Blake Hounshell
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Short description|American journalist (1978–2023)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Blake Hounshell
| image = Blake Hounshell portrait.webp
| caption = Hounshell in 2013
| birth_name = Bernard Blakeman Hounshell
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1978|09|04}}
| birth_place = California, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|01|10|1978|09|04}}
| death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.
| education = Yale University (BA)
| occupation = Journalist and editor
| employer = The New York Times
| awards = Livingston Award (finalist, 2011)
| children = 2
}}
Bernard Blakeman Hounshell (September 4, 1978 – January 10, 2023) was an American journalist and editor who worked for The New York Times, Politico, and Foreign Policy.
A graduate of Yale University, he was a 2011 finalist for the Livingston Award. The same year, Time magazine identified him as operating one of the best Twitter accounts.
He died by suicide in 2023 after living with clinical depression.
Early life and education
Hounshell was born as Bernard Blakeman Hounshell in California on September 4, 1978 and had two siblings. He grew up in Delaware and Pittsburgh and graduated from Yale University in 2002 after studying political science.{{Cite web |last=Hounshell |first=Blake |title=Blake Hounshell |url=https://www.politico.com/staff/blake-hounshell |access-date=January 10, 2023 |website=POLITICO |language=en |archive-date=November 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128052220/https://www.politico.com/staff/blake-hounshell |url-status=live }}
After graduation, Hounshell moved to Egypt to study, and learn Arabic.{{Cite web |last=Graff |first=Garrett M. |title=In Remembrance of a Beloved and Very Online Journalist |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/01/10/blake-hounshell-remembrance-beloved-journalist-00077366 |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=POLITICO |date=January 10, 2023 |language=en |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111024538/https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/01/10/blake-hounshell-remembrance-beloved-journalist-00077366 |url-status=live }}
Career
In Cairo, Hounshell worked at the human-rights focussed{{Cite news |last=Rosenwald |first=Michael S. |date=11 January 2023 |title=Blake Hounshell, political journalist who embodied digital news, dies at 44 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/01/11/blake-hounshell-dies-at-44-embraced-internet-at-new-york-times-and-politico/}} Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies think tank founded by Saad Eddin Ibrahim.
Hounshell edited The New York Times' On Politics newsletter{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=January 10, 2023 |title=New York Times journalist Blake Hounshell dies by suicide |url=https://bnonews.com/index.php/2023/01/new-york-times-journalist-blake-hounshell-dead/ |access-date=January 10, 2023 |website=BNO News |language=en-US |archive-date=January 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110213437/https://bnonews.com/index.php/2023/01/new-york-times-journalist-blake-hounshell-dead/ |url-status=live }} after joining the newspaper in October 2021. He previously worked as a managing editor at Politico{{Cite web |title=Blake Hounshell - The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/by/blake-hounshell |access-date=January 10, 2023 |website=www.nytimes.com |language=en |archive-date=January 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108142136/https://www.nytimes.com/by/blake-hounshell |url-status=live }} after starting his journalism career at Foreign Policy in 2006.{{Cite web |date=2023-01-10 |title=NY Times editor Blake Hounshell, formerly of Politico, dies |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/us/2023/01/10/ny-times-editor-blake-hounshell-formerly-of-politico-dies.html |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=thestar.com |language=en |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111102502/https://www.thestar.com/news/world/us/2023/01/10/ny-times-editor-blake-hounshell-formerly-of-politico-dies.html |url-status=live }} At Politico, Hounshell was instrumental in launching the national security newsletter, the NatSec Daily.{{Cite web |title=U.S. should grant a Brazilian request to extradite Bolsonaro, Kaine says |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2023/01/10/u-s-should-grant-a-brazilian-request-to-extradite-bolsonaro-kaine-says-00077187 |access-date=January 10, 2023 |website=POLITICO |date=January 10, 2023 |language=en |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111102503/https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2023/01/10/u-s-should-grant-a-brazilian-request-to-extradite-bolsonaro-kaine-says-00077187 |url-status=live }}
Foreign Policy won the Media Industry Newsletter's Best of the Web award in 2008, under his leadership.
Hounshell's Twitter account was identified by Time magazine as one of the 140 best of 2011. The same year, his reporting on the Arab Spring made him a Livingston Awards for Young Journalists finalist.
Hounshell co-edited Ricardo Lagos's 2012 memoir Southern Tiger: Chile's Fight for a Democratic and Prosperous Future.
Personal life and death
Hounshell met musician and consultant Sandy Choi while working in Cairo; they moved to Washington D.C. in the 2000s, married, and had two children. He survived a stroke in 2020.
Hounshell died by suicide{{Cite web |last1=Lizza |first1=Ryan |last2=Bade |first2=Rachael |last3=Daniels |first3=Eugene |title=POLITICO Playbook: Blake Hounshell, 1978-2023 |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2023/01/11/blake-hounshell-1978-2023-00077394 |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=POLITICO |date=January 11, 2023 |language=en}} on January 10, 2023,{{Cite web |last=Bolies |first=Corbin |date=January 10, 2023 |title=NY Times Star Reporter Blake Hounshell Suddenly Dies |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-york-times-reporter-blake-hounshell-suddenly-dies |access-date=January 10, 2023 |website=The Daily Beast |language=en |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111102538/https://gum.criteo.com/syncframe?origin=publishertag&topUrl=www.thedailybeast.com |url-status=live }} aged 44.{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=January 10, 2023 |title=Blake Hounshell, 'On Politics' Editor at The Times, Dies at 44 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/business/media/blake-hounshell-dead.html |access-date=January 10, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110234005/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/business/media/blake-hounshell-dead.html |url-status=live }} Police found his body near the Taft Bridge.{{Cite web |date=2023-01-11 |title=NY Times editor Blake Hounshell, formerly of Politico, dies |url=https://apnews.com/article/politics-district-of-columbia-kentucky-chile-government-2bcdbc069fbbe869e6a4c9f3b8905d39 |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=AP NEWS |language=en |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111011811/https://apnews.com/article/politics-district-of-columbia-kentucky-chile-government-2bcdbc069fbbe869e6a4c9f3b8905d39 |url-status=live }} Hounshell's family released a statement that he had died "after a long and courageous battle with depression."
Following his death, Joe Kahn and Carolyn Ryan of The New York Times wrote that Hounshell "was a dedicated journalist who quickly distinguished himself as our lead politics newsletter writer and a gifted observer of our country's political scene."
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Journalism||}}
- [https://twitter.com/blakehounshell Blake Hounshell Personal] - Twitter
- [https://twitter.com/NYTBlake Blake Hounshell Professional] - Twitter
- [https://www.instagram.com/blakehounshell Blake Hounshell] - Instagram
{{Suicide navbox}}{{The New York Times}}
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Category:21st-century American journalists
Category:American online publication editors
Category:Foreign Policy editors
Category:Journalists from California
Category:Journalists from Delaware
Category:Journalists from Pennsylvania
Category:American social media influencers
Category:Suicides by jumping in Washington, D.C.
Category:The New York Times editors