David Cromwell
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David Cromwell (born 1962) is a British media campaigner and
oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...
. With David Edwards, he is a co-editor of the
Media Lens Media Lens is a British media analysis website established in 2001 by David Cromwell and David Edwards. Cromwell and Edwards are the site's editors and only regular contributors. Their aim is to scrutinise and question the mainstream media's ...
website. Cromwell was born in Glasgow. His mother was a practicing Catholic. He spent his formative years in
Barrhead Barrhead (, ) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268. History Barrhead was formed when a series of small textile-produ ...
and, mostly,
Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; ) is a large town in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, most-populous locality in Scotl ...
and graduated from the
University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...
with a degree in
physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
and
astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
. After completing a PhD in
solar physics Solar physics is the branch of astrophysics that specializes in the study of the Sun. It intersects with many disciplines of pure physics and astrophysics. Because the Sun is uniquely situated for close-range observing (other stars cannot be re ...
from the same university, which he was awarded in 1987, Cromwell moved to the United States in 1988 to pursue a year-long
postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...
at the
National Center for Atmospheric Research The US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR ) is a US federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and funded by the National Science Foundat ...
in
Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...
, Colorado. Returning to Europe, Cromwell joined
Shell International Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yor ...
in 1989 as an exploration
geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...
. After five months of training in geology,
geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...
, and
management skills Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
, Cromwell was posted to Shell's exploration and production company in
Assen Assen () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in ...
,
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, while living in nearby
Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...
. He left Shell in 1993. At that time, he was appointed to a research post at the
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton The National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS) is a centre for research, teaching, and technology development in Ocean and Earth science. NOCS was created in 1995 , jointly between the University of Southampton and the UK Natural Environ ...
, United Kingdom, but left academia in 2010 to work full-time on Media Lens. Founded in 2001 by Cromwell and David Edwards, Media Lens is a media analysis website which monitors the broadcast and the print media in the UK, attempting to show evidence of bias, distortions and omissions on such issues as
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
,
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
and the " war on terror". The founders of Media Lens draw on the '
Propaganda Model The propaganda model is a conceptual model in political economy advanced by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky to explain how propaganda and systemic biases function in corporate mass media. The model seeks to explain how populations are manipu ...
' of media control advanced by Edward S. Herman and
Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...
. Journalist
Oliver Kamm Oliver Kamm (born 1963) is a British journalist and writer who was a leader writer and columnist for ''The Times''. Early life and career Kamm is the son of translator Anthea Bell and publisher Antony Kamm. Kamm is the grandson of Adrian Be ...
, leader writer for ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', criticised Media Lens for comments on the
Srebrenica massacre The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, was the July 1995 genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. It was mainly perpetrated by unit ...
and
Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...
, describing the group as a "reliable conduit for denying genocide and whitewashing war crimes". In 2006, Kamm challenged Cromwell's dependence on American historian
Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian and a veteran of World War II. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn ...
, and both men's knowledge of source material relevant to America's
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, during World War II. The aerial bombings killed between 150,000 and 246,000 people, most of whom were civili ...
, asserting that this was "a subject wholly outwith Cromwell's competence". David Cromwell wrote a rebuttal of Kamm's piece on the issue in January 2008. "Not unusually, one has to go to media such as" RT and
Press TV Press TV (stylised as PRESSTV) is an Iranian state-owned news media organisation, owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), that broadcasts in the English and French languages. The 24-hour channel, which has headquarters in Tehra ...
"to find any coverage", Cromwell wrote in September 2016 (about the Yemeni civil war), which are "so often bitterly denigrated as 'propaganda' operations by corporate journalists". Cromwell has written a number of books with Edwards. The earliest of these, titled '' Guardians of Power: The Myth of the Liberal Media'', was published by
Pluto Press Pluto Press is a British independent book publisher based in London, founded in 1969. Pluto Press states that it publishes "radical, left‐wing non­‐fiction books", and is anti-capitalist and internationalist. It belongs to The Internat ...
in 2006. The authors argue, with reference to examples from the press and broadcasting, that the mass media in Britain enable 'state-corporate' power to pursue destructive aims at home and abroad. Their next book, ''Newspeak in the 21st Century'', took a similar approach and appeared in 2009. ''Propaganda Blitz: How the Corporate Media Distort Reality'' was published by
Pluto Press Pluto Press is a British independent book publisher based in London, founded in 1969. Pluto Press states that it publishes "radical, left‐wing non­‐fiction books", and is anti-capitalist and internationalist. It belongs to The Internat ...
in 2018. In this book, the authors argue that "major news media are an intrinsic component of this system run for the benefit of elites. The media are, in effect, the public relations wing of a planetary-wide network of exploitation, abuse and destruction". Reviewing ''Propaganda Blitz'' in the ''
International Journal of Communication The ''International Journal of Communication'' is an open access peer-reviewed academic journal covering studies on communication. The founding editor-in-chief was Larry Gross (USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism) and it is publi ...
'', Alan MacLeod of
Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...
described Cromwell and Edwards as " o of the most strident, long-standing and influential critics of the media". As a solo author, Cromwell has written ''Private Planet'' (Charlbury: Jon Carpenter Publishing, 2001) and '' Why Are We the Good Guys?: Reclaiming Your Mind from the Delusions of Propaganda''. In a review of the book, Ian Sinclair, writing for the ''
Morning Star Morning Star, morning star, or Morningstar may refer to: Astronomy * Morning star, most commonly used as a name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise ** See also Venus in culture * Morning star, a name for the star Siri ...
'', described Cromwell as "one of the most incisive and humane radical writers working today". Together with historian Mark Levene,Paul Robert Bartrop, Steven Leonard Jacobs ''Fifty Key Thinkers on the Holocaust and Genocide'', Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2011, p.192 Cromwell founded the Crisis Forum, in 2002. According to Paul Robert Bartrop, Steven Leonard Jacobs, it is a "consciousness-raising body that believes humankind is in serious trouble due to an economic and political system that is destroying its ability to sustain its existence." Cromwell and Levene edited a collection of essays, ''Surviving Climate Change: The Struggle to Avert Global Catastrophe'', which was published by
Pluto Press Pluto Press is a British independent book publisher based in London, founded in 1969. Pluto Press states that it publishes "radical, left‐wing non­‐fiction books", and is anti-capitalist and internationalist. It belongs to The Internat ...
in, 2007.Garry W. Tromb
"Book Reviews: Surviving Climate Change"
''Environmental Conservation'', 35:2, June 2008, pp 187–188, 187. This source erroneously substitutes 'Martin' for 'Mark'.


References


External links


''MediaLens''
Media Lens website
''Private Planet''
Website relating to Cromwell's book ''Private Planet''

Homepage with links to scholarly publications
ZNet
Author page
David Cromwell discusses "Newspeak"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cromwell, David 1962 births Living people Alumni of the University of Glasgow British geophysicists People educated at Our Lady's High, Cumbernauld People from Barrhead People from Glasgow Scottish activists Scottish astronomers Scottish non-fiction writers Scottish oceanographers Scottish scientists Gandhi International Peace Award recipients People from Cumbernauld