Mark Fainaru-Wada is an American journalist and writer, working for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

since 2007. He formerly was a reporter with the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'', where he and Lance Williams achieved fame in covering the BALCO steroid scandal. He is co-author of ''

Game of Shadows ''Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports'' is a bestselling non-fiction book published on March 23, 2006, and written by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, reporters for the ''San Franc ...

'' with Williams, a 2006 book about the BALCO scandal, and ''

League of Denial ''League of Denial'' is a 2013 book, initially broadcast as a documentary film, about traumatic brain injury in the National Football League (NFL), particularly concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The documentary, entitled ''Le ...

'', co-written with his brother

Steve Fainaru Steve Fainaru ( ro, Făinaru; born 1962) is an American investigative journalist and senior writer for ESPN.com and ''ESPN The Magazine''. He was previously a correspondent for the ''Washington Post'', where his coverage of the Iraq War earned him ...

, a 2013 book about traumatic brain injury in the National Football League. For his co-reporting with Williams, Fainaru-Wada received a

George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the award ...

Edgar A. Poe Award The Edgar A. Poe Memorial Award is a prize for journalistic excellence that is awarded by the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA). The prize, which paid $2500 in 2011, is funded by the ''New Orleans Times-Picayune'' in honor of its distin ...

Dick Schaap Award for Outstanding Journalism The Dick Schaap Award for Outstanding Journalism was established in 2002 to honor the memory of one of America's pre-eminent sports writers, Dick Schaap. The award is presented by the Nassau County Sports Commission and is given out to the journa ...

and Associated Press Sports Editor Award. ''League of Denial'' earned Fainaru-Wada a 2014

PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing The PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing was awarded by the PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) to honor "a nonfiction book about sports."Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

'' documentary, which received a 2013

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

. Fainaru-Wada was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in

Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...

, north of San Francisco. He and his brother attended Redwood High School in Larkspur. He attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, graduating in 1989. He began his career at ''

Knoxville News-Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel, also known as Knox News,'' is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: ''The ...

'' in Tennessee, covering women's basketball, and moved to the ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''Dai ...

'' in 1990 to cover the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. He soon returned to the San Francisco Bay Area, writing for the short-lived ''

National Sports Daily ''The National Sports Daily'', often referred to simply as ''The National'', was a sports-centered newspaper published in the United States beginning on January 31, 1990. The newspaper was based in New York City, was printed in a tabloid format, ...

''. When the ''Daily'' folded in 1991, he freelanced, taught high school English, and briefly worked at the ''

Santa Rosa Press-Democrat ''The Press Democrat'', with the largest circulation in California's North Bay, is a daily newspaper published in Santa Rosa, California. History The newspaper was founded in 1897 by Ernest L. Finley who merged his ''Evening Press'' and Thomas ...

'' before relocating to Washington D.C. to work for the

Scripps Howard News Service The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...

He joined the ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...

'' in 1997, and the Chronicle in 2000. In 1996 he married Nicole Wada, and combined her last name with his. He resides in

Petaluma, California Petaluma (Miwok languages, Miwok: ''Péta Lúuma'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, California, located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 a ...

with his wife, and has two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fainaru-Wada, Mark Year of birth missing (living people) 1960s births Living people American investigative journalists San Francisco Chronicle people Sportswriters from California Northwestern University alumni ESPN people 20th-century American journalists American male journalists Redwood High School (Larkspur, California) alumni