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Howard Fineman
Fineman on the campaign trail at the CPAC Conference (February, 2012)
Born	Nov, 1949 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education	Colgate University (B.A.) Columbia University (M.S.) University of Louisville School of Law (J.D.)
Spouse	Amy L. Nathan
Children	Meredith Fineman & Nicholas Fineman
Website	http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-news/reporting/howard-fineman

Howard Fineman is an American journalist who is editorial director of the AOL Huffington Post Media Group. Prior to his move to Huffington Post in October 2010, he was Newsweek’s Chief Political Correspondent, Senior Editor and Deputy Washington Bureau Chief. An award-winning writer, Fineman also is an NBC News analyst, contributing reports to the network and its cable affiliate MSNBC. He appears frequently on “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” “The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell” and “The Rachel Maddow Show.” The author of scores of Newsweek cover stories, Fineman’s work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New Republic. His “Living Politics” column was posted weekly on Newsweek.com. Fineman authored his first book in 2008, The Thirteen American Arguments: Enduring Debates That Define and Inspire Our Country.

Education and early career

Fineman holds an A.B., from Colgate (where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi), an M.S. in journalism from Columbia, and a J.D. from the University of Louisville. His legal education included a year at the Georgetown University Law Center. He received Watson and Pulitzer Traveling Fellowships for study in Europe, Russia and the Middle East.

A native of Pittsburgh, Fineman attended Taylor Allderdice High School, graduating in 1966. Fineman, who is Jewish, began his journalism career at The Louisville Courier-Journal, covering the environment, the coal industry and state politics before joining the newspaper’s Washington bureau in 1978. He moved to Newsweek in 1980, was named chief political correspondent in 1984, deputy Washington bureau chief in 1993 and senior editor in 1995.

Accomplishments and awards

Fineman has interviewed every major presidential candidate since 1984, focusing in recent years on the rise and times of George W. Bush. A cover story in November 2001 featured the president’s first extensive post-9/11 interview. Another, “Bush and God,” was the top-selling issue of 2003 and was part of a series of Newsweek articles that won the magazine a National Magazine Award for General Excellence that year. His reporting has helped Newsweek win numerous other honors from the Magazine Publishers Association and the American Journalism Review. Fineman’s other awards include a “Page One” from the Headliners Club of New York, a “Silver Gavel” from ABA and a “Deadline Club” from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Besides campaign-year cover stories, Fineman has also covered political topics from a liberal, or progressive, point of view and ideology. To showcase these views, he has written stories dealing with the rise of the "religious right," the power of talk radio, race and politics, the Pledge of Allegiance controversy, the impact of digital technology on society and the influence of Hollywood on politics, among other topics. He has interviewed business leaders such as Bill Gates, Steve Case, Steve Ballmer, Robert Rubin, Ted Turner and entertainment personalities such as Warren Beatty, Jane Fonda, Aaron Sorkin, and Jay Leno. Additionally, he interviewed GOP operative Lee Atwater, as seen in the award-winning political documentary “Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story.” “Lee was an attractive figure to cover, because he could wink and nod with the reporters, saying ‘We all know what a phony deal this is, right?’ By saying it’s all wrestling, he used his own cynicism to anesthetize people to what was really going on.”

Although Fineman now reports on TV exclusively for NBC, he has appeared on most major public affairs shows, including: "Nightline," "Face the Nation," "Larry King Live," "Fox News Sunday," "Charlie Rose," and "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." He was a regular panelist on PBS’s "Washington Week in Review," 1983-1995, and on CNN’s "Capital Gang Sunday," 1995-1998. He worked with Ted Koppel to produce "Nightline" special reports on Ross Perot and Pat Robertson.

Controversies

In his interview with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC regarding the 2010 Senate special election in Massachusetts, Fineman commented on Scott Brown's TV ads:

Maybe not in Massachusetts, but maybe in some places, there are codes, there are images, ah, you know, there are pickup trucks, uh, you could say there was a racial aspect to it one way or another.

This racism accusation was criticized by Ed Morrissey on Hot Air, Mark Steyn in OC Register, by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist Ralph R. Reiland, and other media outlets.

Glenn Greenwald has accused Fineman of "gush over the maleness of . . . Republican candidates and warn Democrats about how that has real appeal to American voters."

References

1. "Huffington Post". Retrieved 22 May 2012.
2. "Howard Fineman". Newsweek. Retrieved 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
3. Yearbook Picture, 1966 Taylor Allderdice High School, Pittsburgh, PA.
4. Fussin' and fightin'? It's all good, says author/pundit, By Dan Pine, April 18, 2008, j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California:jweekly.com
5. Ed Morrissey, Olby: Massachusetts suddenly turned racist!, Hot Air, January 20, 2010
6. Mark Steyn, Mark Steyn: Brown's truckin', Obama shifts into reverse, OC Register, January 22, 2010.
7. Ralph R. Reiland, Wackiness by the truckload, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 25, 2010.
8. Silverstein, Ken (02-21-2008) Six Questions for Glenn Greenwald, Harper's

Notes

• Howard Fineman discussing Lee Atwater in the film Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story”

Template:Persondata

• 1948 births
• Jewish American writers
• American magazine staff writers
• Colgate University alumni
• Columbia University alumni
• Georgetown University alumni
• Living people
• Newsweek people
• University of Louisville alumni
• Writers from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania