Ezra Klein

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Ezra Klein

Klein on Halloween, 2008
Born May 9, 1984 (1984-05-09) (age 27)
Irvine, California
Nationality American
Education B.A., Political Science
Alma mater UCLA
Occupation Journalist and Political pundit
Employer Washington Post, MSNBC, Bloomberg
Spouse Annie Lowrey
Website
Ezra Klein - Washington Post

Ezra Klein (born May 9, 1984) is a liberal American blogger and columnist for The Washington Post, a columnist for Bloomberg, and a contributor to MSNBC. He was formerly an associate editor of The American Prospect political magazine and a political blogger at the same publication.[1]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Klein was born and raised in Irvine, California, and went to school at University High School. He attended the University of California, Santa Cruz but later transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles, from which he graduated in 2005 with a B.A. in political science. While at UCLA, he applied to write for the Daily Bruin but was rejected.[2]

Klein is a middle child,[2] raised in a Jewish family. Religiously, he now identifies as an agnostic.[3] His father is a math professor, his mother an artist.[2]

[edit] Career

Klein started his first blog in February 2003.[4] He soon joined with Matt Singer, and the name was changed to "Klein/Singer: Political Consulting on the Cheap". In June 2003, he moved to the blog "Not Geniuses" along with Matt Singer, Ryan J. Davis, and Joe Rospars.[5] Following "Not Geniuses," Klein partnered with Jesse Taylor at Pandagon. This partnership helped Klein gain even more visibility, leading to his eventual founding of his blog "Ezra Klein".[6]

Besides his online contributions, Klein worked on Howard Dean's primary campaign in Vermont in 2003, and interned for the Washington Monthly in Washington, D.C. in 2004. "The media is as effective and important an agent for change as the legislative bodies, and I think it's where I'm happiest and most effective," Klein said.[7] In 2003, he and Markos Moulitsas were two of the earliest bloggers to report from a political convention, that of the California State Democratic Party.[8] In 2006, Klein was one of several writers pseudonymously flamed by The New Republic writer Lee Siegel (posting as a sock puppet called sprezzatura).[9]

On December 10, 2007, Klein moved his blog full time to the American Prospect.[10]

Klein's prolific blogging caught the attention of Steve Pearlstein, the Washington Post's veteran business columnist. A friend referred him to Klein's work in the American Prospect. "I was blown away by how good he was—how much the kid wrote—on so many subjects," Pearlstein said. Pearlstein sent samples of Klein's work to managing editor Raju Narisetti. A few weeks after he heard from Pearlstein, Post foreign correspondent John Pomfret asked Klein to have lunch with him and financial editor Sandy Sugawara. Narisetti quickly hired Klein to be the Post’s first pure blogger on politics and economics.[2] On May 18, 2009, he began writing at the newspaper.[11]

His writing interests include health policy, the labor movement, electoral politics and food.[12] He writes a primer on policy called "Wonkbook," which is delivered by e-mail and on his blog each morning.

Klein frequently provides political commentary on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show and Hardball with Chris Matthews. He is a former contributor to Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

In May 2011 when it[clarification needed] launched, Klein became a columnist for Bloomberg View in addition to his work at The Washington Post and MSNBC.[13]

In 2011, Klein's blog was the most-read blog at The Washington Post.[14] In 2011, he was named one of the 50 most powerful people in Washington by GQ.[15] In 2010, he was named Blogger of the Year by The Week magazine and the Sidney Hillman Foundation.[16] [17] His blog was also named one of the 25 best financial blogs by Time Magazine in 2011.[18]

