Kevin Merida
Kevin Merida is an American journalist and author. He is one of two managing editors at The Washington Post.[1]
Personal life and education
Kevin Merida was born in Wichita, Kansas. He was raised in the Washington, D.C. area.[1] He attended Crossland High School.[2] He graduated from Boston University.[3] After graduating, he attended the University of California, Berkeley's "Summer Program for Minority Journalists."[2] Merida is married to Donna Britt. In 2012, The Huffington Post named the couple one of the "Black Voices Power Couples," of the year.[4]
Career
Merida has worked as a writer and editor at the Dallas Morning News and the Milwaukee Journal.[1] At those newspapers, he wrote about crime and society.[2] He started working at The Washington Post in 1993.[2] At The Washington Post, Merida covered primarily US politics, including news related to the White House and the United States Congress.[1][5] He also authored a series on African American men in the United States, called "Being a Black Man," which was featured in the newspaper.[5] In 2008, Merida became Assistant Managing Editor at The Washington Post for the paper's United States national news department.[5] He was named managing editor, "responsible for news and features coverage as well as the Universal News Desk," on February 4, 2013.[1]
Merida's journalistic and research focus generally involves biographies about "difficult subjects," as described by the Houston Institute for Race & Justice. He has covered biographical subjects like Strom Thurmond, Bob Dole, George W. Bush, and Newt Gingrich.[3]
Merida co-authored 'Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas, about Clarence Thomas, with Michael A. Fletcher.[6]
Awards
- 1990, Pulitzer Prize finalist[3]
- 2000, Journalist of the Year, National Association of Black Journalists[4]
- 2006, Vernon Jarrett Award for Journalistic Excellence[3]
Bibliography
- Merida, Kevin. Being a Black Man: At the Corner of Progress and Peril. New York: Public Affairs (2007). ISBN 1586485229
- Merida, Kevin and Deborah Willis. Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs. New York: Amistad (2008). ISBN 0061733091
- Merida, Kevin and Michael Fletcher. Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas. New York: Broadway (2008). ISBN 0767916360
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Beaujon, Andrew. "Kevin Merida named managing editor of The Washington Post". Poynter MediaWire. Poynter Institute. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 Weil, Martin (16 December 2008). "Merida Takes The Helm of The Post's National Staff". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 December 2012.(subscription required)
- 1 2 3 4 "Kevin Merida". Contemporary Authors. Retrieved 27 December 2012.(subscription required)
- 1 2 Williams, Brennan (17 November 2012). "Couple Of The Year Countdown: Donna Britt and Kevin Merida". Black Voices (The Huffington Post). Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- 1 2 3 Calderone, Michael. "WaPo's Merida named AME / National". Washington Post. Politico. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- ↑ Patterson, Orlando (17 June 2007). "Thomas Agonistes". Sunday Book Review (The New York Time). Retrieved 27 December 2012.
External links
- Kevin Merida on Twitter
- Appearances on C-SPAN