Eric Boehlert (December 6, 1965 – April 4, 2022) was an American journalist, writer, and media critic. He was a senior fellow at
Media Matters for America
Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a politically left-leaning 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization and media watchdog group. MMfA was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Res ...
for ten years and a staff writer at both ''
Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
'' and
''Billboard''.
In 2020, Boehlert started a digital newsletter, ''Press Run'', as a venue for his commentary. He described it as "an unfiltered, passionate, and proudly progressive critique of the political press in the age of
Trump
Trump most commonly refers to:
* Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank
Trump may also refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Donald J. T ...
."
Early life and education
Boehlert was born on December 6, 1965, in
Utica, New York
Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...
. As a child, Boehlert lived with his family in
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
before moving to
Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the Connecticut seacoast. The population was 22,073 at the 2020 census.
History
Guilfo ...
. He had three siblings, Bart, Thom, and Cynthia. Standing in height, he played guard on his high school basketball team.
Boehlert attended the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
, where he received a bachelor's degree in
Middle Eastern Studies
Middle Eastern studies (sometimes referred to as Near Eastern studies) is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the history, culture, politics, economies, and geography of the Middle East, an area that is gene ...
in 1988.
Career
As a music writer, Boehlert was a contributing editor to ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' and was hired as a senior staff writer at
''Billboard'' in 1992.
He later became a senior writer at ''
Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
'', a news and opinion website.
Writing at ''Billboard'', Boehlert investigated corporate malfeasance in the music business. When
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
filed a complaint with the
U.S. Justice Department
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
against
Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in Beverly Hills, California with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010, it merged with Live Nation under the name Live Nation Entert ...
in 1994, Boehlert wrote a series of reports, many of which were featured on the front page of ''Billboard''.
At ''Salon'', Boehlert won the 2002
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...
'
Deems Taylor
Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American music critic, composer, and promoter of classical music. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music."
Ear ...
Award for music journalism for a series of articles in 2001 on the radio industry, in which he wrote about
Clear Channel Communications
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
' dominance of the radio and concert businesses.
The series was also shortlisted for the
Gerald Loeb Award
The Gerald Loeb Award, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was estab ...
for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism.
In 2006, Boehlert joined
Media Matters for America
Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a politically left-leaning 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization and media watchdog group. MMfA was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Res ...
(MMFA), a content analysis organization.
The same year, Boehlert released his book ''Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush'', where he argued that the mainstream press insufficiently scrutinized the
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
administration. His 2009 book, ''Bloggers on the Bus'', covered the emergence of blogging in U.S. politics. Its title plays on the title of
Timothy Crouse
Timothy Crouse (born 1947) is an American journalist and writer.
Family
Crouse is the son of Anna (née Erskine) and Russel Crouse. His maternal grandparents were Pauline (Ives) and author, educator, and former Columbia professor John Erskine (ed ...
's ''
The Boys on the Bus
''The Boys on the Bus'' (1973) is author Timothy Crouse's seminal non-fiction book detailing life on the road for reporters covering the 1972 United States presidential election.
The book was one of the first treatises on pack journalism ever t ...
'' (1973) that details life on the road for reporters covering the presidential campaign during 1972.
Boehlert was a vocal critic of both
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
and the media coverage surrounding him. Boehlert remained at MMFA for ten years, eventually being promoted to senior fellow, before launching his own online newsletter, ''Press Run'', on the
Substack
Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers. Founded in 2017, Substack ...
platform in 2020.
He wrote that he started the liberal newsletter because "we can't fix America if we don't fix the press", and in February 2020 he declared, "When a radical White House player is eagerly chipping away at our freedoms and the Constitution, we need the press to stand up to the unprecedented challenge at hand—a press corps that doesn't wallow in 'Both Sides' journalism as a way to escape the wrath from Republicans."
In his thrice-weekly commentaries, Boehlert frequently contended that reporters for many publications, especially ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', were unfairly critical of Democrats while being overly deferential toward Republicans.
In his final article for ''Press Run'', published on the day he died, he questioned coverage by journalists of the
Biden administration
Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...
, writing that the news media was minimizing the achievements of the president.
Personal life and death
Boehlert was married to Tracy Breslin for 29 years and they had two children.
He lived in
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...
, where he was active in various community organizations,
including the Commonwealth Club, a social club, where he played on the club's
bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
team.
Boehlert was an avid cyclist and his wife said that he often biked at night, wearing reflective gear and using lights on his bicycle.
[ While biking on the evening of April 4, 2022, he was struck and killed by an eastbound ]NJ Transit
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...
train that was coming into Watchung Avenue station
Watchung Avenue (known as Park Street until April 1, 1919) is a New Jersey Transit station at the intersection of Watchung Avenue, Watchung Plaza, and Park Street in Montclair, New Jersey along the Montclair-Boonton Line. The Watchung Avenue stati ...
in Montclair. Investigators said on April 11 that the safety equipment at the train station was working properly at the time of the crash. A spokesman for NJ Transit confirmed that the lights were flashing and the gates were down, saying, "The investigation indicated that safety mechanisms were working as intended at North Fullerton".
Legacy
He was memorialized by commentator Soledad O'Brien
María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien (born September 19, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist and executive producer. Since 2016, O'Brien has been the host for ''Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien,'' a nationally syndicated weekly talk show ...
, who called him a "fierce and fearless defender of the truth", and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, who praised his "critical work to counteract misinformation and media bias". Historian Heather Cox Richardson
Heather Cox Richardson is an American historian and professor of history at Boston College, where she teaches courses on the American Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, the American West, and the Plains Indians. She previously taught history at ...
lamented the loss of his criticism of what he identified as the misguided focus of media during a crucial period in a battle between democracy and authoritarianism, both nationally and internationally.[Richardson, Heather Cox, ''April 11'', ''Letters from an American'', ''Substack'', April 12, 2022]
Books
*
*
References
External links
Boehlert's blog
at the ''Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''
Boehlert's Media Matters column archive
Boehlert's ''Salon'' article archive
''Press Run''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boehlert, Eric
1965 births
2022 deaths
20th-century American journalists
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American journalists
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American male non-fiction writers
American media critics
Cycling road incident deaths
People from Guilford, Connecticut
People from Montclair, New Jersey
Writers from Utica, New York
Road incident deaths in New Jersey
Rolling Stone people
Salon (website) people
University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni
Railway accident deaths in the United States