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.
Solomon writes: "Columbus Day is a national holiday. But it's also a good time to confront the true story of the heroic explorer who "discovered" America. This bloody history might make modern readers tremble -- if they had access to it instead of just mythology."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "On Sept. 30, 1986, Israel's government kidnapped Mordechai Vanunu in Rome and put him on a cargo ship. Back in Israel, at a secret trial, he faced charges of espionage and treason. A military court sentenced him to 18 years in prison. What was Vanunu's crime? He gave detailed information to journalists at the Sunday Times of London -- about Israel's arsenal of nuclear bombs."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "So, why don't we hear more about hunger in the United States? A key factor is the media industry's fixation on demographics. 'Because the mass media is aimed at the people with the highest disposable income, we see pictures of hunger overseas, but not our own,' Food First observes. 'Perhaps that's a reason why the growth of the Hunger Class has been ignored politically.'"
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "The calendar says that autumn has arrived, but what's more apparent is that Americans are up to their eyeballs in a deluge of media cliches. Ever since the Starr report became an instant classic of political pornography, news watchers have been wading through an endless flood of dubious truisms and easy platitudes."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "The day after McGwire set a record with his 62nd home run, three dozen file boxes -- filled with Kenneth Starr's case against the president -- reached Capitol Hill. Their arrival dramatized how Clinton's fortunes have changed."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Labor Day may be a fitting tribute to America's workers. But what about the other 364 days of the year? Despite all the talk about the importance and dignity of working people, they get little power or glory in the everyday world of news media."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Labor Day may be a fitting tribute to America's workers. But what about the other 364 days of the year? Despite all the talk about the importance and dignity of working people, they get little power or glory in the everyday world of news media."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "When they put bombs in cars and kill people, they're uncivilized killers. When we put bombs on missiles and kill people, we're upholding civilized values. When they kill, they're terrorists. When we kill, we're striking against terror. At all times, Americans must be kept fully informed about who to hate and fear."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "While preparing for his grand-jury testimony, Bill Clinton got plenty of pointers -- not only from lawyers and White House aides, but also from the media. For weeks, news outlets provided a crescendo of advice for the president's day of reckoning."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Ten years ago, few Americans knew your name. Today, many wish they could forget it. This is your media life, Bill Clinton!"
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
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."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Let's face it: Sensational news coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal is going to continue for a long time. Despite all the media criticism of Kenneth Starr, the co-dependent counsel is locked in a passionate embrace with the Washington press corps."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Back in the early '60s, Alan Shepard and Robert Young cast huge shadows on the national media stage. So, after the heroic astronaut and the famous actor both died on July 21, the media coverage stirred up memories that are dim yet deep."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "A classic sequence of media spin is probable if Wellstone goes ahead with a presidential campaign: First, he can't win. Then, if he makes headway in early primaries and caucuses, he shouldn't win. And if a lot of voters keep rejecting that assessment, then the hue and cry will be that his nomination would wreck the Democratic Party."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Judging from the uproar about recent retractions by CNN and Time magazine, you might conclude that American journalism maintains high standards for war-related reporting -- and sets the record straight when those standards aren't met. But nothing could be farther from the truth."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Judging from the uproar about recent retractions by CNN and Time magazine, you might conclude that American journalism maintains high standards for war-related reporting -- and sets the record straight when those standards aren't met. But nothing could be farther from the truth."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Renowned baseball players took the field recently for another All-Star game. It's a major-league spectacle that happens with much fanfare every summer. But what would a team of media All-Stars look like?"
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Two recent events -- the launch of a magazine about news media and the release of a survey about journalists' opinions -- illustrate the wide gap between the preoccupations of elite media professionals and the economic outlooks of most Americans."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "With its enormous population, China comes across as a beast that could be a great help or a terrible foe -- a fabulous marketing opportunity or a horrendous threat."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "By now, one of the civic rituals of government officials and journalists is to keep extolling the latest computer technologies as indicators of a glorious future. It's part of a huge fixation on form over content. Whatever else happens, rest assured that the computers will run on time."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "By now, with election-year inflation so rampant, our eyes often glaze over at the sight of huge campaign expenditures. The news coverage of election returns might have more meaning if it included a tabulation we rarely see: the cost of each vote."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Imagine how astonished you'd be if you turned on a television and found a newscast like this one: ... 'Today, among all the industrialized countries, the United States has the largest gap between rich and poor. But we're not going to spend much time talking about such facts on our newscasts. Why should we?'"
