David Finkel
{{Short description|American journalist}}
{{for|the television producer|Dave Finkel}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = David Finkel
| image = David finkel 2013.jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = David Finkel at the 2013 Texas Book Festival.
|birth_name = David Louis Finkel
| birth_date = October 28, 1955
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| occupation = Reporter, writer
| salary =
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| education = University of Florida
| spouse =
| awards = MacArthur Fellow
Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting
| website =
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}}
David Louis Finkel (born October 28, 1955) is an American journalist. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2006 as a staff writer at The Washington Post.{{cite web |url=http://nieman.harvard.edu/narrative/digest/resources/bios/finkel-d.html |title=Nieman Narrative Digest |archive-date=September 5, 2006 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905004822/http://nieman.harvard.edu/narrative/digest/resources/bios/finkel-d.html }} As of January 2017, he was national enterprise editor at the Post.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/pr/wp/2017/01/12/chico-harlan-jessica-contrera-join-national-enterprise-team/ |title=Chico Harlan, Jessica Contrera join National Enterprise team |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 12, 2017 }} He has also worked for the Post{{'}}s foreign staff division. He wrote The Good Soldiers and Thank You for Your Service. He is a 2012 MacArthur Fellow.{{cite web |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2012-macarthur-foundation-genius-grant-winners |title=2012 MacArthur Foundation 'Genius Grant' Winners |archive-date=October 2, 2012 |publisher=AP |access-date=July 25, 2017 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002000603/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2012-macarthur-foundation-genius-grant-winners }}
Work
Finkel's book The Good Soldiers describes several months he spent in 2007 as an embedded reporter with 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, also known as the "2-16 Rangers", as they worked to stabilize a portion of Baghdad.{{cite web|title=Book Discussion on The Good Soldiers|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?289342-1/book-discussion-good-soldiers|publisher=C-SPAN|access-date=26 April 2015|date=5 October 2009|quote=David Finkel talked about his book The Good Soldiers (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; September 15, 2009). In his book he recounts the fifteen months he spent with Army Battalion 2-16, part of the U.S. forces that carried out the surge in 2007-2008. Battalion 2-16 was charged with securing part of Baghdad. Mr. Finkel read passages from his book and talked about his experiences with the soldiers in Iraq. He talked about how their tour of duty changed the soldiers and their evaluations of the success of the surge. He also responded to questions from members of the audience.}}
The logs of Chelsea Manning's IM chats with Adrian Lamo state that David Finkel was given the Collateral Murder video but did not release it.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/06/wikileaks-chat/ |magazine=Wired |first1=Kevin |last1=Poulsen |first2=Kim |last2=Zetter |title='I Can't Believe What I'm Confessing to You': The Wikileaks Chats |date=10 June 2010}} David Finkel has never publicly disclosed whether he had the video or not. In a washingtonpost.com webchat, he said, "I based the account in my book The Good Soldiers on multiple sources, all unclassified. Without going into details, I'll say the best source of information was being there [in Iraq]."{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2010/04/06/DI2010040600750.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=David |last=Finkel |title=Video shows death of 2 Reuters employees in Baghdad attack |date=6 April 2010}} At a February 2013 pretrial hearing, Manning stated that Finkel "was quoting, I feel in verbatim, the audio communications of the aerial weapons team crew." She said, however, that she was "aghast" at Finkel's portrayal of the incident. "Reading his account," she explained, "one would believe the engagement was somehow justified as 'payback' for an earlier attack that led to the death of a soldier."{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/01/bradley-manning-wikileaks-statement-full-text|title=Bradley Manning's statements during his trial |location=London |work=The Guardian |date=1 March 2013}}
Awards
- 1995 Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Award for a story about racial and class conflict.
- 2001 Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism International Print Prize for "Invisible Journeys" about illegal immigration.
- 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, citing "his ambitious, clear-eyed case study of the United States government's attempt to bring democracy to Yemen."[http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2006-Explanatory-Reporting "The 2006 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Explanatory Reporting"]. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-01. With short biography and reprints of 3 works (December 2005 Washington Post articles).
- 2010 Cornelius Ryan Award for The Good Soldiers.{{cite web|url=https://opcofamerica.org/Awardarchive/cornelius-ryan-award-2009/|title=The Cornelius Ryan Award 2009|website=opcofamerica.org|date=April 22, 2010|access-date=November 14, 2020}}
- 2010 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize for The Good Soldiers.
- 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award (Nonfiction) shortlist for Thank You for Your Service{{cite web |url=http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/announcing-the-national-book-critics-awards-finalists |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115014055/http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/announcing-the-national-book-critics-awards-finalists |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 15, 2014 |title=Announcing the National Book Critics Awards Finalists for Publishing Year 2013 |publisher=National Book Critics Circle |date=January 14, 2014 |access-date=January 14, 2014}}
- 2014 Erikson Institute Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media (awarded by the Erikson Institute of the Austen Riggs Center) for his investigative reporting at The Washington Post.{{cite web|url=http://www.austenriggs.org/erikson-institute-prize-excellence-mental-health-media|title=Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media - Austen Riggs Center|access-date=2015-09-12|archive-date=2018-07-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720110231/https://www.austenriggs.org/erikson-institute-prize-excellence-mental-health-media|url-status=dead}}
Education
Finkel earned a Bachelor's degree in broadcasting from the University of Florida in 1977.{{Cite web |title=David Finkel |url=https://www.jou.ufl.edu/profiles/david-finkel/ |access-date=2023-02-15 |website=UF College of Journalism and Communications |language=en-US}}
Personal life
References
{{Reflist |25em}}
External links
{{Wikiquote|David Finkel}}
- {{C-SPAN|9265839}}
- [http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-presents/david-finkel-good-soldiers/ Lecture] on The Good Soldiers at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library
- [http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-presents/david-finkel-thank-you-your-service/ Lecture] on Thank You for Your Service at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library
- [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bigideas/stories/2010/2865450.htm Interview on ABC RN with Paul Barclay] about The Good Soldier.
- {{LCAuth|n2009026534|David Finkel|2|}}
{{PulitzerPrize Explanatory Reporting}}
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Category:American male journalists
Category:American military writers
Category:Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism winners