Greg Mitchell
Encyclopedia
Greg Mitchell is the author of twelve books and currently blogs on the media and politics, and of late especially on WikiLeaks
, for The Nation
. He was the editor of Editor & Publisher
(E&P), which covers the news and newspaper industry, from 2002 to the end of 2009.
. His 1992 book for Random House, "The Campaign of the Century: Upton Sinclair's Race for Governor of California and the Birth of Media Politics," which won the Goldsmith Book Prize, was recently published in a new edition by PoliPoint Press.
Mitchell is married to writer Barbara Bedway, and they live in Nyack, New York
. The couple has a son, Andy, now a filmmaker, about whom he has written regarding their experiences together in Little League
baseball in the memoir Joy in Mudville. Mitchell has a daughter, Jeni, from a previous marriage, who lives in London.
His influential blog, launched at The Nation in April 2010, is updated several times a day at the magazine's web site. In recent weeks he has maintained the only daily live blog anywhere on "WikiLeaks News & Views." He also blogs regularly for Huffington Post, among other sites and has a popular Twitter feed @GregMitch.
Mitchell was editor of Nuclear Times magazine from 1982 to 1986 and has written widely about the atomic bombings for dozens of magazines and newspapers including The New York Times and the Washington Post.
Mitchell is co-author of a book with Robert Jay Lifton
on the perceptions in the United States
of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki during World War II
. In an interview, he discussed the long-censored stories of Chicago Tribune correspondent George Weller
, the first Western news reporter to reach Nagasaki after the atomic bombing.
He wrote a second book with Lifton about capital punishment called Who Owns Death?
Mitchell has written a pair of acclaimed books about famous California
political campaigns. One was The Campaign of the Century, about Upton Sinclair
's race for governor in 1934 and the birth of media-driven elections. It was made into a PBS documentary for "The Great Depression
" series and was produced in the theater as a musical. His book, Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady: Richard Nixon Vs Helen Gahagan Douglas--Sexual Politics and the Red Scare, 1950 homes in on an era in California politics as it impacted national politics.
In the 1970s, Mitchell was senior editor at the legendary Crawdaddy!
magazine where he is credited with writing (with Crawdaddy editor Peter Knobler
) the first magazine article about Bruce Springsteen
.
moment in his E&P column in 2003. At age 21 and while working as a summer intern, Mitchell confessed to making up some quotes when asked by his city editor at the Niagara Falls (N.Y.) Gazette (now the Niagara Gazette) to gather quotes from tourists at Niagara Falls. The point of the column is that both he and other journalists learn from their mistakes.
In an interview on June 28, 2004 with the Echo Chamber Project, Mitchell discussed the duty of news reporters to be "skeptical" and not tilt coverage either to the right or left. He cited coverage of the build-up to the United States
war in Iraq
as an example of skewed coverage.
He said the tone of coverage by news media "all our coverage on all subjects—is not to be partisan or not to be left or right or anything like that. But we believe in the—what should be the main principle of journalism, besides being accurate and fair, is to be skeptical—to raise questions, to not take what officials say as the gospel truth—unless it's really proven—if there's documents."
Whether covering Washington or a small town, Mitchell said "the journalistic principle is the same: to be skeptical unless there's hard evidence and proof. And you report what someone says—"It's their claim." "It's what they say." "It's what they allege." "It's what they're trying to prove." But you don't present these things as fact if you're not sure they're fact. And what happened with the Iraq coverage was that too often newspapers—and especially television—went with stories that were based on official claims, and in retrospect, were really propaganda. Because in some cases, the officials were well-meaning. Maybe they thought that they had the evidence. But in other cases, they knew their evidence was incredibly shaky—or should have known—and yet went with the evidence claiming it was fact. And the press just, in most cases, accepted it."
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
, for The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
. He was the editor of Editor & Publisher
Editor & Publisher
Editor & Publisher is a monthly magazine covering the North American newspaper industry. It is based in New York City. E&P calls itself "America's Oldest Journal Covering the Newspaper Industry" and describes itself on its website as "the authoritative journal covering all aspects of the North...
(E&P), which covers the news and newspaper industry, from 2002 to the end of 2009.