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "As soon as news broke about the Indian nuclear tests, the Central Intelligence Agency proclaimed that it had been taken by surprise ... But we're supposed to believe that the CIA -- an agency with a multibillion-dollar budget, access to the world's most precise spy satellites and agents in every corner of the globe -- was in the dark until the New Delhi government made the announcement."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "This country's journalists don't have to visit India in order to find alarming evidence of a nuclear arms race. They could venture much closer to home. Forty miles from San Francisco, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory are still designing thermonuclear bombs."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
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."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Many national media outlets are in a state of high moral outrage about Jerry Springer, the current emperor of daytime trash television. Some critics are charging that his program -- a daily presentation of violence, bleeped-out profanity and verbal abuse -- is all too real. Or, at the same time, not real enough. By indignantly accusing the show of fakery, critics indicate that they would prefer authentic sleaziness."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "After a Pulitzer Prize went to Katharine Graham in mid-April for her autobiography 'Personal History,' media coverage added new luster to the book's reputation ... But Robert Parry -- who was a Washington correspondent for Newsweek during the last three years of the 1980s -- can shed some light on the shadows of Graham's reassuring prose."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "By now, the lines between media, politics, entertainment and commercialism have just about disappeared. This month, Bob Dole spoke at the annual meeting of the American Association of Advertising Agencies. The former Republican presidential candidate reportedly got $40,000 for making the speech. That explains why he bothered. But why did the group invite him in the first place?"
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
When Abigail Thernstrom became a national media star last fall as a scholarly foe of affirmative action, it was yet another triumph for the Manhattan Institute. Once again, its "Book Fellowship Program" had launched an author into the media stratosphere. Founded in 1978 by William Casey, who later became President Reagan's CIA director, the Institute's track record with authors has been notable.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "A new term for an old problem has just emerged in the national press. We're now told that much of the media industry has come down with 'diversity fatigue.' Before this malady, the story goes, the American Society of Newspaper Editors was committed to racial diversity ... Twenty years ago, when the editors did a nationwide survey, they found that only 4 percent of staffers were black, Latino, Asian or Native American. Today, the numbers look better -- 11.4 percent -- but hardly impressive."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Whether by design or a random twist of fate, President Clinton's return to Washington from his historic Africa trip came just before the 30th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King Jr. Another laudatory statement from the White House was predictable."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "When it comes to muzzling the press, the planet's hall of shame is crowded. According to a report just issued by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the worst offenders include the governments of Albania, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey. The Committee's 443-page report, 'Attacks on the Press in 1997,' makes for plenty of grim reading. The cultural contexts and political ideologies certainly vary, but many regimes share a common thread: They want to prevent freedom of expression because it might undermine their power."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "For months now, media outlets have been flooding us with intense debates over President Clinton's sexual conduct. But news coverage still fails to consider the Clinton scandals in the context of what he has long been preaching about welfare recipients and other low-income Americans."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Welcome to another episode of 'Whitewashington Week in Review.' Thanks for joining us. I'm your host, Ben Mode. As always, our panel of esteemed journalists will toss around savvy questions that aren't softball or hardball. Get ready -- some very lofty beach balls are about to float across the table!"
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "The nation's biggest news weekly is celebrating itself. Time magazine has put out a '75th Anniversary Issue,' paying tribute to the vision of founder Henry Luce ... But Time's 75th anniversary issue is a telling instance of how lofty rhetoric can easily serve as a cover story. The hero of the retrospective, Henry Luce, gets plenty of adulation and some hazy references to flaws. But it's sanitized history, omitting less pleasant facts."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "While tracking the Monica Lewinsky scandal, many prominent journalists have resembled tigers, eager to pounce on President Clinton. With some other issues, in sharp contrast, they behave more like lapdogs. When reporting on the Lewinsky matter, the national press corps has ripped into Clinton's statements to expose evasions and inconsistencies. But when it comes to reporting on President Clinton's economic priorities, the same journalists usually echo his assertions without question."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Seven years ago, the Pentagon imposed strict curbs on media coverage of the Gulf War ... In recent weeks, as the Pentagon finalized its rules of media engagement for another assault on Iraq, news outlets again seemed ready to knuckle under. Tidy euphemisms for killing returned. And, as if to stiffen American resolve, news reports warned that Saddam Hussein will use civilian casualties for propaganda purposes."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Last fall, when Rupert Murdoch joined the board of directors at the Cato Institute, the announcement went unreported in major news outlets. Perhaps it seemed routine for one of the world's most powerful media moguls to take a leadership post at one of the most influential think tanks in Washington.
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "A Report From the Grim Reaper: Glory days are here again! ... With prospects growing for high-tech weaponry to shatter a lot of bodies soon, I deeply appreciate the enthusiasm for such marvels in the American news media. The mood is auspicious for us to get comfortably numb, so that Iraqi people blown up by U.S. bombs won't seem like real people. Hooray!"
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Solomon writes: "Is President Clinton lying about his relationship with the former White House intern? Should it matter? These are the kinds of questions that the media establishment loves. They can be debated endlessly, with appreciable entertainment value. And -- since any individual politician is expendable -- no really powerful interests are going to mind very much."
Posted on Apr 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
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