Journalism Alterman began his journalism career in 1983, freelancing originally for
The Nation,
The Washington Monthly,
The New Republic, ''
Harper's, Le Monde diplomatique, and later, for Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic Monthly, among others, while working as a senior fellow for the World Policy Institute in New York City and Washington, D.C. Not long after, he became the Washington correspondent for Mother Jones and, soon thereafter, Rolling Stone, before returning to The Nation'' as a columnist in 1995. Alterman has been a contributing editor or columnist for many publications including
Elle,
Worth,
Rolling Stone, and
The Sunday Express (London), while he has also contributed to
The New Yorker,
The Atlantic, and
Le Monde Diplomatique. In 2021, he restarted "Altercation" as a newsletter published by
The American Prospect. It previously had been a daily blog featured by MSNBC beginning in 2002.
Television Alterman was hired by
MSNBC in 1996, appearing as a commentator on the cable channel and writing a column posted on its website. In 2002, MSNBC engaged him to create the
blog daily "Altercation", one of the first blogs hosted by a
mainstream media news organization. In 2007, he was named a
CUNY distinguished professor of English at Brooklyn College and professor of journalism at the
CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.
Media criticism Alterman's media criticism was the subject of two of his books. In contrast to conservative media commentators, Alterman argues that the press is biased against liberals rather than biased in their favor. He was called "the most honest and incisive media critic writing today" in the
National Catholic Reporter and the author of "the smartest and funniest political journal out there" in the
San Francisco Chronicle. In 2008, Alterman became a regular columnist for the Jewish magazine,
Moment, where he wrote regularly about Jewish issues. From 2009 to 2012, he was a regular contributor to
The Daily Beast. == Quotes by and about ==