Norman Solomon (born July 7, 1951) is an American
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
,
media critic
Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but most ...
, 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.
Solomon's weekly column, "Media Beat", was in national syndication from 1992 to 2009. In 2012, Solomon ran for Congress in
California's 2nd congressional district
California's 2nd congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in California. Jared Huffman, a Democrat, has represented the district since January 2013. Currently, it encompasses the North Coast region and adjacent areas of the ...
. He attended the
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
and
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
Democratic National Conventions as a
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 20 ...
delegate. Since 2011, he has been the national director of RootsAction.org.
Early life and activism
Solomon came under
FBI scrutiny after he picketed for the
desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...
of a
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
apartment complex at age 14. He became aware of their
surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...
later, through a
Freedom of Information
Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. This sometimes includes "scientific, indigen ...
request.
After high school, Solomon began a lifelong commitment to progressive activism. Solomon engaged in civil disobedience as part of the
anti-nuclear movement
The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, natio ...
, and eventually spent 40 days in jail as a result. He made eight trips to
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
during the 1980s, including one during which he and a leader of an American group, the Alliance of Atomic Veterans, organized a
sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...
at the U.S. Embassy, demanding that the U.S. join the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
in a halt to tests of nuclear bombs.
Writer and media critic
![Progressive Norman Solomon, CA-6 candidate (5670880841)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Progressive_Norman_Solomon%2C_CA-6_candidate_%285670880841%29.jpg)
As a freelance journalist, Solomon reported for a number of years for
Pacific News Service.
In 1988, Solomon worked briefly as a spokesperson for the Alliance of Atomic Veterans in
Washington, D.C. He was hired in August 1988 to run the new Washington, D.C., office of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.
The author of 12 books, his op-ed pieces have appeared in a range of newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post and USA Today. His articles have been published by The Nation and other magazines. He is a frequent contributor to online outlets such as Common Dreams, Salon and LA Progressive.
A book of Solomon's collected columns, ''The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media'', won the 1999
George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language.
Jonathan Kozol
Jonathan Kozol (born September 5, 1936) is an American writer, progressive activist, and educator, best known for his books on public education in the United States.
Education and experience
Born to Harry Kozol and Ruth (Massell) Kozol, Jon ...
's introduction to the book noted "the tradition of
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in sever ...
,
Lincoln Steffens
Lincoln Austin Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in '' McClure's'', called " ...
, and
I. F. Stone
Isidor Feinstein "I. F." Stone (December 24, 1907 – June 18, 1989) was an American investigative journalist, writer, and author.
Known for his politically progressive views, Stone is best remembered for ''I. F. Stone's Weekly'' (1953–1971), ...
does not get much attention these days in the mainstream press ... but that tradition is alive and well in this collection of courageously irreverent columns on the media by Norman Solomon...."
In 2000, Solomon teamed up with
Robert Parry to write a series of investigative reports on George W. Bush's Secretary of State
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first Africa ...
, published on Parry's website
Consortium News
Robert Earle Parry (June 24, 1949 – January 27, 2018) was an American investigative journalist. He was known for his role in covering the Iran–Contra affair for the Associated Press (AP) and ''Newsweek'', including breaking the Psychologica ...
.
Solomon's book ''Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You'' (co-authored with
Reese Erlich) was published in 2003 and translated into German, Italian, Hungarian, Portuguese, and Korean. ''War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death'' appeared in 2005. The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' called the book "a must-read for those who would like greater context with their bitter morning coffee, or to arm themselves for the debates about Iraq that are still to come." A
documentary, narrated by
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008).
Penn began his acting career in televisi ...
, was based on the book released in 2007.
Solomon is the founder and executive director of the
Institute for Public Accuracy, an organization founded in 1997 "as a national consortium of independent public-policy researchers, analysts and activists."
According to its web site, the mission of IPA is to increase "the reach and capacity of progressive and grassroots organizations (at no cost to them) to address public policy by getting them and their ideas into the mainstream media".
Peace missions to Iraq
As Executive Director of the Institute for Public Accuracy—which challenged Bush administration's claims Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction—Solomon organized and led missions to Baghdad, seeking to avert the impending U.S. invasion. In mid-September 2002, he went with Congressman Nick Rahall (D-W.VA), former Senator James Abourezk (D-SD) and Conscience International President James Jennings to Baghdad, where they met with top officials of the Iraqi government, including Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz. Days later, Iraq gave a green light for UN inspectors to return to the country. In December 2002, Solomon accompanied actor and director Sean Penn to Baghdad in another attempt to foster dialogue and prevent a U.S.-led attack.
