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Eric Alterman

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Eric Alterman
BornJanuary 14, 1960
EducationB.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
Occupation(s)Journalist, author
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
Spousedivorced
ChildrenEve Rose

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.

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.

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 Fall 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, and he has been an historical consultant for HBO films.[citation needed] In September 2004 Viking Books 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. He is currently working on a book about the history of Liberalism.

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.

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.[7] He has called Nader "Bush's Useful Idiot,"[8] myopic,[9] and a deluded megalomaniac.[10] 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.[11]

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.[12] 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[13], 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[14] and TalkLeft.[15] All criminal charges were eventually dropped.

Books

  • "Why We're Liberals: A Political Handbook for Post-Bush America" forthcoming from Viking Books in March, 2008
  • When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and its Consequences. New York: Viking Adult, 2004. ISBN 0670032093 (10). ISBN 978-0670032099 (13).
  • The Book on Bush: How George W. (Mis)Leads America (2004) (co-authored with Mark J. Green)
  • What Liberal Media?: The Truth About Bias and the News (2003)
  • It Ain't No Sin to Be Glad You're Alive : The Promise of Bruce Springsteen (1999)
  • Who Speaks for America? Why Democracy Matters in Foreign Policy (1998)
  • Sound and Fury: The Making of the Punditocracy. (1993) (2nd ed., 2000)

Recent Articles

  • [1] - “My Marty Peretz Problem—and Ours” (On the history of The New Republic) The American Prospect, July/August, 2007
  • [2] - “Lives of the Democrats,” The New York Times Book Review, April 22, 2007
  • [3] - “First Casualty of War,” The Los Angeles Times, November 3, 2005
  • [4] - "Bush’s War on the Press," The Nation, May 9, 2005
  • [5] - "Big Ideas Need Sharp Elbows," The Nation, December 9, 2004.
  • [6] - "When Presidents Lie," The Nation (adapted from book), October 7, 2004
  • [7] - "The Hollywood Campaign," Atlantic Monthly, September, 2004
  • [8] - "Me and My Moguls," Atlantic Monthly, April 2004

Appearances (Video)

  • [9] "The Rise and Fall of American Liberalism," UC Davis. Nov 8, 2007
  • [10] "The Conservatives Have No Clothes," The Century Foundation. Sept. 25, 2007
  • [11] "The American News Media: Media Bias, with Eric Alterman and Tucker Carlson," UC Santa Barbara. January 14, 2006
  • [12]Eric Alterman on Charlie Rose, discussing the future of political pundits. March 21, 2005


References

  1. ^ Eric Alterman
  2. ^ Eric Alterman (September 11, 2006). "I'm Fired". Retrieved 2006-09-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "New Faculty Bring Worlds of Knowledge to Brooklyn College". August 26, 2004. Retrieved 2007-06-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "CUNY Board Names Alterman Distinguished Prof at Brooklyn College". July 10, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Center for American Progress. "Eric Alterman, Senior Fellow". Retrieved 2007-07-19.
  6. ^ World Policy Institute. "Eric Alterman, Senior Fellow". Retrieved 2007-07-19. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ Eric Alterman (February 8, 2006). "Dancing days are here again". Retrieved 2007-02-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Eric Alterman (September 16, 2004). "Bush's Useful Idiot". Retrieved 2007-02-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Eric Alterman (March 22, 2001). "Tweedledee, Indeed". Retrieved 2007-02-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Eric Alterman (June 6, 2004). "Phew". Retrieved 2007-02-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Democracy Now (February 5, 2007). "Ralph Nader on Why He Might Run In 2008, the Iraq War & the New Documentary "An Unreasonable Man"". Retrieved 2007-02-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Steve Brusk (June 3, 2007). "Columnnist/author arrested in spin room". Retrieved 2007-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ 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 2007-06-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Duncan Black (June 3, 2007). "Freed Alterman". Retrieved 2007-06-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Jeralyn Merritt (June 3, 2007). "Eric Alterman Released After Arrest in Debate Spin Room". Retrieved 2007-06-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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