Richard Behar

Behar was born to a Jewish family[https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardbehar/2013/01/25/there-he-goes-again-egypts-morsi-stuns-u-s-senators-in-meeting-with-jews-control-media-slur/2/ Forbes: "There He Goes Again: Egypt's Morsi Stuns U.S. Senators In Meeting With 'Jews-Control-Media' Slur" by Richard Behar] January 25, 2013 |"Next in the big-media batter’s box was the piece in Forbes, written by a fairly powerless Jew (me) who — it turns out — controls nothing at the magazine except this blog, just like hundreds of other journalists with blogs at Forbes and elsewhere." in Manhattan and raised on Long Island.{{cite web|url=http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/details.asp?aID=10234&|title=So What Do You Do, Richard Behar, Investigative Journalist, Fast Company?|publisher=Mediabistro |date=July 9, 2008|first=Greg|last=Lindsay|access-date=December 25, 2014}} He is a 1982 graduate of New York University. Before joining Time in 1989, he was a reporter and associate editor for Forbes magazine for six years. He has also worked at The New York Times as a researcher and writer. Behar reported extensively about organized crime and the business backgrounds of politicians for Time, for whom Behar wrote a 1993 cover story on the World Trade Center bombing.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

In 1991, he wrote "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power", a Time cover story on Scientology.Richard Behar, [https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/time-behar.html "Ruined lives. Lost fortunes. Federal crimes:] Scientology poses as a religion but really is a ruthless global scam – and aiming for the mainstream", book rev. of "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power, Time Magazine, May 6, 1991: 50, rpt. in cs.cmu.edu, accessed May 11, 2007. [Part of "Special Report (cover story)".] The acclaimed article won several awards.{{cite news|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1996_July_16/ai_18489022 |title=Judge dismisses Church of Scientology's $416 million lawsuit against TIME Magazine |work=Time Magazine press release via Business Wire |date=July 16, 1996 |access-date=June 1, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050324093216/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1996_July_16/ai_18489022 |archive-date=March 24, 2005 |url-status=dead }} The Church of Scientology brought several lawsuits over the article, all of which were eventually dismissed. While investigating the story, he experienced some of Scientology's fair game tactics. He later learned that a copy of his personal credit report, containing detailed personal information, had been improperly obtained.

A 2003 report by Behar in Fortune explored Donald Rumsfeld's role in helping North Korea build its potential Nuclear weapon capacity, in an article entitled "Rummy’s North Korea Connection: What Did Donald Rumsfeld Know About ABB’s Deal to Build Nuclear Reactors There? And Why Won’t He Talk About It?"{{cite news |url=http://money.cnn.com:80/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/05/12/342316/ |title=Rummy's North Korea Connection What did Donald Rumsfeld know about ABB's deal to build nuclear reactors there? And why won't he talk about it? |last=Behar |first=Richard |newspaper=CNN Money |date=May 12, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122140941/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/05/12/342316/ |archive-date=November 22, 2007 |url-status=dead }} Behar is the only known journalist to have read the classified Phoenix Memo, the infamous pre-9/11 FBI document which warned the FBI about Osama bin Laden supporters enrolling in flight-training schools across the country.{{cite web|last=Behar|first=Richard|date=May 22, 2002|url=https://fortune.com/2011/10/12/fbis-phoenix-memo-unmasked/|title=FBI's 'Phoenix' Memo Unmasked|work=Fortune}} Reporting from Pakistan for Fortune magazine and CNN after 9-11, Behar’s “The Karachi Connection” broke ground by exposing a logistics leader of the 9-11 attacks—including his secret travels near the Afghanistan border just days before the terror attacks. A second article, "Kidnapped Nation" revealed how radical forces are undermining Pakistan's economy.

In 2000 Behar penned an article published in Fortune titled "Capitalism in a Cold Climate" investigating the business practices of the billionaire brothers David and Simon Reuben in the aluminum and aluminum smeltlng business in the post-Soviet Russian Republic. Subsequently in June 2001, Behar and Time Inc. were sued for libel by the billionaire siblings, who built one of the world's largest aluminum companies, Trans-World Group. They claimed Behar defamed them in the article. Shortly before trial, in July 2004, the suit was settled after Fortune ran a lengthy clarification update.{{Cite news|last=Robinson|first=James|date=July 3, 2004|title=Reubens settle Fortune case|language=en-GB|work=The Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2004/jul/04/theobserver.observerbusiness4|access-date=October 19, 2020|issn=0029-7712}}{{Cite web |last= |date=July 12, 2004 |title=David and Simon Reuben: Update and Clarification |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/06/12/281972/index.htm#update |access-date=October 19, 2020 |website=archive.fortune.com}}