2012 congressional campaign
On April 13, 2011, Solomon officially announced his candidacy for the open House seat in the newly created
2nd congressional district of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
.
Representative
Lynn Woolsey—the incumbent from the former
6th congressional district, which was geographically expanded into the new 2nd district via redistricting—announced her retirement later in June, setting up a competitive Democratic primary in one of the more liberal districts in the country.
Observers expected Solomon to position himself to the left of his competitors and as the "philosophical heir" to Rep. Woolsey, a leader of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most left-leaning faction of the Democratic Party. " e Congressional Progressive Cau ...
.
In announcing his campaign Solomon himself argued, "After so many years of progressive leadership from Lynn Woolsey, her successor in the House should have a proven commitment to a wide range of progressive values."
Solomon emphasized his strong environmentalist background and particularly his opposition to nuclear power, which he used to differentiate himself from his primary opponent Assemblyman
Jared Huffman
Jared William Huffman (born February 18, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 2nd congressional district since 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
From 2006 to 2012, Huffman w ...
.
His overall fundraising strategy was patterned after those of
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 2009 ...
and
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
, as he sought to finance his campaign via small but continuous contributions from a large donor pool.
Solomon failed to reach the general election, running third in the crowded primary, only 173 votes behind second place, with 14.9% of ballots cast, in the
June 2012 California state elections. He followed eventual winner, Democratic state Assemblyman
Jared Huffman
Jared William Huffman (born February 18, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 2nd congressional district since 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
From 2006 to 2012, Huffman w ...
(37.5%) and Republican
Daniel Roberts with (15.0%). In California's newly implemented
nonpartisan blanket primary
A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party. ...
, the top two vote recipients, regardless of party, proceed to compete in the general election.
RootsAction.org
Solomon co-founded the online activist group Roots Action in early 2011; ten years later, it counted more than 1.3 million active members. With Solomon as RootsAction's coordinator, the group has addressed a wide range of concerns. In 2012, it generated more than 14,000 individual emails to the government of Ecuador as part of a successful campaign urging asylum in Ecuador's London embassy for WikiLeaks founder
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army int ...
. In August 2013, Solomon delivered a RootsAction petition with more than 100,000 signers to the Nobel Committee in Oslo, urging that
Chelsea Manning
Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning; December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. She is a former United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage A ...
be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. RootsAction was the first large U.S.-based online group to petition in support of NSA whistleblower
Edward Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...
. In early 2014, RootsAction presented petitions (totaling 100,000 signers) to the State Department and Justice Department urging that the U.S. government restore Snowden's passport and end its efforts to capture him. By the end of the decade, RootsAction had organized many hundreds of online actions, including a #VoteTrumpOut initiative.
On June 4, 2014, Solomon was among the speakers at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., announcing the launch of ExposeFacts.org as an ongoing project of the Institute for Public Accuracy. In tandem with IPA, RootsAction hosted a news conference in Washington on August 14, 2014, announcing a petition with more than 100,000 signatures in support of
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
reporter
James Risen
James Risen (born April 27, 1955) is an American journalist for ''The Intercept''. He previously worked for ''The New York Times'' and before that for ''Los Angeles Times''. He has written or co-written many articles concerning U.S. government ...
. At issue was the U.S. government's attempt to force Risen to testify against an alleged source, former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling. C-SPAN aired the full 70-minute news conference, which was co-sponsored by the Institute for Public Accuracy and RootsAction.org.
The October 27, 2014 edition of The Nation published a cover story by Solomon and investigative journalist Marcy Wheeler on the intertwined cases of Risen and Sterling as well as overall Obama administration policies toward the news media and whistleblowers ("The Government War Against Reporter James Risen").
In 2017, Solomon co-authored RootsAction's "Autopsy" report on the Democratic Party's 2016 Presidential defeat by Republican Donald Trump. The report attributed Trump's election to Republican
voter suppression efforts and the Democratic Party’s failure to mobilize its base.
After Biden gained the Democratic Party Presidential nomination, RootsAction launched the online "Vote Trump Out" campaign in swing states, with special attention to Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin. Politico covered the "Vote Trump Out" campaign under the headline, "We have to get rid of Trump: Pro-Bernie group launches an effort to boost Biden."
