Jeff B. Cohen (born November 10, 1951) is an American journalist, media critic, professor, and the founder of
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
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, inaccura ...
(FAIR), a media
watchdog
Watchdog or watch dog may refer to:
Animals
*Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence
* Portuguese Watch Dog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed
* Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet ...
group in the US. He is a retired associate professor of journalism at
Ithaca College
Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...
, where he was an endowed chair and founding Director of the Park Center for Independent Media. He was formerly a lawyer for the
ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
and authored or coauthored five books that criticize media bias, mainly written with 2012 California Congressional District 2 candidate,
Norman Solomon
Norman Solomon (born July 7, 1951) 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 founde ...
, who missed the "top two" runoff by only 174 votes. Between 1997 and 2002, Cohen was a regular commentator for
Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
's ''
Fox News Watch
''Fox News Watch'' was an American current event debate program on the Fox News Channel hosted by Jon Scott which was dedicated to discussing media bias. The show ended August 31, 2013, replaced by the similar '' MediaBuzz''.
Format
The show f ...
'', for
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
and
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
. He appeared in ''
Outfoxed
''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 mott ...
'', a documentary critical of Fox News, and other documentaries.
Biography
Cohen grew up in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
and did undergraduate study at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
. He studied law at the
People's College of Law
The Peoples College of Law (PCL) is an unaccredited, private, non-profit, Juris Doctor-granting law school
located in the downtown Los Angeles community of Westlake-MacArthur Park. PCL offers a part-time, four-year evening law program centered on ...
in Los Angeles and was admitted to the
California Bar
The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...
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
Phillip John Donahue (born December 21, 1935) is 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 talk show forma ...
's show, ''
Donahue Donahue is the Americanized version of Irish surname Donohoe, which, in turn, is an Anglicized version of the ancient Irish name "Donnchadh" (sometimes "Donncha").
Donncha was a common “first name” in 9th Century Ireland, and when the use of ...
''.
Previously, he briefly co-hosted CNN's ''
Crossfire
A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I.
...
'' 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.
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
Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...
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
Steven Brill (born August 22, 1950) is an American lawyer, journalist, and entrepreneur who founded monthly magazine ''The American Lawyer'' and cable channel Court TV. He is the author of the best-selling book, ''Tailspin: The People and Force ...
''. He also has written
investigative pieces for ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'', ''
New Times'', ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'', ''
Mother Jones
Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...
'', and other publications.
Books
* ''Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media'' (2006)
* ''Wizards of Media Oz: Behind the Curtain of Mainstream News'' (1997) (with
Norman Solomon
Norman Solomon (born July 7, 1951) 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 founde ...
)
* ''Through the Media Looking Glass: Decoding Bias and Blather in the News'' (1995) (with Norman Solomon)
* ''The Way Things Aren't: Rush Limbaugh's Reign of Error'' (1995) (with
Steve Rendall and
Jim Naureckas Jim Naureckas (born 1964 in Libertyville, Illinois) is the editor of ''Extra!'', the magazine of FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting).
He graduated from Stanford University in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in political science. He covered the ...
)
* ''Adventures in Medialand: Behind the News, Beyond the Pundits'' (1993) (with Norman Solomon)
Documentary
*
All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception and the Spirit of I. F. Stone (2016) Co-producer
See also
*
Bob McChesney
Bob McChesney is an LA based jazz and studio trombonist, famous for his use and mastery of the 'doodle - tongue,' a method of articulation on the trombone as well as his ultra fast and melodic solos. He currently teaches in the music department ...
(''Media Matters'')
References
External links
Personal homepageJeff Cohenat FAIR.org
Jeff Cohenbio at Huffingtonpost
Park Center for Independent Media homepageFaculty page at Ithaca CollegeScott Ritter and Jeff Cohen addressed an audience of 250 in Sacramento, CA on 1/16/08, MP3Video: Jeff Cohen and Scott Ritter – U.S. Tour of Duty: The Iran Talks(January 14, 2008)
19 August 201512 October 20141 May 201111 January 20099 May 2004interviews on
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Jeff
Living people
People from Detroit
American media critics
American political writers
American male non-fiction writers
University of Michigan alumni
Ithaca College faculty
People's College of Law alumni
1951 births