David Zurawik
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

David Lee Zurawik (born October 26, 1949) is an American journalist, author, and professor. He has been the TV and media critic at ''
The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...
'' since 1989 and is an assistant professor of communications and media studies at
Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...
. Before that, Zurawik was a TV critic/columnist at the '' Dallas Times Herald''. Zurawik is the author of '' The Jews of Prime Time''.


Early life and education

Zurawik was born to a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family and earned a master's degree in specialized reporting from the
University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
and a doctorate in
American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Schol ...
from the
University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
. His dissertation in 2000 was titled ''The Jews of prime time: Ethnicity, self-censorship and assimilation in network television, 1949–1999''. His doctoral advisor was Lawrence E. Mintz.


Career

After completing graduate school, Zurawik first worked as a speech writer and press secretary for Wisconsin's Democratic lieutenant governor. He then worked as a reporter and critic for the '' Dallas Times Herald'' before joining ''
The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...
'' in 1989 as its television critic. His syndicated column runs in other newspapers, including the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
''. In 2008, he became the lead writer for ''The Baltimore Sun'' TV blog, Z on TV. He has written pieces for the ''
American Journalism Review The ''American Journalism Review'' (''AJR'') was an American magazine covering topics in journalism. It was launched in 1977 as the ''Washington Journalism Review'' by journalist Roger Kranz. It ceased publication in 2015. History and profile Th ...
''. In 2017, he began writing articles for the ''
Telegraph-Journal The ''Telegraph-Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It serves as both a provincial daily and as a local newspaper for Saint John. The newspaper is published by Brunswick News. The ''Telegraph-Journal'' ...
''. Zurawik worked for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel in the 1970s and the Detroit Free Press in the late-'70-s-early 80s, where he was a feature writer and TV critic. Zurawik has been a guest on the CNN public affairs talk show ''Reliable Sources'', and has also appeared on
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
shows such as "
Fox & Friends ''Fox & Friends'' is an American daily morning news and talk program that airs on Fox News. It premiered on February 1, 1998, and is currently hosted by Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade on weekdays. Will Cain, Rachel Campos- ...
," " The O’Reilly Factor" and "
On the Record with Greta Van Susteren ''On the Record'' was an American news television program on Fox News hosted by the lawyer Greta Van Susteren. Prior to the show's cancellation after the 2016 election, the show was hosted by the television journalist and political commentator, ...
." In addition to his position with the ''Baltimore Sun'', Zurawik is a communications and media studies assistant professor at
Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...
in
Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincor ...
. He is also an editor for SAGE Publications.


Books

Zurawik is the author of '' The Jews of Prime Time'' (2003). After that book was published, Zurawik reported that he was working on a biography of
Gertrude Berg Gertrude Berg (Born Tillie Edelstein; October 3, 1899 – September 14, 1966) was an American actress, screenwriter, and producer. A pioneer of classic radio, she was one of the first women to create, write, produce, and star in a long-running h ...
based on records stored at Syracuse University.


Awards and honors

In 2015, Zurawik won 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 ...
's Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism in print. Also in 2015, he was named a finalist in the Best Commentary category of the
Mirror Awards The Mirror Awards are annual journalism awards recognizing the work of writers, reporters, editors and organizations who cover the media industry. The awards were established by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 2006. Awards ...
, presented by Syracuse University's
Newhouse School of Public Communications The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, commonly known as Newhouse School, is the communications and journalism school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. It has programs in print and broadcast journalism; music business; graphic d ...
. In 2016, he took home a first-place Excellence-in-Features award from the Society for Features Journalism in the Blog Portfolio category. In 2017, he won another Arthur Rowse Award for press criticism, a National Press Club award. In June 2017, he was given a third-place Arts & Entertainment award by the Society for Features Journalism. In 2018, he won the Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism from Penn State University


Personal life

Zurawik lives in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
and has two brothers and a sister.


References


Further reading

* * * *


External links

*
David Zurawik
at Huffington Post * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zurawik, David 1949 births The Baltimore Sun people Writers from Baltimore American political writers American male journalists Jewish American journalists Writers from Dallas American media critics Writers from Milwaukee Living people University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni Journalists from Maryland Journalists from Texas Journalists from Wisconsin Writers from Wisconsin Goucher College faculty and staff American television critics 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American Jews