Weeks after Biden defeated Trump, RootsAction launched its "No Honeymoon" campaign to challenge Biden to enact a progressive agenda and "to push back against the destructive forces of corporate power, racial injustice, extreme income inequality, environmental assault and the military-industrial complex."
In July 2022, Solomon and Roots Action announced a campaign
Don't Run Joe- to discourage President Joe Biden from running for the presidency in 2024. It launched the campaign in New Hampshire, the first primary state, right after the fall 2022 midterm election, calling on voters to demand bold Democratic leadership.
Bernie Delegates Network
Solomon was elected as a pledged Bernie Sanders delegate to the
2016 Democratic National Convention
The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the majo ...
. As a resident of
Marin County
Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...
, he was elected to represent
California's 2nd congressional district
California's 2nd congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in California. Jared Huffman, a Democrat, has represented the district since January 2013. Currently, it encompasses the North Coast region and adjacent areas of the ...
. He helped to organize, and was the coordinator of, the Bernie Delegates Network independent from the official Sanders campaign organization. Solomon said, "As much as we love Bernie, we don't take orders from him." The network contacted 1,250 Sanders delegates, about two-thirds of the total. Sanders urged his delegates not to boo or engage in disruption on the convention floor. According to Solomon, a survey of the Sanders delegates showed that 28% felt no obligation to comply with Sanders' appeal.
In 2020, when Solomon was elected again as a Bernie Sanders delegate to the Democratic National Convention, he served as a coordinator, among others, to a revived Bernie Delegates Network. The network, co-sponsored by RootsAction,
Progressive Democrats of America
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) is a progressive political organization and grassroots political action committee operating primarily within the Democratic Party of the United States. The group has established chapters in 32 states and ter ...
and
Our Revolution
Our Revolution (sometimes known by its initials OR) is an American progressive political action organization spun out of Senator Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign to continue its work. The organization's mission is to educate vote ...
, helped mobilize over 1,000 DNC delegates to vote no on the party's 2020 national platform because the platform did not support
Medicare for All
Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer").
Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from p ...
or a single payer health care system.
Books
*''Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America's Warfare State'' (October 2007)
*''War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death'' (July 2005)
*''Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You'' (co-authored with
Reese Erlich) (2003)
*''The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media'' (1999)
*''Wizards of Media Oz: Behind the Curtain of Mainstream News'' (co-authored with
Jeff Cohen) (1997)
*''The Trouble With
Dilbert
''Dilbert'' is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office with engineer Dilbert as the title characte ...
: How Corporate Culture Gets the Last Laugh'' (1997)
*''Through the Media Looking Glass: Decoding Bias and Blather in the News'' (with
Jeff Cohen) (1995)
*''False Hope: The Politics of Illusion in the Clinton Era'' (1994)
*''Adventures in Medialand: Behind the News, Beyond the Pundits'' (with
Jeff Cohen) (1993)
*''The Power of Babble: The Politician's Dictionary of Buzzwords and Doubletalk for Every Occasion'' (1992)
*''Unreliable Sources: A Guide to Detecting Bias in News Media'' (co-authored with
Martin A. Lee
Martin A. Lee is an American author and activist who has written books and articles on far-right movements, terrorism, media issues, and drug politics.
Education and career
Lee has an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Mich ...
) (1990)
*''Killing Our Own: The Disaster of America's Experience With Atomic Radiation'' (co-authored with
Harvey Wasserman
Harvey Franklin Wasserman (born December 31, 1945) is an American journalist, author, democracy activist, and advocate for renewable energy. He has been a strategist and organizer in the anti-nuclear movement in the United States for over 30 years ...
, 1982)
Film
*''War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death'' (2007), from the Media Education Foundation, a
documentary, narrated by
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008).
Penn began his acting career in televisi ...
, based on the book.
References
External links
Personal websiteArchive of Norman Solomon's articles on his website.Columns by Norman Solomon from 2000-present.*
Column archiveon ''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''
War Made Easy documentaryAuthor interview in ''Guernica Magazine''Internet Movie Database Norman SolomonLA Progressive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon, Norman
1951 births
Living people
American anti–Iraq War activists
American anti–nuclear power activists
American anti–nuclear weapons activists
American foreign policy writers
American male non-fiction writers
American male journalists
American media critics
American political journalists
American political writers
California Democrats
HuffPost writers and columnists
American opinion journalists
Reed College alumni
Writers from California