Moment,where he wrote regularly about Jewish issues. From 2009 to 2012, he was a regular contributor toThe Daily Beast.[18]

Quotes by and about

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Alterman was and remains a critic ofRalph Naderfor Nader's actions in the2000 U.S. presidential election,arguing that Nader is to blame for the election ofGeorge W. Bushbecause ofvote splitting.[19]He has called Nader "Bush's Useful Idiot",[20]myopic,[21]and a deluded megalomaniac.[22]In the documentary,An Unreasonable Man,he is quoted as saying about Nader:

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.[23]

Alterman has criticizedSteve Jobsfor his avarice and for failing to give any of his wealth to the poor. Jobs died with more than $8 billion in various bank accounts and with shareholdings in a tax-free fund with assets of more than $70 billion. He has also accusedAppleof business practices that ultimately result in the misery of Chinese workers.[24]

He appears in the award-winning documentary film onLee Atwater,Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story.In it, Alterman said, "...Race is poison, but it is poison that works for their side. People vote their fears and not their hopes, and Lee understood that." He also appears inRobert Greenwald's documentary,Outfoxed,and inBest of Enemies,a documentary about Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley.

His critics have called Alterman a member of theIsrael lobby.[25]Alterman notes, however, that his views on Israel are attacked by both the left for being too pro-Israel and by the right, such asThe Weekly Standard,for not supporting Israel enough.[26]

Major works

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  • Sound & Fury: The Making of the Punditocracy(1992, 1993, 2000)ISBN978-0-8014-8639-5
  • Who Speaks for America? Why Democracy Matters in Foreign Policy,(1998)ISBN978-0-8014-3574-4
  • It Ain't No Sin to be Glad You're Alive: The Promise of Bruce Springsteen(1999, 2001)
  • What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News(2003, 2004)ISBN978-0-465-00177-4
  • The Book on Bush: How George W. (Mis)leads America(2004)ISBN0-14-303442-1
  • When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and its Consequences,(2004, 2005)ISBN978-0-670-03209-9
  • Why We're Liberals: A Handbook for Restoring America's Most Important Ideals(2008, 2009)ISBN978-0-14-311522-9
  • Kabuki Democracy: The System vs. Barack Obama(2011)ISBN978-1-56858-659-5
  • The Cause: The Fight for American Liberalism from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack ObamawithKevin Mattson(2012)ISBN978-0-67-002343-1
  • Inequality and One City: Bill de Blasio and the New York Experiment, Year One(2015)ISBN978-1-940489-19-3
  • Lying in State: Why Presidents Lie - And Why Trump Is Worse(2020)ISBN978-1-541616-82-0

Honors and awards

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During the course of his career, Alterman has been recognized for the following honors and awards:

  • Winner, 1993 George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language forSound & Fury: The Making of the Punditocracy
  • Winner, Stephen Crane Literary Award forIt Ain't No Sin to be Glad You're Alive,1999
  • Finalist, Mirror Awards for "Best Single Article, Traditional" and "Best Commentary, Digital", 2009
  • Finalist, Mirror Award for "Best Commentary, Digital", 2010
  • Winner, Mirror Award for "Best Commentary, Digital" and Finalist, "Best Commentary, Traditional", 2011
  • Finalist, Mirror Award for "Best Commentary, Traditional", 2012
  • Media Fellow, Hoover Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California, June 2013
  • Finalist, Mirror Award for "Best Commentary, Digital" and "Best Commentary, Traditional", 2013
  • Finalist, Mirror Award for "Best Commentary, Traditional" 2014
  • Finalist, Mirror Award for "Best Commentary", 2016
  • Selected, Schusterman Fellow, Brandeis University, 2016
  • Elected to be Fellow of the Society of American Historians, 2016
  • Winner, Mirror Award for "Best Commentary", 2017

