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For more information contact mark.a.kinders@uwrf.edu or brenda.k.bredahl@uwrf.edu.

Media/Political Columnist Visits UWRF

By Erin Orgeman
UWRF University Communications

NOV. 9, 2007--National media critic, political columnist and author Norman Solomon will visit the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on Nov. 13 and 14.

The events start on Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. with a book signing followed by a lecture at 7 p.m. in the North Hall Auditorium.     

On Nov. 14, he will lead the university's regular series "Coffee with the Times" discussion at 9 a.m. in the Kinnickinnic River Theater of the University Center.

Sponsored by the UWRF College of Arts and Sciences, and the departments of Journalism, Political Science, and Communication Studies and Theater Arts, Solomon's two-day visit will explore his work in the media.

His weekly column, "Media Beat," has been in national syndication since 1992. Solomon's new book released in October 2007, "Made Love Got War: Close Encounters with America's Warfare State," blends history and social commentary to take explore the past five decades in America's military and how the media has covered it. His 2005 book, "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Pushing Us to Death," was reviewed as "brutally persuasive" by the Los Angeles Times.

Solomon is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, a national consortium of political researchers and analysts. A collection of his columns won the George Orwell Award for "Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language." Presented by the National Council of Teachers of English, the award acknowledged his book, "The Habits of the Highly Deceptive Media."

Solomon is also is a frequent guest on national and international media outlets, including the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, live broadcasts of CSPAN's "Washington Journal," BBC Radio World Service, CBS Radio, CBS Television, Voice of America, Al-Jazeera Television, Australian television and radio, SBS radio networks and radio appearances in Ireland and South Africa.

UWRF Journalism Professor Pat Berg says Solomon's edgy approach to media criticism is effective. "Norman Solomon's work illuminates a disturbing collusion between the news media and the government. Because of this relationship, too many people are cynical about the government and about the information they get from the news," she says. "And if people don't pay attention to the workings of government, what happens to democracy? This is the question that Norman Solomon has addressed for nearly 40 years. He brings a formidable intellect, a quick wit and a profound moral sensibility to the public dialog about news and democracy."

Solomon's lecture, book signing, and "Coffee with the Times" is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Colleen Callahan, chair of the UWRF journalism department, at 715-425-3169.

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