Stories by Norman Solomon

The lobbying goals of media corporations extend into areas that might surprise you. According to the Center for Public Integrity, "Federal Communications Commission employees were taken on 1,460 all-expenses-paid trips sponsored by media corporations and associations since 1995, costing a total of $1.5 million."

On the televised surface, the Democratic National Convention exuded plenty of sweetness and generosity. It was great theater -- of the absurd.

You know the networks are desperate when they air live interviews with Lynne Cheney's beautician, and the key issue is: "hair spray vs. gel?"

Big-name journalists are fond of rosy windows on the world. Overall, the powerful politicians they cover have similar vantage points. And when large numbers of them get together, the upbeat -- and facile -- rhetoric is thick.

George Orwell has been dead for half a century, but Orwellian language lives on. Instead of scrutinizing the facile rhetoric of U.S. politics, reporters are inclined to solemnly relay it, while adding some of their own.

"In recent years, several dozen companies have bought major-league naming rights. Teams now play in Bank One Ballpark (Phoenix), Network Associates Coliseum (Oakland) and Continental Airlines Arena (New Jersey). But a public-interest group is urging sportswriters to resist a free-enterprise wave of the future."

"George W. Bush and Al Gore are among the most boring political leaders in the country. And that's saying something. But every four years, when summer begins, the national media curtain rises on an overheated stage of presidential politics. The political show must go on -- no matter how phony it may be."

The virtual Ten Commandments of Dot-Comity are now widespread: You shall not take the name of the Lord your Market in vain ... You shall not fail to make a killing ... Remember the stock exchange and keep it holy ...

The mass media has ignored a recent book about the deadly effects of advertising, which isn't terribly surprising, given the media's addiction to commercials that give them their big profits.

By the time searchers found the body of John F. Kennedy Jr., countless journalists had already identified him as a profound symbol of the nation.

Solomon writes: "By now, we're so accustomed to the spectacle of state-run gambling that we rarely give it a second thought ... If people want to gamble, that's their choice. But is it proper for government agencies to constantly exhort the public to buy lottery tickets at supermarkets and liquor stores? Such questions should be debated. But most news outlets seem too caught up in lottery mania to scrutinize it."

On the State of the Union Address, Solomon comments: "America's broadcasters did a fine job of satirizing themselves the other night. There was just one problem: They were dead serious. What began as State of the Union coverage became an unfunny spoof about the State of TV News. On stations across the country, frenetic O.J. mania displaced oily political platitudes. What a choice. It may be fashionable to chastise television for going tabloid. But when you come right down to it, less air time for present-day punditry is no great loss.

Normon Solomon writes, "Media coverage often depicts Bob Dole as suffering from an acute form of political schizophrenia. The story goes that Dole is so anxious to appease far-right Republicans that he loses touch with his own natural decency. By the time the GOP finishes its San Diego convention in mid-August, party "spin doctors" will be hailing a triumph for Dole's noble inner core. Ironically, quite a few liberal commentators have helped to prepare the ground for such a PR maneuver -- which can only be effective to the extent that the public buys the notion of Dole's innate goodness."

Solomon writes: "Under the Capitol big top, you'll see blow-dried fire eaters! Oratorical snake charmers! A white-maned lion tamer from Chicago! And hired guns, eager to rescue the death-defying pioneer from a backwoods town called Hope!"

Solomon writes, "When Bobbi McCaughey gave birth to septuplets, she became an instant heroine. Fame and fortune arrived with her babies. The news media went nuts. And the gifts poured in ... While such generosity is all well and good, it's very likely the media interest and the public response would have come much sooner for the Thompson newborns [first black sextuplets born in the United States last spring] if they'd been white. That kind of tacit racism is only one of the problems with the media's mania for multiple births."

In contrast to the TV commercials bought by politicians, news on the tube is supposed to be informative. Yet, in the real world, TV news coverage is more superficial than ever. During the 1968 presidential race, when Nixon squared off against Hubert Humphrey, the average length of one of their sound bites on network TV news was 43 seconds. By 1988, when George Bush and Michael Dukakis ran for president, the average length had dropped to nine seconds. These days, the notion of sound bites is obsolete. A more fitting term for televised snippets of political rhetoric would be "sound nibbles". Which should raise a key question: What, of substance, can be said in nine seconds?

"From corporate America's vantage point, Pat Buchanan is the ideal 'populist' candidate: he mouths anti-corporate rhetoric but doesn't support workers, minorities or the environment."

Solomon writes: "Imagine sitting in front of a TV set that automatically blocks out commercials. A fantasy? Maybe not. The option could soon be available in the United States."

News coverage of poverty in America has become a peep show. Every day, poor people are on display as victims of misfortune or victimizers of each other: Step right up and take a look at violence, drug abuse and despair. Media peepholes allow the public to see some lurid effects of widespread poverty in this land of plenty. But the range of sight is so narrow that even the better coverage gets jammed into a woefully inadequate frame.