Jeff Cohen

Jeff Cohen

Jeff Cohen is an activist and author. Cohen was an associate professor of journalism and the director of the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College, founder of the media watch group FAIR, and former board member of Progressive Democrats of America. In 2002, he was a producer and pundit at MSNBC (overseen by NBC News). He is the author of "Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media" - and a co-founder of the online action group, www.RootsAction.org. His website is here: http://jeffcohen.org

Articles by this author

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden listens to U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris make a statement at The Queen in Wilmington, Delaware on November 16, 2020. (Photo: Robert Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images) Views
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
President-Elect Biden: Time for YOU to Follow the Climate Science
One of the keys to Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump was his constant and accurate accusation that Trump "refuses to follow the science" on COVID-19—that "he won't listen to the scientists." It proved to be a winning campaign theme. Indeed, it's sobering to realize that without COVID—both Trump...
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President Donald J. Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before departing on Marine One on Saturday, June 20, 2020 in Washington DC. (Photo: Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post via Getty Images) Views
Tuesday, September 01, 2020
Four Years Ago, We Warned That Trump Could Win. Now, We’re Warning Again.
Five days before the election that put Donald Trump in the White House, a 2016 article we wrote appeared under the headline “ Dangerous Myths About Trump That Some Progressives Cling To .” The piece warned progressive activists about “three key myths”: Myth #1: “Trump can’t win.” Myth #2: “If Trump...
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"History teaches a clear lesson," writes Cohen. "The fact that our nation is the only advanced industrial country without universal healthcare cannot be blamed on Republican obstruction alone. It was also caused by Democratic leaders who've spent decades catering to corporate interests (while collecting their campaign donations)—and refusing to fight for universal coverage." (Photo: Joe Brusky/Flickr/cc) Views
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Democratic Leaders Have Blocked Real Healthcare Reform for Decades. Time to Give ‘Em Hell.
In 1948, Harry Truman pushed for a national nonprofit health insurance program in his successful, come-from-behind presidential campaign. When Truman’s plan was denounced as "socialized medicine" and "un-American" by the powerful American Medical Association, "Give ‘'Em Hell Harry" stood his ground...
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Martin Luther King Jr. and others march in Washington, DC in August 1963 demanding economic reforms, including full employment and better wages. (Photo: CWA/Local 7076) Views
Friday, July 03, 2020
Politicians of Color Should Not Be Immune From Criticism
To me, being an anti-racist activist means that one consistently challenges the structures of racist exclusion, exploitation, repression, and incarceration. It does not mean that one must defend or praise establishment politicians of color when their politics are an affront to our values and vision...
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At every stage in U.S. history—beginning with the brutal dispossession of Native Americans and continuing through modern methods of injustice from redlining to mass incarceration and private prisons—U.S. racism has been inextricably embedded in the system of profiteering. (Photo: Jörg Kantel/flickr/cc) Views
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Just Saying "Systemic Racism" Doesn't Expose Systemic Racism
If you’ve been watching mainstream TV news programs lately, you’ve probably noticed that a number of corporate journalists—prodded by the marvelous protests against police violence—seem to have learned a new phrase, which they invoke regularly: “systemic racism.” That’s an improvement from a dozen...
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Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders bump elbows before the Democratic debat hosted by CNN on Sunday, March 15, 2020. (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images) Views
Monday, March 16, 2020
Socialists for Biden and the Power of Corporate Media
It’s doubtful that Sunday night’s CNN debate shifted momentum in the presidential race currently favoring Joe Biden. The next few weeks offer the Bernie Sanders movement perhaps its last chance to win over—mostly through electronic means—Democratic primary voters. One voting bloc to focus on might...
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MSNBC host Chris Matthews opines on the state of the Democratic primary ahead of the Nevada Caucus last month. (Image: screenshot/MSNBC) Views
Tuesday, March 03, 2020
Did Chris Matthews Reveal That Democratic Establishment's Real Fear Is a Bernie Win?
Mainstream news outlets keep pounding home the same message—that the "Democratic establishment" or "Democratic moderates" are worried sick that Bernie Sanders can't beat Trump. They worry about a Trump landslide, and a "down-ballot disaster" in Congressional races. Democratic insiders, we're told,...
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Thursday, February 13, 2020
When CNN Introduces Bernie-Bashers Only as 'Former,' CNN Is Lying To You
CNN and CBS do it. NPR and PBS do it. They all do it. It’s a “gentleman’s” agreement between elite media and their establishment guests—a courtesy major news outlets bestow upon former officials who get to pontificate and editorialize about today’s events with no worry they’ll be identified by...
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Despite CNN's grandstanding claims that Sanders has not provided a price tag on his health plan, he repeatedly says that Medicare for All will cost $30 trillion or a bit more over 10 years. (Photo: CNN) Views
Monday, January 20, 2020
7 Pointed Questions for Corporate Media About Their Anti-Progressive Biases
We need to ask many serious questions of our nation's corporate media. Here are just a few. 1. Why don't you refer to our current healthcare system as a "corporate-run system" ? At Democratic presidential debates and elsewhere, network TV journalists have aggressively challenged the notion of "...
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Democratic presidential hopefuls Mayor of South Bend Pete Buttigieg, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders participate in the fifth Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season co-hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia on November 20, 2019. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) Views
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Warren vs. Buttigieg Clash Offers Contrast with Bernie's Consistency
In what is currently a four-way race for the Democratic nomination—featuring Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg—the recent war of words between Warren and Buttigieg has done little for them. But it has highlighted contrasts with Bernie Sanders. As Sen. Warren and “Mayor...
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