Craig Whitlock

Craig Michael Whitlock was born in Ithaca, New York.{{Cite web |date=April 5, 2017 |title=Duke alum and reporter Craig Whitlock honored for exceptional work in journalism |url=https://dewitt.sanford.duke.edu/craig-whitlock-futrell-award-duke-university/ |access-date=August 30, 2021 |website=DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy}} He is the son of Dr. Robert Whitlock, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.{{Cite news |date=June 30, 1996 |title=WEDDINGS;Jennifer Toth, Craig Whitlock |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/30/style/weddings-jennifer-toth-craig-whitlock.html |access-date=August 30, 2021}} He was raised in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.{{Cite web |title=Monuts Friday: Alumni Edition with Craig Whitlock |url=https://dewitt.sanford.duke.edu/event/monuts-friday-alumni-edition-craig-whitlock/ |access-date=August 30, 2021 |website=DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy}} In 1986, he graduated from Unionville High School, where he was editor of the school newspaper The Indian Post{{Cite news |date=August 16, 2011 |title=Underground edition of Indian Posts earns editors a trip to DC |work=Daily Local |url=https://www.dailylocal.com/2011/08/16/underground-edition-of-indian-posts-earns-editors-a-trip-to-dc/ |access-date=August 30, 2021}} (now known as the Unionville Post). He received a bachelor's degree in history from Duke University, where he was editor of student paper The Chronicle.

Prior to joining The Washington Post, Whitlock worked for seven years as a reporter for The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina. He was also briefly a staff writer for The Anniston Star of Anniston, Alabama. He is a journalist for The Washington Post and is assigned to the Investigative Desk, where he covers national security. He has worked as a staff writer for the Post since 1998, and covered the Maryland Statehouse in Annapolis{{Cite news |last1=Montgomery |first1=Lori |last2=Whitlock |first2=Craig |date=January 21, 2004 |title=Md. Governor Ready To Try, Try Again |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2004/01/21/md-governor-ready-to-try-try-again/be952f63-16ed-4da2-b54d-a80ac7040784/ |access-date=August 30, 2021}} and the Prince George's County police department.{{Cite news |last1=Whitlock |first1=Craig |last2=Fallis |first2=David S. |date=July 2, 2001 |title=Police Routinely Clear Their Own |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/07/02/police-routinely-clear-their-own/35581243-89fe-4bac-9af1-f3cc2a3e0609/ |access-date=August 30, 2021}} From 2010 until 2016, he reported on the Pentagon for the National Desk. For almost six years, Whitlock served as the paper's Berlin bureau chief and covered terrorism networks in Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. He has reported from over 60 countries.

Whitlock is also known for writing the Afghanistan Papers, a book containing a series of interviews conducted by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction covering information about the reconstruction effort in Afghanistan. The coverage focused on the difference between public and private statements voiced by U.S. government officials about the progress and success of the overall war effort. Public statements about the war in Afghanistan usually portrayed a more positive picture than statements reflected in those interviews.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/afghanistan-papers/afghanistan-war-confidential-documents/ At War With the Truth], Washington Post, Craig Whitlock, December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2023.

