David Folkenflik
David Folkenflik was described by Geraldo Rivera of Fox News as "a really weak-kneed, backstabbing, sweaty-palmed reporter." Others have been kinder. The Columbia Journalism Review, for example, once gave him a "laurel" for reporting that immediately led the U.S. military to institute safety measures for journalists in Baghdad.
Based in New York City, Folkenflik serves as NPR's media correspondent.
His stories and analyses are broadcast on the network's newsmagazines, such as All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Here & Now, and are featured on NPR's website and mobile platforms. Folkenflik's reports cast light on the stories of our age, the figures who shape journalism, and the tectonic shifts affecting the news industry. Folkenflik has reported intently on the relationship between the press, politicians, and the general public, as well as the fight over the flow of information in the age of Trump. Folkenflik brought listeners the profile of a Las Vegas columnist who went bankrupt fending off a libel lawsuit from his newspaper's new owner; conducted the first interview with New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet after his appointment; and repeatedly broke news involving the troubled Tronc company, which owns some of the most important regional newspapers in the country. In early 2018, Folkenflik's exposé about the past workplace behavior of the CEO of the Los Angeles Times forced the executive's immediate ouster from that job and helped inspire the sale of the newspaper.
Folkenflik is the author of Murdoch's World: The Last of the Old Media Empires. The Los Angeles Times called Murdoch's World "meaty reading... laced with delicious anecdotes" and the Huffington Post described it as "the gift that keeps on giving." Folkenflik is also editor of Page One: Inside the New York Times and the Future of Journalism. His work has appeared in such publications as the Washington Post, Politico Magazine, Newsweek International, the National Post of Canada, and the Australian Financial Review. Business Insider has called Folkenflik one of the 50 most influential people in American media.
Folkenflik joined NPR in 2004 after more than a decade at the Baltimore Sun, where he covered higher education, national politics, and the media. He started his professional career at the Durham Herald-Sun in North Carolina. Folkenflik served as editor-in-chief at the Cornell Daily Sun and graduated from Cornell with a bachelor's degree in history.
A five-time winner of the Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism from the National Press Club, Folkenflik has received numerous other recognitions, including the inaugural 2002 Mongerson Award for Investigative Reporting on the News and top honors from the National Headliners. In 2018, the Society of Professional Journalists recognized Folkenflik with its 2018 Ethics in Journalism Award. In 2017, Penn State University named Folkenflik as the nation's leading media critic with the Bart Richards Award. He also served as the inaugural Irik Sevin Fellow at Cornell. Folkenflik frequently lectures at college campuses and civic organizations across the country and often appears as a media analyst for television and radio programs in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, and Ireland.
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NPR moved this week to cut 10% of its staff and stop production of a handful of podcasts, including Invisibilia, Louder Than a Riot and Rough Translation. -
President Trump has turned to conservative media and stars for help in his fight to win reelection. They've rewarded him by promoting his questionable claims about the Bidens and the coronavirus. -
The agency that oversees international media such as Voice of America is examining visa renewals "case-by-case." Denial could mean expulsion from the U.S. and a return to hostile home countries. -
Mohn will step aside to focus on a newly created position to lead the network's fundraising drive. He and his wife will contribute $10 million toward the effort from their personal fortune. -
Barnes, executive editor at the Houston Chronicle, was named as NPR's chief news executive. She fills the spot formerly held by Michael Oreskes, who was forced out over sexual harassment allegations.
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Former News of the World editor Andrew Coulson was found guilty Tuesday, but fellow editor Rebekah Brooks was acquitted after a trial centering on illegal activity in the Murdoch newspaper empire.
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NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik looks at the role that conservative media may have played in the upset defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in his Republican primary.
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Edward Snowden didn't trust The New York Times with his revelations about the NSA because the paper initially spiked an earlier story about the warrantless wiretapping of Americans. -
A London judge has been summarizing the findings of a phone-hacking trial that has touched the highest levels of British politics and journalism. The case is expected to go to the jury very soon.
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The moves come as part of the network's effort to eliminate budget deficits. Tell Me More host Michel Martin will remain with NPR.
