Nigel Jaquiss (born 1962) is an American
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
who won the
2005 Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes for 2005 were announced on 2005-04-04.
Journalism
* Beat reporting: Amy Dockser Marcus of ''The Wall Street Journal'' for her "stories about patients, families and physicians f theworld of cancer survivors".
* Breaking news p ...
for investigative reporting, for his work exposing former
Oregon Governor
The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...
Neil Goldschmidt
Neil Edward Goldschmidt (born June 16, 1940) is an American businessman and Democratic politician from the state of Oregon who held local, state and federal offices over three decades. After serving as the United States Secretary of Transportat ...
's sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl while he was
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
, Oregon.
His story was published in ''
Willamette Week
''Willamette Week'' (''WW'') is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business, and culture.
History
Early history
''Willame ...
'' in May 2004. He continues to write for ''Willamette Week''.
Education and career
Jaquiss graduated from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
in 1984;
[ he spent eleven years as a ]Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
and Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
-based crude oil
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...
trader, working for Cargill
Cargill, Incorporated, is a privately held American global food corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1865, it is the largest privately held corporation in the United States in ter ...
, Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
and Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
. He sought a career change, eventually enrolling at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City.
Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...
where he got his master's degree in 1997.
He began his journalism career in Portland in January 1998, working for ''Willamette Week''. One of his first major stories was an exposé of toxic mold
Mold health issues refer to the harmful health effects of molds ("moulds" in British English) and their mycotoxins. However, recent research has shown these adverse health effects are caused not exclusively by molds, but also other microbial agen ...
and unsafe levels of radon
Radon is a chemical element with the symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colourless, odourless, tasteless noble gas. It occurs naturally in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the normal radioactive decay chains through ...
at Whitaker Middle School in Northeast Portland
Northeast Portland is one of the six major divisions of Portland, Oregon.
Northeast Portland contains a diverse collection of neighborhoods. For example, while Irvington and the Alameda Ridge feature some of the oldest and most expensive homes i ...
, which led to the school shutting down and the building being demolished.
Goldschmidt story
Jaquiss almost lost his prize-winning scoop about Neil Goldschmidt when he and his editor (Mark Zusman
Mark Zusman (born 1954) is the editor and publisher of ''Willamette Week'', an alternative newspaper and media company based in Portland, Oregon. He has been the paper's editor since 1983,Nicholas, Jonathan (January 9, 1984). "Free, and fresh, we ...
) decided to give Goldschmidt a full week to respond to the allegations ''Willamette Week'' was planning to make. Goldschmidt, who had previously told Zusman to "go get 'em" after a lunch in the middle of the paper's investigation, took his story to ''The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...
'' instead. Zusman told the newspaper industry magazine ''Editor & Publisher
''Editor & Publisher'' (''E&P'') is an American monthly trade news magazine covering the newspaper industry. Published since 1901, ''Editor & Publisher'' is the self-described "bible of the newspaper industry."
Originally based in New York City, ...
'' that he and Jaquiss decided to post the story online immediately, so as not to risk being beat by the daily. Jaquiss' Pulitzer represented only the third alternative weekly
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting l ...
paper to have been awarded the prize.[
]
Kitzhaber scandal
Jaquiss was credited with having "brought down" another Oregon governor, John Kitzhaber
John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947) is an American former politician who served as the 35th governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003, and as the 37th governor of Oregon from 2011 until his resignation in 2015. A member of the Democratic Part ...
, in 2015. Following a series of damaging articles, many of them written by Jaquiss for the ''Willamette Week'' in late 2014 and early 2015, Kitzhaber and his fiancee Cylvia Hayes
Cylvia Lynne Hayes ('' née'' Johnson, born August 10, 1967) is an American consultant who was the ''de facto'' First Lady of Oregon as the fiancée of former Governor John Kitzhaber.
Hayes was an unsuccessful candidate for the Oregon House of ...
became the subject of a criminal investigation probing possible conflicts of interest and misuse of state resources. Kitzhaber resigned in February 2015.
Other work
In 2006, Jaquiss reported on allegations made by the Industrial Customers of the Northwest Utilities about improper tampering with the bond rating
In investment, the bond credit rating represents the credit worthiness of corporate or government bonds. It is not the same as an individual's credit score. The ratings are published by credit rating agencies and used by investment professiona ...
of the Portland General Electric
Portland General Electric (PGE) is a Fortune 1000 public utility based in Portland, Oregon. It distributes electricity to customers in parts of Multnomah, Clackamas, Marion, Yamhill, Washington, and Polk counties - 44% of the inhabitants ...
(PGE) corporation during the UE180 rate case
Utility ratemaking is the formal regulatory process in the United States by which public utilities set the prices (more commonly known as "rates") they will charge consumers. Ratemaking, typically carried out through "rate cases" before a public u ...
in which PGE was attempting to raise its rates by roughly 9%, equivalent to roughly $200 million in annual cash flow. According to the allegations that Jaquiss reported to the media, PGE finance officials attempted to improperly doctor the bond rating produced by Standard and Poor's and thereby increase the clout for the need to implement a rate hike.
In 2009, Jaquiss broke the initial news of Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
mayor Sam Adams
Samuel Adams ( – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and ...
' affair with an intern who may have been underage at the onset of their affair.
Jaquiss came to national attention in April 2014 during an interview with Republican candidates for Oregon's 2014 U.S. Senate election. One of the candidates, Mark Callahan
Mark Allen Callahan (born May 11, 1977) is an American politician and perennial candidate. He was the Republican nominee in the 2016 United States Senate election in Oregon. He is an information technology consultant based out of Portland, Oregon. ...
, noticed that he was writing "blah blah blah" in his notes while another candidate was speaking, which Callahan called "disrespectful". Soon after, in response to Callahan replying to a question on climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
by stating that it is a myth, Jaquiss asked, "Where are you on the Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" orig ...
?"
Personal life
Jaquiss was married with three children as of 2005.
References
External links
"The 30-Year Secret: a crime, a cover-up and the way it shaped Oregon"
his prize-winning ''Willamette Week'' story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaquiss, Nigel
1962 births
Living people
American investigative journalists
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni
Dartmouth College alumni
Journalists from Oregon
Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting winners
Writers from Oregon