In August 2021, Whitlock published his debut book, The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War.{{Cite news |last=Ashford |first=Emma |date=August 20, 2021 |title=Buried doubts and public deceptions in the Afghan war |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/buried-doubts-and-public-deceptions-in-the-afghan-war/2021/08/19/ac07703a-fc6c-11eb-9c0e-97e29906a970_story.html |access-date=August 30, 2021}}{{Cite news |last=Rosen |first=Jacob |date=August 20, 2021 |title=Washington Post reporter Craig Whitlock discusses Afghanistan withdrawal on "The Takeout" |work=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/washington-post-reporter-craig-whitlock-afghanistan-withdrawal-the-takeout-podcast/ |access-date=August 30, 2021}} Shortly before its publication, Whitlock discussed Afghanistan in an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher.{{Cite news |last=Patten |first=Dominic |date=August 27, 2021 |title=Bill Maher Mocks Joe Biden's Afghanistan Withdrawal After Fatal Kabul Airport Attack; "We Did This Completely Ass-Backwards" |work=Deadline Hollywood |url=https://deadline.com/2021/08/bill-maher-afghanistan-terror-attack-joe-biden-hbo-1234823636/ |access-date=August 30, 2021}} The book debuted at number one on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list for the week ending September 4, 2021.{{Cite news |title=Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction - Best Sellers - Books |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2021/09/19/combined-print-and-e-book-nonfiction/ |access-date=September 8, 2021 }} The book was also included in the Wall Street Journal best-selling books list.{{Cite news |date=September 9, 2021 |title=Bestselling Books Week Ended September 4 |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/bestselling-books-week-ended-september-4-11631216286 |access-date=September 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210912202246/https://www.wsj.com/articles/bestselling-books-week-ended-september-4-11631216286 |archive-date=September 12, 2021 |url-status=live }} The book was reviewed by Kirkus Reviews,{{Cite news |date=June 5, 2021 |title=The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock |work=Kirkus Reviews |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/craig-whitlock/the-afghanistan-papers/ |access-date=September 12, 2021}} New York,{{Cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Ben |date=August 25, 2021 |title=The Shocking New Book That Exposes U.S. Lies About Afghanistan |work=New York |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/08/craig-whitlock-afghanistan-papers-review-u-s-kept-lying.html |access-date=August 30, 2021}} The Guardian,{{Cite news |last=Borger |first=Julian |author-link=Julian Borger |date=September 5, 2021 |title=The Afghanistan Papers review: superb exposé of a war built on lies |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/sep/05/the-afghanistan-papers-review-craig-whitlock-washington-post |access-date=September 12, 2021}} and The Sunday Times.{{Cite news |last=Hastings |first=Max |author-link=Max Hastings |date=September 3, 2021 |title=The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock review — a catalogue of American failures |work=The Times |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/the-afghanistan-papers-a-secret-history-of-the-war-by-craig-whitlock-review-a-catalogue-of-american-failures-m89h5phfl |access-date=September 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210903082028/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-afghanistan-papers-a-secret-history-of-the-war-by-craig-whitlock-review-a-catalogue-of-american-failures-m89h5phfl |archive-date=September 3, 2021 |url-status=live }} It was selected for The Washington Post{{'}}s "10 Best Books of 2021" list.{{Cite news |date=November 18, 2021 |title=The 10 Best Books of 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/interactive/2021/best-books-2021/ |access-date=December 18, 2021}}

In 1996, he married journalist Jennifer Toth. They remained married until her death in 2025. He has a son and lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

He was awarded the German Marshall Fund's 2005 Peter R. Weitz senior prize for his coverage of international terrorist networks. He is also a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, most recently in 2013 for national reporting on counterterrorism, and received the National Press Club's Michael A. Dornheim Award - along with Nate Jones - in 2023.{{cite press release |last1=Helster |first1=Kate |title=Wall Street Journal, ABC News and PBS NewsHour Win National Press Club Awards |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wall-street-journal-abc-news-and-pbs-newshour-win-national-press-club-awards-301884814.html |website=PR Newswire |publisher=National Press Club |access-date=10 September 2023}}

• {{Cite book |title=The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-9821-5900-9 |location=New York |publication-date=August 31, 2021}}{{Cite book |title=The Afghanistan Papers |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Afghanistan-Papers/Craig-Whitlock/9781982159009 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |website=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1-7971-3152-8 }}
• {{Cite book |title=Fat Leonard: How One Man Bribed, Bilked, and Seduced the U.S. Navy|publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-9821-3163-0 |location=New York |publication-date=May 14, 2024}}

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Category:1968 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American journalists

Category:21st-century American writers

Category:American male journalists

Category:Duke University alumni

Category:People from Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

Category:The Washington Post journalists

Category:Writers from Ithaca, New York