Michael Kelly (editor)
Michael Thomas Kelly (March 17, 1957 – April 3, 2003) was an American editor and journalist whose career was tarnished by the Stephen Glass scandal at The New Republic. He was also a columnist for The Washington Post. He died in 2003 while covering the invasion of Iraq, a conflict which he had supported in his writings.[1]
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[edit] Career
Kelly reported on the Persian Gulf War in 1991 for The New Republic, which served as the basis for his book Martyrs' Day: Chronicles of a Small War (1993).
In 1996 he became the editor of The New Republic. Writer Stephen Glass had been a major contributor under Kelly's editorship; Glass was later shown to have falsified and fabricated numerous stories, which was admitted by The New Republic after an investigation by Kelly's successor, Charles Lane. Kelly had consistently supported Glass during his tenure, including sending scathing letters to those challenging the veracity of Glass's stories.[2].
After losing his job at The New Republic, Kelly was hired by David G. Bradley to run the National Journal. Bradley was so pleased with Kelly's work that he hired Kelly to run The Atlantic Monthly after Bradley purchased it in 1999.[3]
[edit] Views
Kelly was a supporter of U.S. military intervention during both the Clinton Administration and George W. Bush's administration.
He was a critic of the anti-Iraq war movement.[4] He coined the term "fusion paranoia" to refer to a political convergence of left-wing and right-wing activists around anti-war issues and civil liberties, which he claimed were motivated by a shared belief in conspiracism or anti-government views.[5][6]
In September 2002, Kelly criticized former vice president Al Gore for a speech that strongly condemned the Bush administration's efforts to drum up support for the coming invasion of Iraq. In a column in The Washington Post, Kelly said the speech was "wretched. It was vile. It was contemptible." He said Gore's speech "was one no decent politician could have delivered" and was "bereft of anything other than taunts and jibes and embarrassingly obvious lies."[7][8]
[edit] Death
On April 3, 2003, just a few weeks following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Kelly was travelling in a Humvee vehicle with a soldier from the 3rd Infantry Division when the vehicle was fired upon by Iraqi soldiers. The vehicle carrying Kelly and Army Staff Sergeant Wilbert Davis veered off an embankment and into a canal below. Both men died in the accident. Kelly was the first American reporter officially killed in action in Iraq.[9]
He is survived by his wife, Madelyn, his children, Tom and Jack, his mother, Marguerite, and his three sisters, along with many nieces and nephews. His father, Thomas Vincent Kelly, a former reporter himself, later died on June 17, 2010 at the age of 86.
[edit] The Michael Kelly Award
The Michael Kelly Award is for "The Fearless Pursuit and Expression of Truth";[10] the prize is $25,000 for the winner and $3,000 for the 4 runners-up.[11] It is sponsored by the Atlantic Media Company.
[edit] References
- ^ American Journalist Michael Kelly Killed in Iraq Liza Porteus, Fox News Channel, (April 4, 2003).
- ^ "Shattered Glass". H. G. Bissinger, Vanity Fair, September 1998
- ^ Scott Sherman (2002). "What makes a serious magazine soar?". Columbia Journalism Review. http://cjrarchives.org/issues/2002/6/mag-sherman.asp. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
- ^ Michael Kelly, Anti-war effort perverts liberal values October 23, 2002 and Marching with Stalinists, January 22, 2003, both published in Jewish World Review.
- ^ Daniel Pipes, Fusion paranoia--A new twist in conspiracy theories, The Jerusalem Post, January 14, 2004.
- ^ Michael Kelly, A Reporter at Large, "The Road to Paranoia", The New Yorker, June 19, 1995, p. 60. {Subscription}}
- ^ Timothy Noah (September 24, 2002). "Gore Is Consistent on Iraq". Slate. http://www.slate.com/?id=2071500.
- ^ Michael Kelly (September 25, 2002). "Look Who's Playing Politics". The Washington Post. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/194588391.html?dids=194588391:194588391&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&fmac=&date=Sep+25%2C+2002&author=Michael+Kelly&desc=Look+Who%27s+Playing+Politics.
- ^ "Michael Kelly's Death and Life" by Chip Scanlan, Poynter Online (April 4, 2003)
- ^ The Michael Kelly Award
- ^ Entry information
[edit] External links
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