Stories by Norman Solomon
Norman Solomon's latest book Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America's Warfare State (PoliPointPress) is available now. For more information go to www.madelovegotwar.com.
"Circus dogs jump when the trainer cracks his whip," George Orwell wrote, "but the really well-trained dog is the one that turns his somersault when there is no whip." A half-century after Orwell's caustic gibe at compliant editors, self-censorship is one of the least discussed -- and most routine -- media constraints in the United States.
When a dictatorial government decides what can reach print or get on the airwaves, the heavy hand of the censor is apt to be obvious. But in a society where the First Amendment protects freedom of speech, the most significant limits may be obscured.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
After years of glowing coverage and avid speculation about his political future, it's time for news media to start asking tough questions about Colin Powell. Newsweek has called Gen. Powell "the most respected figure in American public life." Last month, Time magazine described him as "the Persian Gulf War hero who exudes strength, common sense and human values like no one else on the scene." But such accolades were mere warm-ups for the Powellmania that's just beginning.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
Today, most U.S. media are quiet about another country where the right to organize unions has virtually disappeared. It's a country where workers are often spied on, threatened or fired when they try to launch unions. It's a country known as the United States of America -- or perhaps that should be "the Union-busting States of America."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
The founder of USA Today recently gave a speech to 1,500 of this country's most powerful men. What did he tell them? Sorry -- it's a secret. Al Neuharth spoke at Bohemian Grove, the all-male encampment in Northern California where much of America's government and corporate elite gathers each summer for two weeks of speeches and fun activities like mock-Druid fire rituals.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
Rarely do we turn on a television or pick up a newspaper and learn what prisoners have to say. Without direct communication, they don't seem very real to us as human beings. As a result, it's much easier for us to demand ever-harsher prison terms.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
Even after a South Carolina jury declared Susan Smith guilty of murdering her two sons, reporters are not pressing Gingrich about the Smith case. Many seem to have forgotten that nine months ago, he loudly proclaimed the infanticide to be a campaign issue.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
The nation's most widely read newsweekly got snookered -- or, more precisely, snookered itself -- in a frenzy to beat the competition with a racy cover story about pornography on the Internet.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: deleted
"During the recent protests in Washington against the World Bank and IMF, the leading cable news network became fascinated with independent media. Journalism free of huge economic interests -- what a concept!"
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"Mainstream news coverage describes the IMF/World Bank demonstrations as an 'anti-trade festival.' It's a distortion that commonly makes its way into news stories. But protesters against the IMF and World Bank have not taken to the streets in opposition to trade any more than those who fought to outlaw slavery were against work."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"Oh Elian, how we love you! Kids your age usually aren't interesting to those of us in the media profession. They may suffer from hunger, poverty, racism and a host of other dangers, but the chances are slim that a spotlight will fall on their unimportant little lives. Not like you, Elian. You're so special, because we have made your ordeal a mesmerizing tragedy, a riveting psychodrama ..."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"Nearly five years after its purchase of ABC, the Disney Company made history in late March by subjecting confused 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez to a preposterous "interview." Why did Diane Sawyer -- and other bigshots at ABC/Disney -- insist on carrying out the scheme? For the same reasons that they pursue so many of their projects: Arrogance. Self-promotion. And greed."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"Despite all the emphasis on new media, photography has never lost the power to move us. Some recent photo essays in major American magazines, focusing on the poor and dispossessed, are efforts to break through abstraction and indifference."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"When the government takes a human life, it's usually not much of a national story -- maybe a few inches in the newspaper or a fleeting mention on a newscast. With 3,625 people on death row in the United States, and more arriving all the time, a macabre rhythm has taken hold."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"To an unprecedented extent, large numbers of American reporters and editors now work for just a few huge corporate employers -- a situation that hardly encourages unconstrained scrutiny of media conglomerates as they assume unparalleled importance in public life. As the late media critic Herbert Schiller pointed out, self-censorship has long been one of journalism's most ineffable hazards. And the current wave of mergers rocking the media industry is likely to heighten the dangers."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
"On the last day of February, the shocking news was that a 6-year-old boy in Michigan killed a classmate. How would a little boy get the impression that pointing a gun at someone and pulling the trigger is appropriate behavior? Not exactly a tough question. The television industry is good at deploring bloodshed -- while milking it to boost ratings."
Posted on Apr 1, 2000, Source: AlterNet
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