In October 2004, Behar left Fortune to pursue book writing and various independent projects, including the launch of Project Klebnikov, a global media alliance investigating the July 2004, murder of Paul Klebnikov, who was then the editor-in-chief of Forbes Russia. Behar also served on the advisory committee of New York University's business journalism Master's program (BER), and was long writing Madoff: The Final Word, a book about Bernard Madoff, which was finally published by Simon & Schuster in 2024.{{cite web|title=Contributor: Richard Behar|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardbehar/#34b307db1459|website=Forbes.com|access-date=May 20, 2017}} {{cite news|last1=Neyfakh|first1=Leon|title=Richard Abate on Building a Better Madoff Book|url=http://observer.com/2008/12/richard-abate-on-building-a-better-madoff-book/|work=New York Observer|date=December 19, 2008|access-date=May 20, 2017}} In 2015, Behar co-wrote an article for the New York Observer that accused the Associated Press of improperly reporting civilian deaths in the 2015 Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

In 2015, Behar co-founded The Mideast Reporter, now known as Mideast Dig, a not-for-profit news site and investigative journalism project. Its aim is to deepen news coverage of the Middle East.{{cite news|author=Richard Behar, Gary Weiss|title=How the AP Botched Its Investigation of Civilian Deaths in the Israel-Hamas War|url=http://observer.com/2015/03/how-the-ap-botched-its-investigation-of-civilian-deaths-in-the-israel-hamas-war/|access-date=November 9, 2015|website=New York Observer|date=March 10, 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Weiss|first1=Gary|title=gary-weiss.com: Announcement re Mideast Dig (formerly "Mideast Reporter")|url=http://garyweiss.blogspot.com/2016/03/announcement-re-mideast-dig-formerly.html|access-date=May 20, 2017|date=March 31, 2016}}

In 2024 Simon & Schuster published his book "Madoff: The Final Word, a book about Bernard Madoff", during the undertaking of which Behar exchanged emails with the infamous imprisoned record setting swindler for over a decade.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/28/richard-behar-exchanged-emails-with-bernie-madoff-for-a-decade.html|title=This biographer exchanged emails with Bernie Madoff from prison for a decade. Here’s what he learned|first=Annie|last=Nova|date=July 28, 2024|website=CNBC}} Later in the same year he published the article "Trump, Madoff, And The Art (And Science) Of Pathological Lying" in Forbes in what among other things functions as a follow-up to a quedtion he posed in the aforementioned volume as to whether a comparison about the scope and nature of lying should be made between the late Bernie Madoff and Donald Trump..{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardbehar/2024/10/31/trump-madoff-and-the-art-and-science-of-pathological-lying/|title=Trump, Madoff, And The Art (And Science) Of Pathological Lying|first=Richard|last=Behar|website=Forbes}}

Behar has won more than 20 major journalism awards and honors for his reporting. Behar was included among the 100 best business journalists (the "100 luminaries") of the 20th century by the TJFR business journalism trade group. {{Citation needed|date=February 2016}} In 1999, columnist Jack Anderson called Behar "one of the most dogged of our watchdogs."{{cite web|url=http://www.richardbehar.com/richard-behar-biography.php |title=Richardbehar.com |access-date=May 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227025253/http://www.richardbehar.com/richard-behar-biography.php |archive-date=February 27, 2010 |url-status=dead }}

Behar has won journalism awards, including:

• Four awards in recognition of his 1991 story for Time about Scientology:

1. Gerald Loeb Award for distinguished business and financial journalism in a magazine(1992){{Cite news |url=https://ahbj.sabew.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/061992-TBJ.pdf |title=Editors on the move in Philadelphia, Florida; award winners announced |last=Papiernik |first=Dick |date=June 1992 |work=The Business Journalist |access-date=February 2, 2019 |publisher=Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing |issue=1 |volume=31 |pages=3–4 }}
2. Conscience-in-Media Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (1992) "for singular commitment to the highest principles of journalism at notable personal cost"[http://www.asja.org/awards/awarhist.php Awards history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205184011/http://www.asja.org/awards/awarhist.php |date=February 5, 2012 }} at American Society of Journalists and Authors.
3. Worth Bingham Prize (1992)
4. Cult Awareness Network's Leo J. Ryan Award{{cite news|last=Behar|first=Richard|series=Richard Behar, acceptance speech, 1992 Leo J. Ryan award|work=(OLD) Cult Awareness Network conference, Los Angeles|year=1992|url=http://www.lermanet.com/scientologyscandals/behar.htm|title=Leo Award Winner Richard Behar at CAN Conference 1992|access-date=April 25, 2008}}{{cite news|last=Henderson|first=Bob|title=Hubbard from Pinellas to Russia|work=St. Petersburg Times|page=1|date=December 28, 1992}}

