Alec MacGillis
{{Short description|American journalist}}
Alec MacGillis is an American journalist whose work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, an on-line news source, and books. Currently, he is a senior reporter for ProPublica{{Cite web|url=https://www.americanacademy.de/person/alec-macgillis/|title=Alec MacGillis}} and an editor-at-large for the Baltimore Banner.{{Cite web |title=Alec MacGillis |url=https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/author/alec-macgillis/ |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=The Baltimore Banner |language=en}} MacGillis is a resident of Baltimore, Maryland.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-13 |title=Alec MacGillis |url=https://www.propublica.org/people/alec-macgillis |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}
Career
MacGillis’ father is Donald MacGillis, the former Boston Globe editorial writer and former executive editor of The Berkshire Eagle.{{Cite web|url=https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/local/former-eagle-editor-donald-macgillis-dies-in-maine-hiking-accident/article_47ec5680-095e-11eb-abcf-bf94a0ce0be8.html|title=Former Eagle editor Donald MacGillis dies in Maine hiking accident|first=Tony Dobrowolski and Heather Bellow, The Berkshire|last=Eagle|date=October 8, 2020|website=The Berkshire Eagle}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/08/metro/former-boston-globe-editor-donald-macgillis-dies-mount-katahdin-hiking-accident/|title=Former Boston Globe editorial writer Donald MacGillis dies in Mount Katahdin hiking accident - The Boston Globe|website=BostonGlobe.com}}
Alec MacGillis received a BA in history and English from Yale University.{{Cite web|url=https://record.umich.edu/articles/propublica-reporter-speak-politics-media-and-prosperity-gap/|title=ProPublica reporter to speak on politics, media and prosperity gap | The University Record|website=record.umich.edu}} He has worked for six newspapers including The Baltimore Sun and The Washington Post.{{Cite web |title=Alec MacGillis |url=https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/author/alec-macgillis/ |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=The Baltimore Banner |language=en}} In 1997, he started working at The Brooklyn Paper.{{Cite web|url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/former-brooklyn-paper-reporter-wins-prestigious-journalism-award/|title=Former Brooklyn Paper reporter wins prestigious journalism award • Brooklyn Paper|first=Ruth|last=Brown|date=February 22, 2017|website=www.brooklynpaper.com}} In 2011, he switched from newspaper journalism to writing for magazines. He wrote for The New Republic. In 2015, he began writing for Pro Publica.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-13 |title=Alec MacGillis |url=https://www.propublica.org/people/alec-macgillis |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}
MacGillis has also written several non-fiction books. In 2014, he published The Cynic: The Political Education of Mitch McConnell, a biography of Mitch McConnell. https://www.npr.org/2014/11/20/365484670/sen-mitch-mcconnells-political-life-examined-in-the-cynic In 2021, MacGillis published Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/10/books/review-fulfillment-alec-macgillis.html |title=In 'Fulfillment,' One-Click Shopping Is Cheap, Easy and Economically Unsustainable |first=Jennifer |last=Szalai |work=The New York Times |date=March 10, 2021 |via=NYTimes.com}}https://www.npr.org/2021/03/16/975013832/in-amazons-shadow-an-america-divided-in-search-of-fulfillment{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/alec-macgillis-fulfillment-amazon/617796/|title=Amazon Has Transformed the Geography of Wealth and Power|first=Vauhini|last=Vara|date=February 12, 2021|website=The Atlantic}}
Awards and honors
In 2016, MacGillis won the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting.{{Cite web|url=https://www.propublica.org/atpropublica/alec-macgillis-of-propublica-wins-toner-prize-for-political-reporting|title=Alec MacGillis of ProPublica Wins Toner Prize for Political Reporting|first=Cynthia Gordy|last=Giwa|date=March 28, 2016|website=ProPublica}}
In 2017, MacGillis won the George Polk Award.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/nyregion/george-polk-awards-journalism.html|title=Polk Awards Honor Articles From Trump's Presidential Run|first=Winnie|last=Hu|work=The New York Times |date=February 20, 2017|via=NYTimes.com}}
In 2017, MacGillis received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for his body of reporting on a wide range of issues including corporate influence on public policy, and aspects of the opioid crisis.
The President of Colby college David A. Greene celebrated MacGillis for his “courageous and unyielding efforts to reveal truths that have been carefully shielded from public scrutiny.” {{Cite web|url=https://www.propublica.org/atpropublica/alec-macgillis-to-receive-lovejoy-award|title=ProPublica's Alec MacGillis to Receive Lovejoy Award|date=September 12, 2017|website=ProPublica}}
In 2017, MacGillis won the Topic of the Year award at the Scripps Howard Awards for his ProPublica story “The Breakdown" which was the culmination of spending 2016 exploring middle America to understand "the mounting wave of discontent, frustration and anger."{{Cite web|url=https://scripps.com/fund/news/1048-scripps-howard-awards-recognize-excellence-in-journalism/|title=Scripps Howard Awards Recognize Excellence In Journalism | News|first=Rebecca|last=McCarter|date=March 7, 2017|website=Scripps}}
References
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