Michael Kinsley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Kinsley (born March 9, 1951 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American political journalist, commentator television host and liberal pundit. Primarily active in print media as both a writer and editor, he also became known to television audiences as a co-host on Crossfire. Kinsley has been a notable participant in the mainstream media's development of online content.
Contents |
[edit] Personal Life
Kinsley was born to a very wealthy Jewish family and attended the prestigious Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, then graduated from Harvard University in 1972. At Harvard, Kinsley served as vice president of the University's daily newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, then returned to Harvard for law school. While still a third-year law student, he began working at The New Republic and was allowed to finish his Harvard Juris Doctor degree via courses at the evening program at The George Washington University Law School.
Kinsley's first exposure to a national television audience was as moderator of William Buckley's Firing Line. In 1979 Kinsley became editor of The New Republic and wrote that magazine's TRB column for most of the 1980s and 1990s. That column was also reprinted in a variety of newspaper op-ed pages, including the Washington Post, and made Kinsley's reputation as a leading political commentator. Kinsley also served as editor at Harper's (for a year and a half in the early 1980s), managing editor of Washington Monthly (in the mid-1970s, while still in school), and American Editor of The Economist (a short-term, honorary position).
In 2002 Kinsley married to Patty Stonesifer, previously married with adult children. Stonesifer is a frequent television commentator who was responsible for the former Microsoft news portion of the MSNBC merger (including Slate Magazine and Encarta where Kinsely served as an editor.) Stonesifer is now chief executive officer of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In 2002 Kinsley announced that he had Parkinson's disease.
[edit] Crossfire and Slate
In 1989, Kinsley agreed to take a position on CNN's Crossfire, co-hosting with conservative Pat Buchanan. Representing the liberal or left-wing position in the televised political debates, Kinsley combined a dry wit with nerdy demeanour and analytical skills.
Kinsley appeared in three movies during those years - Rising Sun (1993), Dave (1993), and The Birdcage (1996).
After leaving Crossfire, Kinsley returned to his editorial roots, relocating to Seattle and taking a position with Microsoft as the founding editor of its online journal Slate. In 1999 he was named "Editor of the Year" by the Columbia Journalism Review for his work at that magazine. Kinsley stepped down from Slate in 2002, shortly after disclosing that he suffers from Parkinson's Disease.
[edit] Los Angeles Times and Guardian
Kinsley next moved to the Los Angeles Times as the Editorial Page Editor in April 2004. Kinsley maintained his Seattle residence and often worked from there, commuting to Los Angeles on a part-time basis. During his tenure, Kinsley tried to overhaul the paper's editorial page and led an abortive experiment with a Wikitorial, while also receiving criticism from USC professor and feminist advocate Susan Estrich, alleging the lack of editorials written by women. After a falling out with the publisher[1]Kinsley announced his departure in September 2005. He returned to writing a weekly column which appeared in the Washington Post and Slate Magazine, and in 2006 he served briefly as American editor of The Guardian. He is currently a regular columnist for Time Magazine.
On July 12, 2006 Kinsley underwent a form of surgery known as deep brain stimulation, to treat his Parkinson's Disease. Initial reports suggest that the operation was a success. According to a joke reference in Time Magazine, Kinsley's first words out of the operating room were, "Well, of course, when you cut taxes, government revenues go up. Why couldn't I see that before?"[2]
[edit] Quotes
"A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth." — this definition became known as a Kinsley gaffe.
"The scandal isn't what's illegal; it's what's legal." - from Crossfire, CNN, more than one broadcast.
"[A]mbition can never be naked in a political campaign, it must be clothed in deceit." - Time, 01/04/08
[edit] References
- Please Don't Remain Calm: Provocations and Commentaries (W. W. Norton, 2008)
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/07/080407fa_fact_kinsley
[edit] Further reading
- "Mine Is Longer Than Yours". New Yorker Magazine. April 7, 2008.
