David Louis Finkel (born October 28, 1955) is an American journalist. He won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

in 2006 as a staff writer at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. As of January 2017, he was national enterprise editor at the ''Post''. He has also worked for the ''Post''s foreign staff division. He wrote ''

The Good Soldiers ''The Good Soldiers'' (2009) is a non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in im ...

'' and ''

Thank You for Your Service Thank Your for Your Service may refer to: *Thank You for Your Service (book), 2013 non-fiction book * Thank You for Your Service (2015 film), American documentary *Thank You for Your Service (2017 film) Thanks may refer to: * ''Thank you'' (phr ...

''. He is a 2012 MacArthur Fellow.

Work

Finkel's book ''

'' describes several months he spent in 2007 as an

embedded reporter Embedded journalism refers to news reporters being attached to military units involved in armed conflicts. While the term could be applied to many historical interactions between journalists and military personnel, it first came to be used in the ...

with 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, also known as the "2-16 Rangers", as they worked to stabilize a portion of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. The logs of

Chelsea Manning Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning; December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. She is a former United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage A ...

's IM chats with

Adrian Lamo Adrián Alfonso Lamo Atwood (February 20, 1981 – March 14, 2018) was an American threat analyst and hacker. Lamo first gained media attention for breaking into several high-profile computer networks, including those of ''The New York Times'', ...

state that David Finkel had the video which was released as

Collateral Murder On July 12, 2007, a series of air-to-ground attacks were conducted by a team of two U.S. AH-64 Apache helicopters in Al-Amin al-Thaniyah, New Baghdad, during the Iraqi insurgency which followed the invasion of Iraq. On April 5, 2010, the attacks ...

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...

but did not release it. David Finkel has never publicly disclosed whether he had the video or not. In a washingtonpost.com webchat, he said, "I based the account in my book ''

'' on multiple sources, all unclassified. Without going into details, I'll say the best source of information was being there n Iraq" At a February 2013 pretrial hearing, Manning stated that Finkel "was quoting, I feel in verbatim, the audio communications of the aerial weapons team crew." She said, however, that she was "aghast" at Finkel's portrayal of the incident. "Reading his account," she explained, "one would believe the engagement was somehow justified as 'payback' for an earlier attack that led to the death of a soldier."

Awards

*1995 Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Award for a story about racial and class conflict. *2001 Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism International Print Prize for "Invisible Journeys" about illegal immigration. *2006

Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting The Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting has been presented since 1998, for a distinguished example of explanatory reporting that illuminates a significant and complex subject, demonstrating mastery of the subject, lucid writing and clear pr ...

, citing "his ambitious, clear-eyed case study of the United States government's attempt to bring democracy to

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

.""The 2006 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Explanatory Reporting"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-01. With short biography and reprints of 3 works (December 2005 ''Washington Post'' articles). *2010

Cornelius Ryan Award The Cornelius Ryan Award is given for "best nonfiction book on international affairs" by the Overseas Press Club of America (OPC). To be eligible for this literary award a book must be published "in the US or by a US based company or distribut ...

for ''The Good Soldiers''. *2010

J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize The J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize is an annual award in the amount of $10,000 given to a book that exemplifies, "literary grace, a commitment to serious research and social concern.” The prize is given by the Nieman Foundation and by the Columbia ...

for ''The Good Soldiers''. *2013

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Erikson Institute Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media Erikson is a common Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning "son of Erik", itself an Old Norse given name. There are other spelling variations of this surname, as it is common amongst Danes, Swedes, Finns, and Norwegians. Erikson is uncommon a ...

(awarded by the Erikson Institute of the

Austen Riggs Center The Austen Riggs Center is a psychiatric treatment facility in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It was founded by Austen Fox Riggs in 1913 as the Stockbridge Institute for the Study and Treatment of Psychoneuroses before being renamed in honor of Au ...

) for his investigative reporting at ''The Washington Post''.

Education

Finkel earned a Bachelor's degree in broadcasting from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in 1977.

Personal life

He lives in the

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

area.http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-presents/david-finkel-thank-you-your-service/ Promotional announcement for Finkel's 2013 appearance at the Pitzker Military Library

References

External links

*
Lecture
on ''The Good Soldiers'' at the

Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its spe ...

Lecture
on ''Thank You for Your Service'' at the

Interview on ABC RN with Paul Barclay
about ''The Good Soldier''. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Finkel, David L. 1955 births American male journalists American military writers MacArthur Fellows Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism winners University of Florida alumni Living people Place of birth missing (living people)