Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News from EconoTimes

Become a contributor

Bookmark Econotimes

Wed, Aug 26, 2026 06:20 AM All times are UTC

Follow Series

©Econometrics LLC . All Rights Reserved.

Michael J. Socolow

Associate Professor, Communication and Journalism, University of Maine

Michael J. Socolow is a media historian whose research centers upon America’s original radio networks in the 1920s and 1930s. His scholarship on media history has appeared in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, The Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Technology & Culture, and other scholarly journals. He is the author of Six Minutes in Berlin: Broadcast Spectacle and Rowing Gold at the Nazi Olympics (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2016). He was awarded the 2018 Broadcast Historian Award by the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation and the Broadcast Education Association for Six Minutes in Berlin.

He is also a former broadcast journalist who has worked as an Assignment Editor for the Cable News Network and as an information manager for the host broadcast organization at the Barcelona, Atlanta, and Sydney Olympic Games. He has written pieces on media regulation and media history for Slate, Columbia Journalism Review, the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Chronicle Review, and other journalistic outlets. In the Department of Communication and Journalism, he serves as Internship Coordinator and teaches CMJ 211: Journalism Studies I, CMJ 237: Journalism Across Platforms, CMJ 380: Advertising, Media & Society, CMJ 489: Seminar in Media Ethics, CMJ 520: Media History, CMJ 525: Propaganda and Political Persuasion, and other courses.

For more on Professor Socolow’s scholarship check out his Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YxTJsxoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao. He tweets at @michaelsocolow.

Good profits from bad news: How the Kennedy assassination helped make network TV news wealthy

Nov 21, 2023 04:02 am UTC| Politics

In journalism, bad news sells. If it bleeds, it leads is a famous industry catchphrase, which explains why violent crime, war and terrorism, and natural disasters are ubiquitous on TV news. The fact that journalists and...

Don't trust the news media? That's good

Mar 15, 2023 15:53 pm UTC| Insights & Views

Everyone seems to hate what they call the media. Attacking journalism even accurate and verified reporting provides a quick lift for politicians. Its not just Donald Trump. Trumps rival for the 2024 Republican...

Olympic Games are great for propagandists – how the lessons of Hitler's Olympics loom over Beijing 2022

Nov 13, 2021 07:48 am UTC| Sports

On the morning of Aug. 14, 1936, two NBC employees met for breakfast at a café in Berlin. Max Jordan and Bill Slater were discussing the Olympic Games they were broadcasting back to the United States and the Nazi...

Aiming for novelty in coronavirus coverage, journalists end up sensationalizing the trivial and untrue

May 20, 2020 15:21 pm UTC| Insights & Views

For centuries, what has made news valuable and news organizations profitable has been the speed at which journalists collect and disseminate information. This is useful for both commerce and public service. But the rush...

The first fireside chat calmed an anxious nation and provides a model for today

Mar 12, 2020 15:48 pm UTC| Politics

President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisers knew he had to do something. The U.S. banking system faced imminent collapse; depositors around the country waited anxiously in line to withdraw their funds. To stop the...

Misinformation, evasion and the informational problem of live TV interviews

Oct 02, 2019 02:59 am UTC| Insights & Views Business

First, it happened on Fox News. Chris Wallace asked White House adviser Stephen Miller about the presidents decision to use private lawyers to get information from the Ukrainian government rather than go through …...

Audiences love the anger: Alex Jones, or someone like him, will be back

Aug 08, 2018 11:31 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

Confrontational characters spouting conspiracy theories and promoting fringe ideas have been with us since the invention of American broadcasting. First on radio, then on television, the American audience has consistently...

Economy

Qatar LNG Exports Plunge 96% as U.S.-Iran War Disrupts Gulf Energy Trade

Qatar has emerged as one of the biggest economic casualties of the six-month U.S.-Iran war, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports plunging 96% as the conflict severely disrupts energy shipments through the Gulf. The...

Gold Prices Hover Near Three-Month High as Oil, Treasury Yields Fall

Gold prices slipped slightly on Wednesday but remained close to a three-month high as falling oil prices and lower U.S. Treasury yields eased inflation concerns ahead of key Federal Reserve signals. Spot gold, or XAU/USD,...

Japan Eyes Tax Changes to Curb Condo Speculation

Japans land ministry is preparing to seek tax reforms for fiscal 2027 aimed at curbing speculative condominium transactions that have contributed to rising home prices in major urban areas, according to a Nikkei report....

Australia Inflation Beats Forecasts, Raising RBA Rate Hike Risk

Australias inflation remained hotter than expected in July, increasing pressure on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to consider further interest rate hikes as underlying price growth stayed elevated. The consumer price...

Asian Currencies Mixed as Aussie Dollar Rises on Hot Inflation

Asian currencies traded in a mixed range on Wednesday, while the U.S. dollar remained relatively steady as investors awaited key U.S. inflation data for fresh signals on the Federal Reserves interest rate outlook. The...

Politics

Trump Floats ‘Lake America’ Rename as US-Canada Trade Tensions Deepen

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration is considering renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America, as tensions between the United States and Canada escalate following the collapse of bilateral trade...

Trump Administration Pauses Visa Appointments Worldwide

President Donald Trumps administration has temporarily paused or rescheduled visa appointments at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide as the State Department launches a global training program for consular officers. A...

U.S. Caribbean Vessel Strike Kills Four in Latest Anti-Drug Operation

The U.S. military said four people were killed in a strike on a vessel in the Caribbean on Tuesday, marking the latest attack in Washingtons campaign against suspected drug-trafficking operations at sea. U.S. Southern...

CIA Director John Ratcliffe Visits Moscow for Talks With Russian Officials

U.S. CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow on Tuesday for meetings with Russian officials, according to U.S. media reports, marking a rare high-level intelligence visit amid heightened tensions involving Russia,...

Taiwan Foreign Minister Heads to Palau for Pacific Islands Summit Events

Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung will travel to Palau this week to attend events linked to a major summit of Pacific island leaders, as geopolitical competition between Taiwan and China continues to intensify across...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

SoftBank Eyes $20 Billion Bond Sale to Refinance OpenAI Loan

SoftBank Group is reportedly considering a bond offering worth between $10 billion and $20 billion as the Japanese technology conglomerate looks to refinance borrowing linked to its massive investment in OpenAI. The...

OpenAI Data Center Chief Chris Malone Exits Ahead of Planned 2027 Listing

Chris Malone, OpenAIs head of data centers, left the artificial intelligence company last week, marking another senior departure as the ChatGPT maker prepares for a planned 2027 listing, according to the Wall Street...

Meta, U.S. States Discuss Settlement in Teen Addiction Trial

Meta Platforms and attorneys general representing several U.S. states have held discussions over a potential settlement as the Facebook and Instagram parent faces a federal trial over allegations that its social media...

Google Expands Gemini Enterprise With AI Tools for Legal Sector

Google has expanded its Gemini Enterprise artificial intelligence platform with new tools designed for lawyers and law firms, intensifying competition among major technology companies seeking a larger share of the growing...

Luxshare Shares Rise as First-Half Profit Jumps 18%

Luxshare Precision Industry shares gained on Monday after the major Apple supplier reported strong first-half earnings and projected double-digit profit growth for the first nine months of the year, supported by expanding...