Waldman, Paul

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Waldman, Paul

PERSONAL:

Education: University of Pennsylvania, Ph.D.

CAREER:

Writer, editor. Former associate director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center; former editor-in-chief of Gadflyer; senior fellow, Media Matters for America.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Kathleen Hall Jamieson) Electing the President, 2000: The Insiders' View, University of Pennsylvania Press (Philadelphia, PA), 2001.

(With Kathleen Hall Jamieson) The Press Effect: Politicians, Journalists, and the Stories That Shape the Political World, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Fraud: The Strategy behind the Bush Lies and Why the Media Didn't Tell You, Sourcebooks, Inc. (Naperville, IL), 2004.

Being Right Is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn from Conservative Success, John Wiley (Hoboken, NJ), 2006.

Contributor to publications, including Washington Post, American Prospect, and Salon.com. Senior contributor, Gadflyer.

SIDELIGHTS:

Paul Waldman has served as the associate director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center and as the first editor-in-chief of Gadflyer. Waldman has written and edited several books about the status of the political parties in the United States, and on the relationship between politicians and the press. The Press Effect: Politicians, Journalists, and the Stories That Shape the Political World, which Waldman wrote with Kathleen Hall Jamieson, addresses the ways in which the media can affect the success of a politician, examining how the attitude behind a media report can color the story and push the readers or viewers in a particular political direction. The press also determines which stories receive the most coverage, or coverage in prime times and locations, again sending a message to their audience. Andrew J. Glass, in a review for the New Leader, observed: "Based on meticulous research and pretty well scrubbed free of bias, this highly readable book is the latest work in an established vein of media criticism aimed at telling us why we are getting short-changed and telling reporters how to improve." He went on to remark: "The book's analysis of what has gone wrong and what is likely to go wrong in the future constitutes a well-judged and useful dissection of our flawed media."

With Fraud: The Strategy behind the Bush Lies and Why the Media Didn't Tell You, Waldman takes a closer look at the relationship between the media and the people in office, looking specifically at the circumstances surrounding President George W. Bush's statements leading up to sending troops into Afghanistan and Iraq. Ilene Cooper, in a review for Booklist, wrote: "Waldman writes with ease and authority about his topic." In a review for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Walter C. Uhler remarked that the book "fuels the fire of those who have a hard time believing any of Bush's words," going on to note: "The book is worth reading, if only because it yields one extremely relevant nugget concerning Iraq that speaks volumes about Bush's religious piety and character." A reviewer for Publishers Weekly wrote: "Meticulously combing through footnoted sources, Waldman carves an alternative portrait of a privileged and ruthless Bush."

Being Right Is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn from Conservative Success looks at ways in which the left wing might emulate the right to gain a hold on a nation that is tired of the status quo. A contributor for Publishers Weekly wrote: "Daunted progressives may take heart in Waldman's pragmatic if untested ideas."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 2004, Ilene Cooper, review of Fraud: The Strategy behind the Bush Lies and Why the Media Didn't Tell You, p. 1002.

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September-October, 2004, Walter C. Uhler, "Preempting the Truth," review of Fraud, p. 63.

Columbia Journalism Review, January-February, 2003, James Boylan, review of The Press Effect: Politicians, Journalists, and the Stories That Shape the Political World, p. 55.

Nieman Reports, summer, 2003, "Words & Reflections," p. 108, and Seth Effron, "What Stands between the Press and the Truth?," review of The Press Effect, p. 109.

New Leader, November-December, 2002, Andrew J. Glass, "How the Media Works Nowadays," review of The Press Effect, p. 18.

Publishers Weekly, February 2, 2004, review of Fraud, p. 70; February 13, 2006, review of Being Right Is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn from Conservative Success, p. 72.