References

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  1. ^Alterman, Eric."Eric's Substack | Eric Alterman | Substack".altercation.substack.Retrieved28 March2023.
  2. ^Alterman, Eric,Goodbye and Thanks,The American Prospect,January 27, 2023
  3. ^Weiss, Philip (July 8, 2011)."Eric Alterman on his dual loyalty and the U.S. pressuring Palestinians to accept 'their historic position'".Mondoweiss.
  4. ^"Scarsdale High School Profile"(PDF).Scarsdale High School. 2018.Archived(PDF)from the original on April 2, 2018.Retrieved2018-08-14.
  5. ^Chapman, Mark (2012-05-09)."Scarsdale High School in Nation's Top 100 for Math, Science".The Scarsdale Daily Voice.Retrieved5 July2012.
  6. ^"Eric Alterman".Center for American Progress. Archived fromthe originalon May 5, 2010.RetrievedApril 16,2010.
  7. ^Alterman, Eric; Bernstein, Barton J. (2002).Two lies: The consequences of presidential deception(Thesis).
  8. ^"Journalist Eric Alterman".NPR.org.RetrievedJanuary 14,2019.
  9. ^"Eric Alterman".The Guardian.RetrievedJanuary 14,2019.
  10. ^Eric Alterman (September 11, 2006)."I'm Fired".NBC News.RetrievedSeptember 11,2006.
  11. ^Alterman, Eric (December 22, 2008)."We're Movin' On; We'll Soon Be Gone..."Media Matters for America. Archived fromthe originalon December 24, 2008.RetrievedJanuary 2,2009.
  12. ^"New Faculty Bring Worlds of Knowledge to Brooklyn College".August 26, 2004.RetrievedJune 5,2007.
  13. ^"CUNY Board Names Alterman Distinguished Prof at Brooklyn College".July 10, 2007. Archived fromthe originalon December 12, 2012.RetrievedJuly 19,2007.
  14. ^"Why We're Liberals: A Handbook for Post-Bush America".March 2008.RetrievedMarch 24,2008.
  15. ^"Out of Print: The Death and Life of the American Newspaper".The New Yorker.March 31, 2008.RetrievedApril 7,2008.
  16. ^Alterman, Eric (5 January 2011)."Kabuki Democracy—and How to Fix It".The Nation.RetrievedAugust 10,2017.
  17. ^Divine, Donna Robinson (Summer 2023)."Review of We Are Not One: A History of America's Fight over Israel, by Eric Alterman".The Middle East Journal.77(1): 110–111.doi:10.3751/77.1.306.RetrievedFebruary 14,2024.
  18. ^Alterman, Eric (June 5, 2012)."Eric Alterman".The Daily Beast.RetrievedJanuary 13,2019.
  19. ^Eric Alterman (February 8, 2006)."Dancing days are here again".Media Matters for America.Archived fromthe originalon March 9, 2007.RetrievedFebruary 2,2007.
  20. ^Eric Alterman (September 16, 2004)."Bush's Useful Idiot".The Nation.
  21. ^Eric Alterman (March 22, 2001)."Tweedledee, Indeed".The Nation.
  22. ^Eric Alterman (June 6, 2004)."Phew".NBC News.Archived fromthe originalon March 5, 2016.RetrievedFebruary 26,2007.
  23. ^Democracy Now(February 5, 2007)."Ralph Nader on Why He Might Run in 2008, the Iraq War & the New Documentary" An Unreasonable Man "".Democracy Now!.Archived fromthe originalon February 14, 2007.RetrievedFebruary 26,2007.
  24. ^Eric Alterman (November 9, 2011)."The Agony and Ecstasy — and 'Disgrace' — of Steve Jobs".The Nation.RetrievedNovember 16,2011.
  25. ^What's on a man's mind.Interview withReihan Salam.BloggingHeads.tv.Recorded March 13, 2009. Posted March 16, 2009.
  26. ^Eric Alterman (July 27, 2006)."The Impossible Dream: Honest Debate About Israel".Huffington Post.
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