Mark Whitaker (journalist)
Mark Whitaker (born September 7, 1957)[1] is an American author, journalist and media executive.
He was the Editor of
Whitaker has written the books My Long Trip Home (2011), a family memoir; Cosby: His Life and Times (2014), a biography of Bill Cosby; Smoketown: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance (2018), about the legacy of the African-American community of Pittsburgh; and Saying It Loud: 1966-The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement (2023).
He was named one of Essence magazine's 25 most influential African-Americans for 2008.
Life and work
Early life and education
Whitaker was born outside of
Media executive
He was the Editor of
From 2004 to 2006, Whitaker served as president of the American Society of Magazine Editors.
Whitaker was senior vice president and Washington bureau chief for NBC News, succeeding Tim Russert after his fatal heart attack in June 2008. In that role, he oversaw all Washington-based reporting and production for NBC and MSNBC during the 2008 election and early years of the Obama presidency, in addition to appearing as an on-air analyst. Before moving to Washington, he served as chief deputy to the president of NBC News in New York.
From 2011 to 2013, he was executive vice president and managing editor of CNN Worldwide,[2][3] where he oversaw daily news coverage and also persuaded the network to hire the food and travel writer Anthony Bourdain and to create the program Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. After Bourdain's suicide in 2018, Whitaker praised the chef's coverage of under-reported countries such as Lebanon and said, "It's not a food show; it's journalism."[4]
Author
In 2011, Whitaker published a family memoir, My Long Trip Home, about his turbulent upbringing as the child of an interracial marriage between a pioneering but self-destructive black scholar of Africa and a white French immigrant whose father, Edouard Theis, was a clergyman who helped save the lives of Jews during World War II in the French town of
In 2014, Whitaker published a biography of
In 2018, Whitaker published Smoketown: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance, about the legacy of the African-American community of
In 2023 Whitaker published Saying It Loud: 1966—The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement.
Awards
Whitaker was named one of Essence magazine's 25 most influential African-Americans for 2008.[18]
Personal life
Whitaker is married to Alexis Gelber, a former long-time editor at Newsweek.
References
- ^ Mark Whitaker (2011-10-14). "CNN Red Chair Interview: Mark Whitaker". CNN. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
- ^ "Managing Editor Out At CNN". Huffington Post. 29 January 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2013-01-30.
- ^ "CNN names Whitaker managing editor – CNN Press Room". CNN. 28 January 2011.
- ^ Hagey, Keach; West, Melanie Grayce (8 June 2018). "Anthony Bourdain, CNN TV Host, Is Found Dead in Apparent Suicide". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
- ^ "Hurston/Wright Legacy Award nominee | Book awards | LibraryThing". www.librarything.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ a b c d "Bill Cosby biographer sorry for omitting sexual assault allegations". CBS News. November 25, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
- ^ "COSBY by Mark Whitaker | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
- ^ "Best Sellers - The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
- ^ Walker, Tim (July 23, 2015). "Bill Cosby biography pulled as comedian accused of sexual assaults faces civil suit". The Independent. London. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "A Terrific Look at the Sophisticated History of Black Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Quarterly. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "'Smoketown': A fascinating journey into the Hill District's glorious past". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ISBN 9781982114121.
- ^ "How Stokely Carmichael and the Black Panthers changed the civil rights movement". NPR. Archived from the original on 2023-05-12.
- ^ "The Most Influential African-Americans of 2008". Essence.com. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
External links
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- [1]
- "Mark Whitaker Washington D.C. Bureau Chief and Senior Vice President, NBC News". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 2013-01-03.
- Ex-Newsweek Editor to Join NBC as a Senior Vice President
- Mark Whitaker Elected President of American Society of Magazine Editors
- So What Do You Do, Mark Whitaker?
- Newsweek Names Editor, And Promotes 2 Others
- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4PRN/is_2008_Nov_13/ai_n31002708