Michael Allen (journalist)
{{short description|American political journalist (born 1964)}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Michael Allen
|image = Mike Allen (cropped).jpg
|caption = Michael Allen in 2010
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1964|6|21}}
|birth_place = United States
|occupation = Political reporter, writer, journalist
|relatives = Gary Allen (father)
|education = Washington and Lee University (BA)
}}
Michael Allen (born June 21, 1964) is an American political journalist. He is the co-founder and executive editor of Axios and the former chief political reporter for Politico. While at Politico, he wrote the daily Playbook; in April 2010, in reference to his frequent correspondence with White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer, The New York Times called him "The Man The White House Wakes Up To." Prior to joining Politico for its 2007 launch, he worked at numerous other publications, including The New York Times and Time.
The New York Times reported that Allen would no longer be writing the Playbook after July 11, 2016. The writing was taken over by Politico staffers Daniel Lippman, Anna Palmer, and Jake Sherman.{{cite news |last=Rutenberg |first=Jim |url=http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/06/20/business/media/mike-allen-politicos-newsletter-pioneer-is-handing-over-the-reins.html |title=Mike Allen, Politico's Newsletter Pioneer, Is Handing Over the Reins |work=The New York Times |date=2016-06-21 |accessdate=2016-06-21 }}
Early life
Allen grew up in Orange County, California. His father was conservative writer Gary Allen, a spokesman for the John Birch Society. He described his household as normal and "apolitical", in considerable contrast to his father's flamboyant public persona as a conservative icon, who once denounced rock music as a "Pavlovian Communist mind-control plot" and wrote speeches for George Wallace.{{cite web|last1=Nolan |first1=Hamilton |title=Here's an Insane Racist Book About Communists by Mike Allen's Dad |url=http://gawker.com/heres-an-insane-racist-book-about-communists-by-mike-al-1567608242 |website=Gawker |accessdate=5 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151204012529/http://gawker.com/heres-an-insane-racist-book-about-communists-by-mike-al-1567608242 |archivedate=4 December 2015 }}{{cite web|last1=Yeager|first1=Holly|title=The Future? We Hope Not|url=https://www.cjr.org/the_audit/new_york_times_magazine_on_politicos_mike_allen.php|website=Columbia Journalism Review|accessdate=5 December 2015}} Allen is an Eagle Scout.
Allen moved east to attend Washington and Lee University, graduating in 1986 with a double major in politics and journalism. His father died the same year, and Allen was quoted in the New York Times obituary giving details on his father's career.{{cite news|author=AP |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/02/obituaries/gary-allen-50-dies-in-west-spread-conservatives-view.html |title=Gary Allen, 50, Dies in West - Spread Conservatives' View - Obituary |newspaper=The New York Times |date=1986-12-02 |accessdate=2010-09-30}}
Career
Allen's first reporting job was with the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star. He also worked at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Washington Post, The New York Times and Time.Cook, John (2013-06-20) [http://gawker.com/this-is-a-picture-of-politico-star-mike-allens-old-off-518659090 This Is a Picture of Politico Star Mike Allen's Old Office at Time] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624020835/http://gawker.com/this-is-a-picture-of-politico-star-mike-allens-old-off-518659090 |date=2013-06-24 }}, GawkerCunningham, Brent. [https://archive.today/20200818092937/https://archives.cjr.org/campaign_desk/a_compulsion_to_know.php "A Compulsion To Know: CJR's 2000 profile of Mike Allen"]. Columbia Journalism Review, April 21, 2010. Originally published in the July/August 2000 issue. Archived from [https://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/a_compulsion_to_know.php the original]. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
At Politico, a Washington-based print and online publication launched by Allbritton Communications, Allen wrote the daily "Playbook."[http://www.politico.com/reporters/MikeAllen.html Reporter Bio: Mike Allen] Politico. In April 2010, The New York Times estimated that Playbook brings in $780,000 for Politico.
Allen was featured in a piece for the April 25, 2010, edition of The New York Times Magazine titled, "The Man the White House Wakes Up To." He is considered by many to be one of the most powerful and influential journalists in Washington.{{cite news|last=Leibovich|first=Mark|title=The Man the White House Wakes Up To|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130216141734/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/magazine/25allen-t.html?_r=0|archive-date=16 February 2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/magazine/25allen-t.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 21, 2010|access-date=11 February 2017|url-status=live}}
Reception
Allen has attracted criticism for focusing coverage on superficial aspects of politics and of the culture of Washington, D.C.[https://newrepublic.com/article/113050/politico-story-mark-leibovichs-town-why-we-need-his-book The New Republic] In November 2013, Erik Wemple wrote an oped in The Washington Post alleging that Allen gave favorable Politico coverage in return for advertising dollars.{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/11/20/politicos-mike-allen-native-advertising-pioneer/ | newspaper=The Washington Post | title=Erik Wemple}} Allen has refused to publicly comment.{{cite web|last1=Chittum|first1=Ryan|title=Politico's Mike Allen goes native|url=https://www.cjr.org/the_audit/politicos_mike_allen_goes_nati.php|website=Columbia Journalism Review|accessdate=4 December 2015}} Jonathan Chait described Politico's response as "evasive tripe".{{cite web|last1=Chait|first1=Jonathan|title=Politico Stonewalls Mike Allen Payola Scandal|url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/12/politico-stonewalls-mike-allen-payola-scandal.html|website=New York magazine|date=3 December 2013 |accessdate=4 December 2015}} Writing in Salon, Alex Pareene described his work as "indistinguishable from a paid advocate for business interests."{{cite web|last1=Pareene|first1=Alex|title=Hack List: Mike Allen|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/12/19/hack_list_no_1_mike_allen/|website=Salon|date=20 December 2013 |accessdate=4 December 2015}}
In 2004, Allen won the White House Correspondents' Association's Merriman Smith Memorial Award for outstanding presidential coverage on deadline. The award was given to Allen for his reporting of President George W. Bush's secret trip to Baghdad, Iraq.[http://journalism.wlu.edu/storyarchive.html Journalism and Mass Communications-Washington and Lee University] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115235552/http://journalism.wlu.edu/storyarchive.html |date=January 15, 2008 }}
Personal life
A somewhat reclusive figure, Allen was profiled by Mark Leibovich, who reported that many of his friends did not know where he lived, and that none of them had ever been inside his apartment. A colleague who knew him in earlier life described him as living among "mounds of newspapers and a couple pieces of junky furniture."{{cite web|last1=Cook |first1=John |title=This Is a Picture of Politico Star Mike Allen's Old Office at Time |url=http://gawker.com/this-is-a-picture-of-politico-star-mike-allens-old-offi-518659090 |website=Gawker |accessdate=4 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151204012535/http://gawker.com/this-is-a-picture-of-politico-star-mike-allens-old-offi-518659090 |archivedate=4 December 2015 }}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://www.axios.com/authors/mikeallen Mike Allen at Axios]
- {{C-SPAN|22480}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Michael}}
Category:American political writers
Category:Journalists from California
Category:Washington and Lee University alumni
Category:20th-century American journalists
Category:American male journalists
Category:21st-century American journalists
Category:20th-century American male writers