Biography
Greg Mitchell's latest book, published in February 2011, is "The Age of WikiLeaks: From Collateral Murder to Cablegate (and Beyond)." He currently writes a daily media blog for The Nation. His previous book, published in January 2009, was "Why Obama Won: The Making of a President 2008" (Sinclair Books). Before that, in March 2008, appeared his book So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Failed in Iraq (Union Square Press). It includes a preface by Bruce Springsteen and a foreword by war reporter Joseph L. GallowayJoseph L. Galloway
Joseph Lee "Joe" Galloway , is an American newspaper correspondent and columnist. He is the former Military Affairs consultant for the Knight-Ridder chain of newspapers and is presently a columnist with McClatchy Newspapers...
. His 1992 book for Random House, "The Campaign of the Century: Upton Sinclair's Race for Governor of California and the Birth of Media Politics," which won the Goldsmith Book Prize, was recently published in a new edition by PoliPoint Press.
Mitchell is married to writer Barbara Bedway, and they live in Nyack, New York
Nyack, New York
Nyack is a village in the towns of Orangetown and Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of South Nyack; east of Central Nyack; south of Upper Nyack and west of the Hudson River, approximately 19 miles north of the Manhattan boundary, it is an inner suburb of New...
. The couple has a son, Andy, now a filmmaker, about whom he has written regarding their experiences together in Little League
Little League
Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the U.S...
baseball in the memoir Joy in Mudville. Mitchell has a daughter, Jeni, from a previous marriage, who lives in London.
His influential blog, launched at The Nation in April 2010, is updated several times a day at the magazine's web site. In recent weeks he has maintained the only daily live blog anywhere on "WikiLeaks News & Views." He also blogs regularly for Huffington Post, among other sites and has a popular Twitter feed @GregMitch.
Mitchell was editor of Nuclear Times magazine from 1982 to 1986 and has written widely about the atomic bombings for dozens of magazines and newspapers including The New York Times and the Washington Post.
Mitchell is co-author of a book with Robert Jay Lifton
Robert Jay Lifton
Robert Jay Lifton is an American psychiatrist and author, chiefly known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of war and political violence and for his theory of thought reform...
on the perceptions in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
and Nagasaki during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In an interview, he discussed the long-censored stories of Chicago Tribune correspondent George Weller
George Weller
George Anthony Weller was an American novelist, playwright, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The New York Times and Chicago Daily News...
, the first Western news reporter to reach Nagasaki after the atomic bombing.
He wrote a second book with Lifton about capital punishment called Who Owns Death?
Mitchell has written a pair of acclaimed books about famous California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
political campaigns. One was The Campaign of the Century, about Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
's race for governor in 1934 and the birth of media-driven elections. It was made into a PBS documentary for "The Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
" series and was produced in the theater as a musical. His book, Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady: Richard Nixon Vs Helen Gahagan Douglas--Sexual Politics and the Red Scare, 1950 homes in on an era in California politics as it impacted national politics.
In the 1970s, Mitchell was senior editor at the legendary Crawdaddy!
Crawdaddy!
Crawdaddy! was the first U.S. magazine of rock and roll music criticism. Created in 1966 by college student Paul Williams in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music, Crawdaddy! was self-described as "the first magazine to take rock and roll...
magazine where he is credited with writing (with Crawdaddy editor Peter Knobler
Peter Knobler
Peter Knobler is an American writer living in New York City. He has collaborated on several national best sellers and was the editor-in-chief of Crawdaddy magazine from 1972 to 1979.- Writing :...
) the first magazine article about Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
.
Views on news coverage
Mitchell revealed what he called his own Jayson BlairJayson Blair
Jayson Blair is an American reporter formerly with The New York Times. He resigned from the newspaper in May 2003 in the wake of the discovery of plagiarism and fabrication in his stories. Since 2007 he has worked as a life coach in the field of mental health.-Background:Blair was born in...
moment in his E&P column in 2003. At age 21 and while working as a summer intern, Mitchell confessed to making up some quotes when asked by his city editor at the Niagara Falls (N.Y.) Gazette (now the Niagara Gazette) to gather quotes from tourists at Niagara Falls. The point of the column is that both he and other journalists learn from their mistakes.
