Author Archive

Articles by Michael Massing | Email the Author

 

1. Feature

   The Accidental Correspondent

   February 6, 2012 06:00 AM

   Few Western correspondents have a background as unique as Ghaith Abdul-Ahad’s. A native of Iraq at the time of the US invasion, he was working as an architect in Baghdad while dodging the draft. When American forces... Continue reading

2. Michael Massing

   Libya and the Arab Street

   March 25, 2011 01:17 PM

   On Wednesday, I went to hear Ayman Mohyeldin, the Cairo correspondent for Al Jazeera English, speak at the office of the Committee to Protect Journalists. His subject was the risks and realities of covering the Mideast, and at one point... Continue reading

3. Michael Massing

   Is This the Best You Can Do, NBC?

   November 25, 2009 10:00 AM

   Whenever I’m home at 6:30, I try to watch the evening news. Not out of any genuine desire—I rarely learn anything new—but out of duty. Even with their rapidly shrinking audiences, ABC, CBS, and NBC together reach some 20 million... Continue reading

4. Michael Massing

   Black Hawk Up

   October 27, 2009 09:21 AM

   What a delight it must be to be a columnist for a major American newspaper. When traveling to distant, war-torn lands, you can enlist America’s top generals to show you around. That’s what David Ignatius of The Washington Post did... Continue reading

5. Behind the News

   Howard Kurtz, Missing in Action

   October 22, 2009 09:18 AM

   Howard Kurtz scored a coup on his CNN show “Reliable Sources” two Sundays ago when White House communications director Anita Dunn came on to knuckle-rap Fox News, saying that the network often operates almost as either the... Continue reading

6. Behind the News

   Iraq’s Missing Iraqis

   October 14, 2009 01:05 PM

   David Finkel’s book The Good Soldiers, about the experiences of a US Army battalion during the surge in Iraq, is getting standout reviews. The Good Soldiers "captures the surreal horror of war,” Michiko Kakutani wrote in The New... Continue reading

7. Behind the News

   The Most Misreported Country

   October 7, 2009 09:37 AM

   Which country is most routinely miscovered in the U.S. press? There are clearly many candidates, but for me one stands out: Mexico. My judgment has no doubt been affected by the fact that I spent a year in that country... Continue reading

8. Behind the News

   Eyes Wide Shut on Iran

   September 30, 2009 11:10 AM

   Listening to the CBS Evening News on Friday, I was roused from the slumber that program so often induces by a comment from Juan Zarate, a national security analyst for the network. He was discussing the Obama administration’s... Continue reading

9. Behind the News

   Katie and Diane: The Wrong Questions

   September 23, 2009 12:49 PM

   Michael Massing’s voice has long been part of the Columbia Journalism Review in print. He is a columnist, a former executive editor, an active contributing editor, and a longtime friend and adviser of the print magazine. Now he is trying... Continue reading

10. Essay

    Un-American

    January 23, 2009 10:59 AM

    In the weeks following the election, the debate over the issue of media bias, and of whether the press was overly kind to Barack Obama, has continued to swirl. Much less attention has been paid to another, more troubling aspect... Continue reading

11. Essay

    Blind Spot

    September 4, 2008 10:00 AM

    Over the last five years, as I’ve consumed one dispatch after another from journalists embedded with U.S. soldiers in Iraq, I’ve wondered how accurate a picture of events such reports provide. Given the stark dangers journalists face in Iraq,... Continue reading

12. Essay

    Out of Focus

    March 11, 2008 09:00 AM

    Recently, I attended a screening of the documentary Meeting Resistance, an inside look at the Iraqi insurgency. I was eager to see it. Few Western journalists had managed to penetrate the insurgency, and the glimpse offered in the documentary... Continue reading

13. On the Contrary

    The War Expert

    November 26, 2007 01:00 PM

    On July 30, as the debate over the Bush administration’s “surge” in Iraq was heating up, The New York Times ran an op-ed article that enthusiastically endorsed it. Titled A WAR WE MIGHT JUST WIN, it was written by... Continue reading

14. On the Contrary

    Memorial Day Mush

    July 10, 2007 10:45 AM

    As is their custom, the national TV news programs spent the Memorial Day weekend offering tributes to U.S. soldiers and their families. CNN introduced us to Marine Lieutenant Andrew Kinard, “an officer in the true tradition of the Marines,” who,... Continue reading

15. On the Contrary

    Missing Middle

    March 1, 2007 08:30 AM

    In early January, more than 6,000 journalists from around the world descended on Detroit’s Cobo Center for the annual Detroit auto show. For three days, they attended parties and briefings, interviewed executives and engineers, and participated in the annual... Continue reading