Jonathan Alter

Jonathan Alter (born October 6 1957) is a columnist and senior editor for "Newsweek" magazine, where he has worked since 1983. A Chicago, Illinois native and resident of Montclair, New Jersey. He is also a contributing correspondent to NBC News, where since 1996 he has appeared on NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC. In addition, he can be heard frequently on "Imus in the Morning" and "The Al Franken Show" on Air America Radio. He is the author of "The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope", published by Simon & Schuster in 2006. He graduated from Harvard University in 1979. [cite book|title=Who's Who in America 1986-1987|volume=1|pages=50] Alter also serves on the Board of Directors of DonorsChoose.

For a decade in the 1980s, Alter was Newsweek's media critic, where he was among the first in the mainstream media to break tradition and hold other news organizations accountable for their coverage, a precursor to the role later played by blogs. When Newsweek launched his wide-ranging column in 1991, it was the first time the magazine allowed regular political commentary in the magazine, other than on the back page. After the election of Bill Clinton in 1992, during which Alter was a consultant to MTV, he was among a small group of reporters and columnists who had regular access to Clinton, though he was far from a reliable supporter, particularly during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. "Alter bites me in the ass sometimes, but at least he knows what we're trying to do," Clinton was quoted as saying in the book "Media Circus" by The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz. Alter achieved some notoriety on Election Night 2000. During the evening, he went on NBC News to break the story of a problem with "butterfly ballots" in Palm Beach County, Florida, where many voters reportedly claimed that they intended to vote for Al Gore but ended up mistakenly voting for third party candidate Pat Buchanan. In the early hours, on set with Tom Brokaw and Tim Russert, he enraged conservatives by saying that election recounts were "more art than science" and predicting that the Florida election recount was headed to court. They felt he placed too much weight on Gore's popular vote victory over George W. Bush.

He became a sometimes fierce critic of President Bush, with a particular emphasis on his supposed lack of accountability and his position on embryonic stem cell research. Alter, who is a cancer survivor, has written and spoken occasionally about his own bout with lymphoma and experience with an adult stem-cell transplant. "The Defining Moment," which was reviewed respectfully, surprised some critics with its depiction of how close the United States came to dictatorship before Franklin Roosevelt became president in 1933, painting him as the savior of American democracy and capitalism.

Quotes

"When oppo goes transparent, it might shrivel." ("Newsweek", November 13, 2007)

External links

* [http://www.jonathanalter.com/ Alter's website]
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-alter/ Jon Alter's blog] at The Huffington Post
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17888476/site/newsweek/ Newsweek article by Alter on his fight with cancer]

References