
David Folkenflik
David Folkenflik was described by Geraldo Rivera of Fox News as "a really weak-kneed, backstabbing, sweaty-palmed reporter." Others have been kinder. The Columbia Journalism Review, for example, once gave him a "laurel" for reporting that immediately led the U.S. military to institute safety measures for journalists in Baghdad.
Based in New York City, Folkenflik serves as NPR's media correspondent.
His stories and analyses are broadcast on the network's newsmagazines, such as All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Here & Now, and are featured on NPR's website and mobile platforms. Folkenflik's reports cast light on the stories of our age, the figures who shape journalism, and the tectonic shifts affecting the news industry. Folkenflik has reported intently on the relationship between the press, politicians, and the general public, as well as the fight over the flow of information in the age of Trump. Folkenflik brought listeners the profile of a Las Vegas columnist who went bankrupt fending off a libel lawsuit from his newspaper's new owner; conducted the first interview with New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet after his appointment; and repeatedly broke news involving the troubled Tronc company, which owns some of the most important regional newspapers in the country. In early 2018, Folkenflik's exposé about the past workplace behavior of the CEO of the Los Angeles Times forced the executive's immediate ouster from that job and helped inspire the sale of the newspaper.
Folkenflik is the author of Murdoch's World: The Last of the Old Media Empires. The Los Angeles Times called Murdoch's World "meaty reading... laced with delicious anecdotes" and the Huffington Post described it as "the gift that keeps on giving." Folkenflik is also editor of Page One: Inside the New York Times and the Future of Journalism. His work has appeared in such publications as the Washington Post, Politico Magazine, Newsweek International, the National Post of Canada, and the Australian Financial Review. Business Insider has called Folkenflik one of the 50 most influential people in American media.
Folkenflik joined NPR in 2004 after more than a decade at the Baltimore Sun, where he covered higher education, national politics, and the media. He started his professional career at the Durham Herald-Sun in North Carolina. Folkenflik served as editor-in-chief at the Cornell Daily Sun and graduated from Cornell with a bachelor's degree in history.
A five-time winner of the Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism from the National Press Club, Folkenflik has received numerous other recognitions, including the inaugural 2002 Mongerson Award for Investigative Reporting on the News and top honors from the National Headliners. In 2018, the Society of Professional Journalists recognized Folkenflik with its 2018 Ethics in Journalism Award. In 2017, Penn State University named Folkenflik as the nation's leading media critic with the Bart Richards Award. He also served as the inaugural Irik Sevin Fellow at Cornell. Folkenflik frequently lectures at college campuses and civic organizations across the country and often appears as a media analyst for television and radio programs in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, and Ireland.
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Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chair of his media empire, which includes Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post. He is handing the reins to his son Lachlan.
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The new coalition of donors, led by the MacArthur Foundation, says one out of every five Americans lives in a "news desert" with little to no reliable local news.
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President and CEO John Lansing plans to leave NPR nine months before his term is set to expire. His tenure has been defined by the pandemic, a racial reckoning, and economic headwinds.
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NPR's top programming executive, Anya Grundmann, will leave at the end of the year. She has overseen numerous hits for the network, including Tiny Desk.
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The Marion County Record had been looking into allegations of misconduct against the local police chief just months ago, according to the paper's publisher, raising concerns about their motives.
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Preston Padden helped Rupert Murdoch launch the Fox broadcast network in the 1990s. Now he argues Murdoch has proved unfit to hold the license for a Philadelphia station.
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Fox devoted 300 segments over an 8-month period to a disinformation researcher named Nina Jankowicz who joined the Biden administration. She says the coverage distorted her work and led her to resign.
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Jesse Watters, who has worked, smirked, and opined for Fox his entire professional career, takes the reins on Monday of Fox News' 8 p.m. weekday show, permanently replacing fired star Tucker Carlson.
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Trump supporter and Jan. 6 protester Ray Epps sued Fox News over statements by former star Tucker Carlson that placed Epps at the center of the violent siege on the U.S. Capitol.
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Ex-producer Abby Grossberg alleged Tucker Carlson created a workplace defined by bigotry and sexism. Her case factored into Carlson's ouster from Fox News and the settlement of another major lawsuit.