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Peter Zuckerman

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Peter Edward Zuckerman
Born (1979-12-27) December 27, 1979 (age 44)
NationalityAmerican
EducationReed College
Occupation(s)Journalist, Author
EmployerThe Oregonian

Peter Zuckerman is an American prize-winning journalist and author who has focused his career in court reporting, investigative journalism and adventure stories. He is also the First Gentleman of Portland, Oregon.[1]

Early Career

Zuckerman attended Chadwick School in Los Angeles County, California, and graduated from Reed College in Portland with a degree in biology in 2003.[2]. While a student at Reed, Zuckerman served on the editorial board of the Reed College Quest, a student-run newspaper. In March 2002 he wrote an opinion piece in The Oregonian ("The drug Olympics")[3] condemning competitive use of drugs like GHB at the school. He was the target of numerous threats within the Reed College community,[4] and was criticized and praised in letters to the Oregonian.[5][6]

Zuckerman interned for the Portland weekly Just Out while at Reed, delivering the paper and fact-checking telephone numbers.[7] He also interned for the Portland bureau of the Associated Press.[8] He went on to work as a journalist in Eastern Idaho.

Newspaper Career

In 2006, Zuckerman was the lead writer of a multi-part story, Scouts' Honor, in the Idaho Falls Post Register about the coverup of a multi-state child molestation case involving at least two dozen minors and the Boy Scouts of America in Idaho.[9] For work on the series, Zuckerman received the 2006 Livingston Award and the 2007 C.B. Blethen Award, and the Post-Register won the Scripps Foundation's 2005 National Journalism Awards for distinguished service to the First Amendment.[10].[11]

After the story was published Zuckerman became the target of personal attacks on the basis of his sexual orientation.[12] He also was accused of having a bias against the Boy Scouts of America and the Mormon Church.[13][14]

Zuckerman was profiled in a September 25, 2007 documentary, "In A Small Town," broadcast in the PBS series, Exposé: America's Investigative Reports. [15] The documentary was a finalist for an Emmy Award.[16] A profile about Zuckerman in Harvard University's Nieman Foundation for Journalism report about courage in journalism won the 2007 Mirror Award for best coverage of breaking news.[17].

After moving back to Oregon, Zuckerman continued to report on the Boy Scouts of America and the intertwined connections to the Mormon church in his investigative reporting in 2007 while working for The Oregonian.[18] As part of his work Zuckerman obtained internal Boy Scout documents showing that as of December 31, 2004, two-thirds of the traditional troops in the organization's western region were chartered by the Mormon church and nationwide roughly a third are part of the Mormon church. In this article, Men Sue Scouts, Mormon Church, six men allege a former troop leader and church teacher abused them and seek $25 million in compensation as the Mormon church failed to thoroughly investigate, report the abuse to law enforcement, provide mental health services to victims or remove the abuser from contact with children once it learned about the abuse.[19]

Later, Zuckerman wrote stories that had more of an environmental bent. For example, he wrote about the Forest Service loosening its environmental standards so a gas corporation can clear cut through old growth in the Mount Hood National Forest to make way for an LNG pipeline.[20]

Book Career

In January 2009, Zuckerman took a leave from The Oregonian to work on a "dream book project" after his partner, Sam Adams, was elected mayor of Portland [21] While researching the book, Zuckerman nearly died while traveling through remote regions of Nepal and ingesting a "half plant, half animal"[22] caterpillar fungus.

His forthcoming book, Buried in the Sky, co-written with Amanda Padoan, tells the true story of the 2008 K2 disaster from the perspective of Sherpa and Pakistani climbers whom Western climbers depend on. The book is being published in 2010 in the United States and Canada by WW Norton and in the UK, Australia and New Zealand by Orion Publishing Group.[23]

Teaching

Zuckerman has received numerous journalism awards, including the Livingston Award[10] and the C.B. Blethen Memorial Award.[24]

Zuckerman is visiting faculty at the Poynter Institute[25] and teaches at University of Georgia[26] and the University of Southern California.[27]

Personal life

Peter Zuckerman is the son of Bruce Zuckerman, director of Archaeological Research at the University of Southern California.[28].

Peter Zuckerman's partner is Sam Adams, the mayor of Portland.[29][30]. [31] The Oregonian and Zuckerman took steps to ensure he had no influence over the coverage of his partner.[32].

References

  1. ^ http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2008/12/
  2. ^ http://www.reed.edu/commencement/2003/grads.html
  3. ^ Zuckerman, Peter (March 1, 2002). "In my opinion: The drug Olympics". The Oregonian.
  4. ^ Zuckerman, Peter (March 16, 2002). "IN MY OPINION: Voicing an opinion". The Oregonian.
  5. ^ Saller, John (March 9, 2002). "Letter: Reed outraged by drug article". The Oregonian.
  6. ^ Bruno, Andy (March 12, 2002). "Letter: Peer pressure to excel". The Oregonian.
  7. ^ Just Out Writers, from A (Acito) to Z (Zuckerman) Just Out
  8. ^ http://web.reed.edu/career/calendar/2008/October/Where-the-Jobs-Are-Journalism.html
  9. ^ "Scout's Honor", The Post Register, 2005, retrieved 2007-10-03
  10. ^ a b "The Livingston Awards: Past Winners". Retrieved 2007-10-03.
  11. ^ The Seattle Times: Local News: Times, P-I take top honors in C.B. Blethen Awards
  12. ^ Ayers, Dennis (2007-09-14), "PBS airs documentary on gay Idaho Falls reporter", AfterElton.com, retrieved 2007-10-03
  13. ^ "Scouts Honor was a Disservice", The Post Register, May 24, 2005
  14. ^ "Accused Bias", The Post Register, May 9, 2005
  15. ^ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/expose/expose_2007/blog/peter_zuckerman/
  16. ^ In a Small Town (part 1) ([dead link‍] – Scholar search), PBS, retrieved 2007-10-03 {{citation}}: External link in |format= (help)
  17. ^ http://www.mirrorawards.syr.edu/2007winners.html
  18. ^ Men sue Scouts, Mormon church
  19. ^ Zuckerman, Peter (October 4, 2007). "Men Sue Scouts, Mormon Church: $25 million - The six allege a former troop leader and church teacher abused them". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2009-02-05. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  20. ^ Zuckerman, Peter (December 24, 2008). "Forest Service plans to clear legal path for pipeline in Mount Hood forest". The Oregonian.
  21. ^ http://byronbeckwindow.ning.com/profiles/blogs/breaking-media-news-peter
  22. ^ [1]
  23. ^ [www.publishersmarketplace.com]
  24. ^ The Seattle Times: Local News: Times, P-I take top honors in C.B. Blethen Awards
  25. ^ "Peter E Zuckerman". Retrieved 2007-10-03.
  26. ^ University of Georgia: News & Information
  27. ^ http://college.usc.edu/unruh/past_events/ and college.usc.edu/unruh/private/UnruhNews.pdf
  28. ^ [2]
  29. ^ Navigating Between Silence and Speech : Points South
  30. ^ "Gossip should have no friends". Willamette Week. 2008-05-21.
  31. ^ Miami Herald
  32. ^ Oregonian Editors Blog
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