Michael Kelly (editor)
Michael Thomas Kelly (March 17, 1957 – April 3, 2003) was an American journalist, a columnist for The Washington Post, and an editor at The New Republic, National Journal, and The Atlantic. He came to prominence via his reporting on the first Gulf War, but suffered professional embarrassment for his role in the Stephen Glass scandal at The New Republic. He died in 2003 while covering the invasion of Iraq.[1]
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[edit] Career
Kelly reported on the Persian Gulf War in 1991 for The New Republic; this served as the basis for his book Martyrs' Day: Chronicles of a Small War (1993).
In 1996 he became the editor of The New Republic, where his protectiveness of his staffers—along with the criticisms he leveled against the publisher's friend, Al Gore—created friction with the magazine's management.
Writer Stephen Glass had been a major contributor under Kelly's editorship; Glass was later shown to have fabricated numerous stories, and falsified his notes and other backup materials; this was publicly apologized for by The New Republic after an investigation by Kelly's successor, Charles Lane—which in turn was sparked by an expose of Glass in Forbes Online. Kelly, however, was Glass's editor before Forbes exposed the latter's falsehoods, and he was largely supportive of Glass. He even sent scathing letters to those who challenged the veracity of Glass's stories.[2]
After losing his job at The New Republic, Kelly was hired by David G. Bradley to run the National Journal. Bradley was so pleased with Kelly's work that he hired Kelly to run The Atlantic Monthly after Bradley purchased it in 1999.[3]
[edit] Views
Kelly was very critical of the political establishment in both political parties, as well as of the power structure in Hollywood. He authored, for instance, a devastating critique of Ted Kennedy that ran in GQ in 1990 and was reprinted by that magazine upon Kennedy's death; he skewered Al Gore numerous times over the years. Kelly was a supporter of U.S. military intervention during both the Clinton Administration and George W. Bush's administration. Kelly was soft-spoken in his personal life, but alternately sharp-witted and fiery in his writing.
He was an outspoken critic of the anti-Iraq war movement.[4] He coined the term "fusion paranoia" to refer to a political convergence of left-wing and right-wing activists around anti-war issues and civil liberties, which he claimed were motivated by a shared belief in conspiracism or anti-government views.[5][6]
In September 2002, Kelly sharply criticized former vice president Al Gore for a speech that condemned the Bush administration's efforts to generate support for the coming invasion of Iraq. In a column in The Washington Post, Kelly said the speech was "wretched. It was vile. It was contemptible." He said Gore's speech "was one no decent politician could have delivered" and was "bereft of anything other than taunts and jibes and embarrassingly obvious lies."[7][8]
[edit] Death
On April 3, 2003, just a few weeks following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Kelly was travelling in a Humvee vehicle with a soldier from the 3rd Infantry Division when the vehicle was fired upon by Iraqi soldiers. The vehicle carrying Kelly and Army Staff Sergeant Wilbert Davis veered off an embankment and into a canal below. Both men died in the accident. Kelly was the first American reporter officially killed in action in Iraq.[9]
He is survived by his wife, Madelyn; his children, Tom and Jack; his mother, Marguerite; and his three sisters, along with many nieces and nephews. His father, Thomas Vincent Kelly, a former reporter himself, later died on June 17, 2010 at the age of 86.
[edit] The Michael Kelly Award
The Michael Kelly Award is for "The Fearless Pursuit and Expression of Truth";[10] the prize is $25,000 for the winner and $3,000 for the 3 (previously 4) runners-up.[11] It is sponsored by the Atlantic Media Company.
| Year | Winner | Finalists |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Anthony Shadid | Dan Christensen; Tom Junod; John Lantigua; George Packer |
| 2005 | Nicholas D. Kristof | David Grann; Kim Murphy; Maximillian Potter; Elizabeth Rubin |
| 2006 | Sharon LaFraniere | Kurt Eichenwald; James Risen; Eric Lichtblau; Chris Rose; Cam Simpson |
| 2007 | C. J. Chivers | Rukmini Maria Callimachi; Jesse Hamilton; William Langewiesche; Charles Forelle, James Bandler, and Mark Maremont; Steve Stecklow |
| 2008 | Loretta Tofani | Kelly Kennedy; Joshua Kors; Tom Vanden Brook; Peter Eisler; Blake Morrison |
| 2009 | Ken Armstrong; Nick Perry | Barry Bearak; Celia W. Dugger; Richard Behar; Peter Godwin |
| 2010 | David S. Rohde | Ken Bensinger and Ralph Vartabedian; Sheri Fink; Jeffrey Gettleman |
| 2011 | Mandy Locke and Joseph Neff | Emily Bazelon; John Bowe; Jonathan M. Katz |
[edit] Popular culture
Kelly was portrayed by actor Hank Azaria in the 2003 film Shattered Glass.
[edit] References
- ^ American Journalist Michael Kelly Killed in Iraq Liza Porteus, Fox News Channel, (April 4, 2003).
- ^ "Shattered Glass". H. G. Bissinger, Vanity Fair, September 1998
- ^ Scott Sherman (2002). "What makes a serious magazine soar?". Columbia Journalism Review. http://cjrarchives.org/issues/2002/6/mag-sherman.asp. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
- ^ Michael Kelly, Anti-war effort perverts liberal values October 23, 2002 and Marching with Stalinists, January 22, 2003, both published in Jewish World Review.
- ^ Daniel Pipes, Fusion paranoia – A new twist in conspiracy theories, The Jerusalem Post, January 14, 2004.
- ^ Michael Kelly, A Reporter at Large, "The Road to Paranoia", The New Yorker, June 19, 1995, p. 60. (subscription required)
- ^ Timothy Noah (September 24, 2002). "Gore Is Consistent on Iraq". Slate. http://www.slate.com/?id=2071500.
- ^ Michael Kelly (September 25, 2002). "Look Who's Playing Politics". The Washington Post. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/194588391.html?dids=194588391:194588391&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&fmac=&date=Sep+25%2C+2002&author=Michael+Kelly&desc=Look+Who%27s+Playing+Politics.
- ^ "Michael Kelly's Death and Life" by Chip Scanlan, Poynter Online (April 4, 2003)
- ^ The Michael Kelly Award
- ^ Entry information
[edit] External links
- List of Kelly columns 1999–2003 at Jewish World Review
- Booknotes interview with Kelly on Martyr's Day: Chronicle of a Small War, March 28, 1993.
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