[edit] Health care debate

In December 2009, Klein wrote an article in the Washington Post, stating that Senator Joe Lieberman was "willing to cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in order to settle an old electoral score", because Lieberman "was motivated to oppose health care legislation in part out of resentment at liberals for being defeated in the 2006 Connecticut Democratic Primary". [19] Klein based his estimate on an Urban Institute report that estimated that 22,000 people died in 2006 because they lacked health-care insurance.[20] This article was criticized by Jonah Goldberg of the National Review, who called it a "silly claim".[21] Charles Lane, also of the Washington Post, described Klein's article as an "outrageous smear". But EJ Dionne, also of the Washington Post, agreed with Klein's claim, saying that "Klein is right that there is not a shred of principle in Lieberman's opposition".[22] Klein later said he regretted the phrasing[23] and his position is that despite universal coverage, the social determinants of health are still powerful predictors that, on average, ensure the lower socioeconomic classes die sooner than those with more income and education.[24][25]

[edit] JournoList

Main article: JournoList

In February 2007 Klein created a Google Groups forum called "JournoList" for discussing politics and the news media. The forum's membership was controlled by Klein and limited to "several hundred left-leaning bloggers, political reporters, magazine writers, policy wonks and academics".[26] Posts within JournoList were intended only to be made and read by its members.[27] Klein defended the forum saying that it "[ensures] that folks feel safe giving off-the-cuff analysis and instant reactions". JournoList member, and Time magazine columnist, Joe Klein added that the off-the-record nature of the forum was necessary because “candor is essential and can only be guaranteed by keeping these conversations private”.[26]

The existence of JournoList was first publicly revealed in a July 27, 2007 blog post by blogger Mickey Kaus.[28] However, the forum did not attract serious attention until March 17, 2009 when an article published on Politico detailed the nature of the forum and the extent of its membership.[26] The Politico article set off debate within the Blogosphere over the ethics of participating in JournoList and raised questions about its purpose. The first public excerpt of a discussion within JournoList was posted by Mickey Kaus on his blog on March 26, 2009.[29]

Members of JournoList included, among others: Ezra Klein, Jeffrey Toobin, Eric Alterman, Paul Krugman, Joe Klein (no relation to Ezra Klein), Matthew Yglesias, and Jonathan Chait.

On June 25, 2010, Ezra Klein announced in his Washington Post blog that he would be terminating the Journolist group. This decision was instigated by fellow blogger Dave Weigel's resignation from the Post following the public exposure of several of his Journolist emails about conservative media figures.[30][31]

Klein had justified excluding conservative Republicans from participation as "not about fostering ideology but preventing a collapse into flame war. The emphasis is on empiricism, not ideology".[32]

