John Mecklin (journalist)
John Mecklin is a journalist, novelist and editor, who specializes in narrative journalism. He was the editor-in-chief of Miller-McCune, a national public policy magazine named after its founder, Sara Miller McCune. Mecklin is currently the editor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Career[edit]
After growing up in the Midwest, Mecklin enrolled at Indiana University, where he graduated with a B.A. in psychology. From January 1984 to June 1992, he worked as an investigative reporter for the Houston Post. He then matriculated at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, graduating in 1993 with a master's degree in public administration. Subsequently, he assumed a variety of leadership positions in public interest magazine journalism:
- August 1993 to February 1997: Editor, Phoenix New Times (Phoenix, AZ).
- February 1997 to October 2005: Editor, SF Weekly (San Francisco, CA).
- December 2005 to March 2006: Consulting executive editor for the launch of Key West Magazine (Key West, FL).
- October 2006 to November 2007: Editor-in-Chief, High Country News (Paonia, CO).
- November 2007 to March 2011: Editor-in-Chief, Miller-McCune (Santa Barbara, CA).[1]
- July 2011 to date: Deputy editor and (since 2014) editor in chief, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Awards[edit]
Mecklin has received numerous honors, among others an Investigative Reporters and Editors award,[2] a John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest Magazine Journalism,[3] and an Association of Alternative Newsweeklies award for Investigative Reporting.[4] Under his guidance, journalists of the publications he managed won:
- several George Polk Awards;[5]
- the Sidney Hillman Award for reporting on social justice issues;[6]
- several Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Awards.[7]
- an Environmental Journalists Outstanding Explanatory Reporting Award;[8]
- the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award;
- the John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest Magazine Journalism, and
- Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Award.
High Stakes Texas Bingo[edit]
During his tenure at SF Weekly, Mecklin began working on his roman à clef High Stakes Texas Bingo. In it, Mecklin satirizes Houston politics, as he experienced it during his time at the Houston Post. The novel, which involves semi-fictitious corrupt county judges, shipping magnates, and even vice president George H.W. Bush, focuses on the machinations of Jackie Belfast (real name: Terry O'Rourke), a Democrat and attorney who, after a stint in President Jimmy Carter's White House and a subsequent period in California, returned to Houston to face off with his rival, Bingo Satwell (real name: Harris County Commissioner "Boss" Bob Eckels).
Excerpts from the novel, which has attracted a sizable underground following, are available online.[9]
Personal life[edit]
John Mecklin has two children, Dunbar and Hali[10] .
References[edit]
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "IRE Contest | the IRE Awards". Archived from the original on 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
- ^ "John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest Magazine Journalism". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
- ^ "2002 • Association of Alternative Newsmedia". aan.org. Archived from the original on 2010-06-15.
- ^ Lisa Davis, writing for SF Weekly, won it in 2001. Ray Ring, writing for High Country News, won it in 2006.
- ^ High Country News won the award in 2008.
- ^ Peter Byrne, writing for SF Weekly, won it in 2004 Archived 2010-06-15 at the Wayback Machine. Lisa Davis, writing for SF Weekly, won it in the same year Archived 2010-06-15 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Valerie Brown, writing for Miller-McCune, won it in 2009.
- ^ The Texas Observer, August 10, 2007 Archived June 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ harvard kennedy school magazine | 75th anniversary issue | autumn 2011 | page 33