Stories by Norman Solomon

Norman Solomon is founding director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and co-founder of RootsAction.org. He co-chairs the national Healthcare Not Warfare campaign organized by Progressive Democrats of America. His books include War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. subscribe to Norman Solomon's feed

After the Libby Indictment, the Press Is Acquitting Itself

Posted on: Oct 31, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Even as the media are bypassing their own key roles in the marketing of those lies.

At the White House, the Spin Doctor Is Ill

Posted on: Oct 28, 2005, Source: AlterNet

A media siege is underway at the White House and the Bush Administration is locked in a fundamentally defensive crouch.

Iraq Is Not Vietnam. But...

Posted on: Oct 25, 2005, Source: AlterNet

...The U.S. media have continually laid down flagstones on the path the military intervention.

The Media's Crossroads, 25 Years After Reagan's Triumph

Posted on: Oct 23, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Back then, conservatives captured the White House. Today, an even more extreme incarnation is in charge.

Judith Miller, the Fourth Estate and the Warfare State

Posted on: Oct 17, 2005, Source: AlterNet

During the propaganda buildup for the invasion of Iraq, Judith Miller and the New York Times served as a key asset of the warfare state.

"The War on Terror" -- in Translation

Posted on: Oct 10, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Here's what the President really meant in his speech last week.<br />

Torture and the "Controversial" Arc of Injustice

Posted on: Sep 29, 2005, Source: AlterNet

What are we to make of the fact that the media considers torture controversial -- instead of clearly unjust?

The News Media and the Anti-war Movement

Posted on: Sep 26, 2005, Source: AlterNet

The way U.S. news outlets are covering the anti-war movement is similar to the coverage of the Vietnam War.

The Occasional Media Ritual of Lamenting the Habitual

Posted on: Sep 22, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Dan Rather's latest griping about the state of media is part of an ongoing cycle among our compliant media.

Dodging the Costs of the Warfare State

Posted on: Sep 19, 2005, Source: AlterNet

When the New York Times' editors warned of dire budget deficits, they failed to name the real reason: our 'war president.'

The Media Are Knocking Bush -- and Propping Him Up

Posted on: Sep 16, 2005, Source: AlterNet

The mainstream U.S. press is ill-suited to challenging the legitimacy of the Bush administration.

Firing Michael Brown Is Not Enough

Posted on: Sep 8, 2005, Source: AlterNet

How about Bush and Cheney too?<br clear="all" />

Ending the Impunity of the Bush White House

Posted on: Sep 2, 2005, Source: AlterNet

The Bush Administration's policies continue to kill with impunity.

Guard Belongs in New Orleans, Not Baghdad

Posted on: Aug 31, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Bring the National Guard home now, where they're needed.

Bush's Option to Escalate the War in Iraq

Posted on: Aug 24, 2005, Source: AlterNet

George W. Bush and his top aides seem to believe in red-white-and-blue violence with a fervor akin to religiosity.

Building Agendas for War

Posted on: Aug 23, 2005, Source: AlterNet

In a recent talk, author and media critic Norman Solomon laid out the many ways in which the media helps the government push our country into war.

Blaming the Antiwar Messengers

Posted on: Aug 18, 2005, Source: AlterNet

While President Bush anxiously awaits the end of his vacation, right-wing media assaults on Cindy Sheehan are just beginning.

Someone Tell Frank Rich the War Is Not Over

Posted on: Aug 16, 2005, Source: AlterNet

For the Americans still in Iraq, and for the Iraqis still caught in the crossfire of the occupation, the war’s consequences will stretch on for years if not decades.

Rage Against the Killing of the Light

Posted on: Aug 10, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Cindy Sheehan is bursting Bush's attempt to ignore America's war dead.

The Incredible Blight of TV Punditry

Posted on: Aug 5, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Robert Novak's outburst on CNN this week is one more sign of the decline of television journalism.

'Operation Withdrawal Scam'

Posted on: Aug 1, 2005, Source: AlterNet

The military’s pullout strategy for Iraq is double-barrelled: Keep killing in Iraq while hyping scenarios for withdrawal of U.S. troops.

