Alan Bjerga (born 1973) is an American journalist, author of the book ''Endless Appetites: How the Commodities Casino Creates Hunger and Unrest.'' He also covers global food policy for Bloomberg News and is a journalism instructor at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, where in 2016 he received a department award for dedication to student learning. In 2010 he served as president of the

National Press Club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...

and was president of the North American Agricultural Journalists in 2010-2011.

Biography

Bjerga, who grew up on a farm near the town of

Motley, Minnesota Motley is a city in Cass and Morrison counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 680 at the 2020 census. The main part of Motley is located within Morrison County; only a minor part of the city extends into Cass County The Ca ...

, went to

Concordia College (Minnesota) Concordia College is a private college in Moorhead, Minnesota. Founded by Norwegian settlers in 1891, the school is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and practices the liberal arts. Concordia is accredited by the Higher ...

where he earned a bachelor's degree in history and English literature and edited the student newspaper, ''The Concordian''. He earned a master's degree in mass communication from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, where he was the managing editor of

The Minnesota Daily The ''Minnesota Daily'' is the campus newspaper of the University of Minnesota, published Monday and Thursday while school is in session, and published weekly on Wednesdays during summer sessions. Published since 1900, the paper is currently the la ...

. In 2012 he was an inaugural winner of the university's award for outstanding journalism alumni under 40, and in 2013 received Concordia College's annual "Sent Forth" award given to an outstanding young alumnus. Bjerga began his career with the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minn.) and also reported for the Sioux Falls (S.D.)

Argus Leader The ''Argus Leader'' is the daily newspaper of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Owned by Gannett, it was the state's largest newspaper by total circulation until 2021 when it was surpassed by the ''Rapid City Journal'', according to statistics from the ...

and

The Wichita Eagle ''The Wichita Eagle'' is a daily newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is owned by The McClatchy Company and is the largest newspaper in Wichita and the surrounding area. History Origins In 1870, ''The Vidette'' was the fi ...

(Kan.). Alan Bjerga was a contestant on the game show, "

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and ...

" where he won $50,000. He was a second-place finisher on ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...

At his National Press Club inaugural on January 30, 2010, he played guitar and sang lead vocals with " Honky Tonk Confidential", a retro/alt country band with songs written by former CBS

Face the Nation ''Face the Nation'' is a weekly news and morning public affairs program airing Sundays on the CBS radio and television network. Created by Frank Stanton in 1954, ''Face the Nation'' is one of the longest-running news programs in the history o ...

anchor,

Bob Schieffer Bob Lloyd Schieffer (born February 25, 1937) is an American television journalist. He is known for his moderation of presidential debates, where he has been praised for his capability. Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all f ...

. He has also competed for the standup comedy title of "DC's Funniest Journalist."

Awards

Bjerga has been recognized for his work with awards from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, the New York Press Club, the Kansas Press Association, the North American Agricultural Journalists, and the Overseas Press Club. He has commented on food and agriculture for Bloomberg Television, National Public Radio, the BBC and PBS Newshour, among other programs. Bjerga won the NAAJ's top writing award in 2005 while working for the

Knight-Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper brand ...

Washington Bureau, where as a Midwest correspondent also covered foreign policy issues including defense contracting and intelligence related to the Iraq war.http://www.internationalreportingproject.org/fellows-editors/profile/36/

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bjerga, Alan Living people 1973 births University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication alumni American male journalists People from Motley, Minnesota Jeopardy! contestants