• George Polk Award (twice): One for his 1995 story about the strong-arm tactics used by the Allstate Insurance Co. against its own employees; a second Polk for a 2008 story about China's activities in sub-Saharan Africa{{cite web|url=http://www.brooklyn.liu.edu/polk/prev/prev90.html |title=The George Polk Awards for Journalism |access-date=May 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090322060554/http://www.brooklyn.liu.edu/polk/prev/prev90.html |archive-date=March 22, 2009 |url-status=dead }}
• Business Journalist of the Year Award from the City of London Corporation for articles about counterfeiting in China and organized crime in Russia's aluminum industry {{cite web|url=http://www.bjoya.org/winners.vc?year%3D2001 |title=BJOYA :: Winners |access-date=April 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122241/http://www.bjoya.org/winners.vc?year=2001 |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |url-status=dead }}
• Daniel Pearl Award for post-9/11 journalism{{cite press release|url=http://www.danielpearl.org/news_and_press/press_releases/saja_awards.html |title=Saja Announces 2003 Journalism Award Winners |access-date=May 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707235700/http://www.danielpearl.org/news_and_press/press_releases/saja_awards.html |archive-date=July 7, 2010 |url-status=dead }}
• 2002 Morton Frnak Award, Overseas Press Club for post-9/11 journalism in Pakistan{{Cite web|url=http://opcofamerica.org/awards/morton-frank-award-2002|title=The Morton Frank Award 2002|date=April 19, 2003 }}{{cite web|url=http://opcofamerica.org/awards/2003-opc-award-winners|title=2003 OPC Award Winners|date=April 22, 2004|access-date=May 20, 2017}}
• 2008 Ed Cunningham Award, Overseas Press Club for China's activities in sub-Saharan Africa{{cite web |url=http://opcofamerica.org/awards/2008-opc-award-winners |title=2008 OPC Award Winners | Overseas Press Club of America |access-date=August 27, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120720095244/http://opcofamerica.org/awards/2008-opc-award-winners |archive-date=July 20, 2012 }} Retrieved May 11, 2010.
• Jack Anderson Award (twice) for "Top Investigative Reporter of the Year" – 1997 and 1999
• National Headliner Award, as a member of the CNN Investigation Team, for "outstanding continuing coverage of attacks on America and their aftermath."
• SAPA award (Society of Publishers in Asia) for best feature writing for an in-depth account of the royal family of Brunei
• "Best of the Best" award in 2009 from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW), for an article on China's business activities in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Fortune was awarded the National Magazine Award for public interest for two articles written by Behar on organized crime's influence in the garbage-hauling industry (1997) {{cite web|url=http://www.magazine.org/asme/magazine_awards/searchable_database |title=American Society of Magazine Editors - National Magazine Awards Searchable Database |access-date=May 20, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818220943/http://www.magazine.org/asme/magazine_awards/searchable_database/ |archive-date=August 18, 2012 }} Retrieved May 11, 2010.
• 2008 George Polk Award for articles in Fast Company
• In 2013, finalist for a Loeb award for a Forbes magazine article about Hess Oil's Russian mob problem.

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikiquote|Richard Behar}}

{{commons category|Richard Behar}}

• {{official|url=http://www.richardbehar.com}}
• [http://www.projectklebnikov.org ProjectKlebnikov.org]
• [http://www.lermanet.com/scientologyscandals/behar.htm LermaNet.com] – 'Leo Award Winner Richard Behar at CAN Conference 1992'
• [http://www.newsbios.com/newslum/behar.htm NewsBios.com]
• [http://www.lermanet.com/scientologyscandals/behar.htm Acceptance Speech], for Leo J. Ryan award
• [http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/cache/a10234.asp MediaBistro Bio]

{{GeraldLoebAward Magazines}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behar, Richard}}

Category:American investigative journalists

Category:Jewish American journalists

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:George Polk Award recipients

Category:Critics of Scientology

Category:People from Levittown, New York

Category:Mass media people from Manhattan

Category:Writers from New York (state)

Category:Time (magazine) people

Category:Fortune (magazine) people

Category:Forbes people

Category:Journalists from New York City

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:Gerald Loeb Award winners for Magazines