Jeff Cohen | |
---|---|
Born | [1] [2] Detroit, Michigan, U.S. [1] | November 10, 1951
Education | University of Michigan People's College of Law (JD) |
Occupation(s) | Journalist, media critic, professor, pundit, writer, lawyer |
Known for | Founder of FAIR |
Awards | Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award 1993-1994 (with Norman Solomon) |
Website | http://www.jeffcohen.org/ |
Jeff B. Cohen [3] (born November 10, 1951) is an American journalist, media critic, professor, and the founder of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a media watchdog group in the US. He is a retired associate professor of journalism at Ithaca College, where he was an endowed chair and founding Director of the Park Center for Independent Media. He was formerly a lawyer for the ACLU and authored or coauthored five books that criticize media bias, mainly written with 2012 California Congressional District 2 candidate, Norman Solomon, who missed the "top two" runoff by only 174 votes. Between 1997 and 2002, Cohen was a regular commentator for Fox News Channel's Fox News Watch , for MSNBC and CNN. He appeared in Outfoxed , a documentary critical of Fox News, and other documentaries.
Cohen grew up in Detroit and did undergraduate study at the University of Michigan. He studied law at the People's College of Law in Los Angeles and was admitted to the California Bar in 1981. Cohen then worked as a journalist in the L.A. area and after law school was a lawyer for the ACLU. Cohen founded FAIR in 1986 and subsequently served as executive director and on the board of directors.
In 2002 Cohen left FAIR to work full-time for MSNBC as senior producer of Phil Donahue's show, Donahue . [4] Previously, he briefly co-hosted CNN's Crossfire in 1996 and was a regular panelist on FNC's Fox News Watch from 1997 to 2002. Cohen had also been a return commentator at multiple networks.
Cohen was communications director for the Kucinich presidential campaign in 2003.
In 2006, Cohen became a volunteer journalist for OpEdNews and has since contributed over 50 articles. [5]
In 2008, Cohen became the founding director of the Park Center for Independent Media at the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College where he is an associate professor in the journalism department. The center studies, educates about, and advocates for non-corporate-controlled, independent news journalists and media outlets. Cohen additionally lectures across the country.
Beginning in the 1990s, Cohen, with Norman Solomon, wrote the "Media Beat" column syndicated in newspapers across the US, wrote occasional commentaries in various newspapers, and wrote a column for Brill's Content . He also has written investigative pieces for Rolling Stone , New Times , The Nation , Mother Jones , LA Progressive [6] and other publications. [7]
Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music. Ithaca College is known for its media-related programs and entertainment programs within the Roy H. Park School of Communications and the Ithaca College School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. The college has a liberal arts focus, and offers several pre-professional programs, along with some graduate programs.
MSNBC is an American news-based television channel and website headquartered in New York City. It is owned by NBCUniversal — a subsidiary of Comcast — and provides news coverage and political commentary. The network produces live broadcasts for its channel from studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, New York City, and aggregates its coverage and commentary on its website, msnbc.com.
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) is a progressive left-leaning media critique organization based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1986 by Jeff Cohen and Martin A. Lee. FAIR monitors American news media for bias, inaccuracies and censorship, and advocates for more diversity of perspectives in the news media. FAIR describes itself as "the national media watch group".
The Media Research Center (MRC) is an American conservative content analysis and media watchdog group based in Herndon, Virginia, and founded in 1987 by L. Brent Bozell III.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq had unprecedented US media coverage, especially cable news networks. US media was largely uncritical of the war, with many viewers falsely believing that Saddam Hussein and Iraq were involved with the 9/11 attacks. British media was more cautious in its coverage. The Qatari Al-Jazeera network was heavily critical of the war.
Phillip John Donahue was an American media personality, writer, film producer, and the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, later known simply as Donahue, was the first popular talk show to feature a format that included audience participation. The show had a 29-year run on national television that began in Dayton, Ohio, in 1967 and ended in New York City in 1996.
The Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award is an award created in honor of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. The Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards were established by Christie Hefner in 1979 to honor individuals who have made significant contributions in the vital effort to protect and enhance First Amendment rights for Americans. Since the inception of the awards, more than 100 individuals including high school students, lawyers, librarians, journalists and educators have been honored.
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism is a 2004 documentary film by filmmaker Robert Greenwald about Fox News Channel's and its owner's, Rupert Murdoch, promotion of conservative views. The film says this bias belies the channel's motto of being "Fair and Balanced".
Norman Solomon is an American journalist, media critic, activist, and former U.S. congressional candidate. Solomon is a longtime associate of the media watch group Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR). In 1997 he founded the Institute for Public Accuracy, which works to provide alternative sources for journalists, and serves as its executive director.
Claims of media bias in the United States generally focus on the idea of media outlets reporting news in a way that seems partisan. Other claims argue that outlets sometimes sacrifice objectivity in pursuit of growth or profits.
The Cornell Daily Sun is an independent newspaper at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is published twice weekly by Cornell University students and hired employees. Founded in 1880, The Sun is the oldest continuously independent college daily in the United States.
Ethan Kaplan is an associate professor of economics at the University of Maryland.
The Peoples College of Law (PCL) was an unaccredited private law school located in the downtown Los Angeles community of Westlake-MacArthur Park. PCL offered a part-time, four-year evening law program centered on work in the public interest. As of December 2023, there were seven students. The school closed by May 31, 2024 due to accreditation and financial issues.
The Roy H. Park School of Communications is one of five schools at Ithaca College, in Ithaca, New York, United States. The school is named after media executive Roy H. Park, who lived in Ithaca and who served on the board of trustees at Ithaca College for many years.
American political commentator Bill O'Reilly regularly expresses his points of view on a wide variety of political, social, and moral issues. He has personally labeled his political philosophy traditionalism. The O'Reilly Factor, since its inception on the Fox News Channel in 1996, has been the primary outlet of his opinions. O'Reilly started his own radio program, The Radio Factor, a few years later. He has also written several non-fiction books detailing some of his beliefs. O'Reilly generally leans to the right on most issues, most notably the Bush administration's War on Terror, but breaks from the conservative and Republican majority on such issues as the global warming controversy, gun control, gay marriage and the death penalty.
In 2002, Phil Donahue returned to television to host a talk show called Donahue on MSNBC.
Philip T. Griffin is an American television executive, who from 2008 to 2021 served as president of MSNBC, a United States cable news channel.
New York City has been called the media capital of the world. Many journalists work in Manhattan, reporting about international, American, sports, business, entertainment, and New York metropolitan area-related matters.
Hate Inc.: Why Today's Media Makes Us Despise One Another is a 2019 non-fiction book by Matt Taibbi. It was first self-published by Taibbi online in serial form and later published by OR Books on October 8, 2019, in both hardcover and paperback as well as e-book format.
The media coverage of Bernie Sanders, a U.S. Senator from Vermont, became a subject of discussion during his unsuccessful 2016 and 2020 presidential runs. His campaigns, some independent observers, as well as some media sources have said that the mainstream media in the United States is biased against Sanders. Others say that coverage is unbiased or biased in his favor. The allegations of bias primarily concern the coverage of his presidential campaigns.