In an interview on June 28, 2004 with the Echo Chamber Project, Mitchell discussed the duty of news reporters to be "skeptical" and not tilt coverage either to the right or left. He cited coverage of the build-up to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
war in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
as an example of skewed coverage.
He said the tone of coverage by news media "all our coverage on all subjects—is not to be partisan or not to be left or right or anything like that. But we believe in the—what should be the main principle of journalism, besides being accurate and fair, is to be skeptical—to raise questions, to not take what officials say as the gospel truth—unless it's really proven—if there's documents."
Whether covering Washington or a small town, Mitchell said "the journalistic principle is the same: to be skeptical unless there's hard evidence and proof. And you report what someone says—"It's their claim." "It's what they say." "It's what they allege." "It's what they're trying to prove." But you don't present these things as fact if you're not sure they're fact. And what happened with the Iraq coverage was that too often newspapers—and especially television—went with stories that were based on official claims, and in retrospect, were really propaganda. Because in some cases, the officials were well-meaning. Maybe they thought that they had the evidence. But in other cases, they knew their evidence was incredibly shaky—or should have known—and yet went with the evidence claiming it was fact. And the press just, in most cases, accepted it."
Books
- Atomic Cover-Up: Two U.S. Soldiers, Hiroshima & Nagasaki, and The Greatest Movie Never Made by Greg Mitchell (Self published on BlurbBlurbA blurb is a short summary or some words of praise accompanying a creative work, usually used on books without giving away any details, that is usually referring to the words on the back of the book jacket but also commonly seen on DVD and video cases, web portals, and news websites.- History :The...
, 2011) - The Age of WikiLeaks by Greg Mitchell (Self published on Blurb, 2011)
- Bradley Manning: Truth and Consequences by Greg Mitchell (Self published on Blurb, 2011)
- October Light: Paris and Auvers, photographs by Greg Mitchell (Self published on Blurb, 2006)
- The Campaign of the Century: Upton Sinclair's E.P.I.C. Race for Governor of California and the Birth of Media Politics by Greg Mitchell (Random HouseRandom HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, 1992), ISBN 0-87113-467-5 http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/presspol/goldsmith_awards/book_prize_winners.shtml#1993Winner of the 1993 Goldsmith Book PrizeGoldsmith Book PrizeThe Goldsmith Book Prize is a literary award for books published in the United States.-Description:The award is meant to recognize works that "[improve] government through an examination of the intersection between press, politics, and public policy." The prize is awarded to the book published in...
] - Hiroshima in America: A Half Century of Denial by Robert Jay Lifton and Greg Mitchell (Avon Books, 1996), ISBN 0-380-72764-1 (Diane Pub Co, 1995), (Putnam Pub Group 1995), ISBN 0-399-14072-7 ISBN 0-7881-9992-7
- Joy in Mudville: A Little League Memoir by Greg Mitchell (Pocket Books, 2000), (Washington Square Press, 2002), ISBN 0-671-03532-0 ISBN 0-671-03531-2
- Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady: Richard Nixon Vs Helen Gahagan Douglas-Sexual Politics and the Red Scare, 1950 by Greg Mitchell (Random House Inc, 1998), ISBN 0-679-41621-8
- Truth.. and Consequences: 7 Who Would Not Be Silenced by Greg Mitchell (W W Norton & Co Inc, 1987), ISBN 0-934878-08-0
- Very Seventies: A Cultural History of the 1970S, from the Pages of Crawdaddy, Peter Knobler and Greg Mitchell (editors) (Fireside/Simon & Schuster, April 1, 1995), ISBN 0-684-80069-1 ISBN 0-02-022005-7
- Who Owns Death?: Capital Punishment, the American Conscience, and the End of Executions by Robert Jay Lifton; Greg Mitchell (William Morrow & Co, November 1, 2000), (Perennial, February 1, 2002), ISBN 0-380-79246-X ISBN 0-380-97498-3
- So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Failed in Iraq, by Greg Mitchell (Union Square Press, March 4, 2008) ISBN 1402756577 ISBN 978-1402756573