In Praise of Kevin Benderman

Posted on: Jul 29, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Conscience is not part of the military's chain of command.

'This Guy is a Modern-Day Hitler'

Posted on: Jul 26, 2005, Source: AlterNet

For more than 40 years, comparing an administration's enemies to Hitler has been a reliable way to convince a pliant media and unquestioning public to go to war.

Terrorism and the Message of Carnage

Posted on: Jul 8, 2005, Source: AlterNet

The president who lied his way into an invasion of Iraq is now exploiting Thursday's atrocities in London to justify U.S. policies that are bringing daily atrocities to Iraq.

Judith Miller: Drum Major for War

Posted on: Jul 7, 2005, Source: AlterNet

In the rush to praise Miller for going to jail, people forget her repeated push for war, and adherence to the government's version of stories.

Memo to Iraq War: This Is the First Day of the Rest of Your Death

Posted on: Jul 1, 2005, Source: AlterNet

On the propaganda front, it's been another tough week for Washington's warmakers. But for them, where there's hope there's death.

Voluntary Amnesia in the Service of War

Posted on: Jun 24, 2005, Source: AlterNet

The ambient noise of American media evokes history -- distant or recent -- as an option we may choose to decline, like mustard on a burger.

Gains for Democracy in Iran

Posted on: Jun 16, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Iran's most repressive clerics and the USA's most militaristic neocons share a common interest: They're very eager to see the failure of Iranian activism for democracy and human rights.

From Watergate to Downing Street -- Lying for War

Posted on: Jun 10, 2005, Source: AlterNet

You wouldn't know it from the media focus on Deep Throat last week, but the lies that Richard Nixon told about the Watergate break-in were part of his standard duplicity for the Vietnam War.

War Made Easy: From Vietnam to Iraq

Posted on: Jun 3, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Whatever the circumstances, in the shadow of Vietnam, every subsequent U.S. war seemed to offer the opportunity to do it right, with less muss, less fuss, and more ease.

The Silent Media Curse of Memorial Day

Posted on: May 27, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Despite all the talk of war and remembrance, no time is more infused with insidious forgetting than the last days of May.

And Now, It's Time For ... "Media Jeopardy!"

Posted on: May 23, 2005, Source: AlterNet

The endless show that seems to fill America's every waking moment -- and many of its nightmares -- could be called "Media Jeopardy!"

Political Bluster and the Filibuster

Posted on: May 13, 2005, Source: AlterNet

The merits of a Senate filibuster have everything to do with what kind of nation people want.

Nuclear Fundamentalism and the Iran Story

Posted on: May 6, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Like an institution run by religious fanatics, <i>The New York Times</i> still cannot let go of its corporate faith in the great god of nuclear power.

Iraq: War, Aid and Public Relations

Posted on: Apr 28, 2005, Source: AlterNet

We were being encouraged to celebrate Marla Ruzicka's life, her work and her message. But--in the context of a continuing war--what was her message?

Journalism's Crisis of Faith

Posted on: Apr 22, 2005, Source: AlterNet

The papacy of Benedict XVI confronts journalists with a key question: How much critical scrutiny is appropriate when a religious leader gains enormous power?

When Media Dogs Don't Bark

Posted on: Apr 18, 2005, Source: AlterNet

The recent decision by General Motors to pull its advertising from the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> has not gone over very well.

Beyond the Narrow Limits of News Coverage

Posted on: Apr 8, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Media coverage over the fight to keep libraries open in Steinbeck's hometown is disturbingly sparse.

The Bush-Cheney Media Enterprises

Posted on: Apr 1, 2005, Source: AlterNet

The first quarter of 2005 brought significant media dividends for the Bush-Cheney limited liability corporation.

Little Reporting on Paranoia in High Places

Posted on: Mar 24, 2005, Source: AlterNet

The standard American media lexicon has steered clear of a word that would be an apt description of the Bush world view. Paranoid.

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