[edit] Personal life

Klein is married to Annie Lowrey, an economic policy reporter at The New York Times.[33]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The American Prospect political magazine.
  2. ^ a b c d Jaffe, Harry (2010-03-04). "Post Watch: Whiz Kid on the block". The Washingtonian. http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/people/capitalcomment/15063.html. Retrieved 2011-01-30. 
  3. ^ "Ezra Klein: Religion Archives". Blog.prospect.org. http://blog.prospect.org/blog/ezraklein/religion/. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  4. ^ Ezra K blog.
  5. ^ Not Geniuses blog.
  6. ^ Ezra Klein blog.
  7. ^ "A Conversation With Political Blogger Ezra Klein of Pandagon". LAist.com. 2004-11-02. http://laist.com/2004/11/02/a_conversation_with_political_blogger_ezra_klein_of_pandagon.php. Retrieved 2011-01-30. 
  8. ^ Weiss, Joanna (May 10, 2004). "Blogs colliding with traditional media: Convention credentials expected for Web logs". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/05/10/blogs_colliding_with_traditional_media?mode=PF. Retrieved 2008-01-12. [dead link]
  9. ^ Carr, David (2006-09-11). "A Comeback Overshadowed by a Blog". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/11/technology/11carr.html. Retrieved 2008-01-12. 
  10. ^ Goodbye post at Klein's old blog
  11. ^ Introductory post at the Washington Post
  12. ^ "Down with the GVP!". Washington Post. 2010-04-07. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/04/down_with_the_gvp.html. Retrieved 2011-01-30. 
  13. ^ Hagey, Keach (April 29, 2011). "Bloomberg View reveals columnists, editorial board". Politico.com. http://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/0411/Bloomberg_View_reveals_columnists_ed_board.html. Retrieved August 6, 2011. 
  14. ^ "2011 by the numbers: A memo to Post staff from Managing Editor Raju Narisetti". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ask-the-post/post/2011-by-the-numbers-a-memo-to-post-staff-from-managing-editor-raju-narisetti/2012/01/02/gIQAAGYcWP_blog.html. Retrieved 21 January 2012. 
  15. ^ "The 50 Most Powerful People in Washington". GQ. February 2012. http://www.gq.com/news-politics/politics/201202/50-most-powerful-people-in-washington-dc#slide=34. Retrieved 21 January 2012. 
  16. ^ "Winners of The Week Opinion Awards". http://theweek.com/article/index/215063/past-winners-of-the-week-opinion-awards. Retrieved 21 January 2012. 
  17. ^ "Sidney Hillman Foundation 2010 Prizes". http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/hillman-prizes/Sidney_Hillman_Foundation_Announces_2010_Prizes. Retrieved 21 January 2012. 
  18. ^ "The 25 Best Financial Blogs". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2057116_2057343_2057274,00.html. Retrieved 21 January 2012. 
  19. ^ "Joe Lieberman: Let's not make a deal!". The Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/12/joe_lieberman_lets_not_make_a.html. Retrieved 2010-05-03. 
  20. ^ Dorn, Stan. Uninsured and Dying Because of It: Updating the Institute of Medicine Analysis on the Impact of Uninsurance on Mortality. Urban Institute.
  21. ^ Jonah Goldberg (2009-12-15). "Lieberman Loves Death More than Ezra Klein Loves Life". The Corner. National Review Online. http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YzJlMDlhOWIzZmYwMWMyYzIzNTkyZWRmNWQ0YTQ2YmY=. Retrieved 2010-07-29. 
  22. ^ "The public option died last summer". The Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2009/12/the_public_option_died_last.html. Retrieved 2010-05-03. 
  23. ^ "Washington's Brat Pack Masters Media". The New York Times. 2010-03-25. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/fashion/27YOUNGPUNDITS.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=2&adxnnlx=1301529679-mk6oLlEdLch/o9b3TPMRCQ. Retrieved 2011-03-31. 
  24. ^ Carney, Timothy (2011-02-28) Turns out ObamaCare might not save hundreds of thousands of lives, Washington Examiner
  25. ^ Ezra Klein (February 28, 2011). "Health care doesn't keep people healthy -- even in Canada" The Washington Post Accessed July 14, 2011.
  26. ^ a b c Michael Calderone (2009-03-17). "JournoList: Inside the echo chamber". The Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20086.html. Retrieved 2009-03-30. 
  27. ^ JournoList Google Groups.
  28. ^ Mickey Kaus (2007-07-27). "Educating Ezra Klein". Slate (magazine). http://www.slate.com/id/2171362/#kleinklub. Retrieved 2009-03-30. 
  29. ^ Mickey Kaus (2009-03-26). "JournoList Revealed! Inside the Secret Liberal Media Email Cabal". Slate (magazine). http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/kausfiles/archive/2009/03/26/journolist-revealed-inside-the-liberal-media-email-cabal.aspx. Retrieved 2009-03-30. 
  30. ^ Klein, Ezra (June 25, 2010). "On Journolist, and Dave Weigel". The Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/06/on_journolist_and_dave_weigel.html. Retrieved June 25, 2010. 
  31. ^ Keach Hagey, "David Weigel quits – and a debate begins, Politico.com, June 25, 2010. Retrieved 6-27-2010.
  32. ^ "EzraKlein Archive". The American Prospect. http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=03&year=2009&base_name=obligatory_journolist_post. Retrieved 2010-07-29. 
  33. ^ Klein, Ezra (2010-11-03). "Reconciliation -- and more". The Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/11/reconciliation_--_and_more.html. Retrieved 2010-11-04. 

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