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 journalis ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

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".Richards, Linda L. (June 2001)
Interview: John Hockenberry.
'' January Magazine'' He has written for ''

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 d ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

'', '' The Columbia Journalism Review'', ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big ci ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', and '' Harper's Magazine''. Hockenberry has appeared as a presenter or moderator at many design and idea conferences around the world including the TED conference, the World Science Festival in New York and in Brisbane, the Mayo Clinic's Transform Symposium, and the Aspen Comedy Festival. He has been a Distinguished Fellow at the

MIT Media Lab The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from ...

and serves on the

White House Fellows The White House Fellows program is a federal fellowship program established via Executive Order by President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson in October 1964, based upon a suggestion from John W. Gardner, then the president of Carnegie Cor ...

Committee. He is a prominent figure in the disability rights movement; Hockenberry sustained a

spinal cord injury A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. Symptoms may include loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in the parts of the body served by the spinal cor ...

in a car crash at age 19, which left him with paraplegia from the chest down. In late 2017, several colleagues accused Hockenberry of harassment, unwanted touching and bullying.

Biography

Early life

Hockenberry was born in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

,Hockenberry, John (April 18, 2007)
Lessons from Jack Hockenberry.
''Metropolis'' and grew up in

Vestal, New York Vestal is a town within Broome County in the Southern Tier of New York, United States, and lies between the Susquehanna River and the Pennsylvania border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,110. Vestal is on the southern border of the ...

and

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. He graduated in 1974 from

East Grand Rapids High School East Grand Rapids High School is a public secondary school located in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. It serves grades 9–12 for the East Grand Rapids Public Schools. Athletics The EGRHS Pioneers compete in the Ottawa-Kent Conferen ...

in

East Grand Rapids, Michigan East Grand Rapids is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,694. The city is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area and is surrounded by Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Township, ...

.Martinez, Shandra (November 07, 2010)
East Grand Rapids High graduate and award-winning journalist John Hockenberry speaks at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.

mlive.com MLive Media Group, originally known as Booth Newspapers, or Booth Michigan, is a media group that produces newspapers in the state of Michigan. Founded by George Gough Booth with his two brothers, Booth Newspapers was sold to Advance Publications ...

In 1976, he was paralyzed while hitchhiking on the

Pennsylvania Turnpike The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike) is a toll highway operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A controlled-access highway, it runs for across the state. The turnpike's w ...

.Price, Nelson (September 14, 1995). John Hockenberry's jobs with NPR have allowed him to see the world on wheels. ''

Indianapolis Star Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

'' The driver of the car fell asleep and crashed, killing herself. Hockenberry's spinal cord was damaged, and he remains paralyzed without sensation or voluntary movement from the mid-chest down. At the time he was a mathematics major at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

,Cawley, Janet (February 28, 1993). Globetrotting in a wheelchair: No challenge can stop ABC's Hockenberry. ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' but after his spinal cord injury, he transferred to the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

in 1980 and studied harpsichord and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

.Lipton, Michael A. (June 6, 1994)
Man in the Driver's Seat.
''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

''

Journalism career

Hockenberry started his career as a volunteer for the

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

affiliate KLCC in Eugene, Oregon.Roberts, Roxanne (July 23, 1992)
Correspondent on Wheels; NPR's John Hockenberry, Moving to ABC.
''

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 na ...

'' In 1981, he moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , 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, ...

, where he was a newscaster.Murray, Michael D. (1999). ''Encyclopedia of Television News'', pp. 98-99. Greenwood Publishing Group; From 1989 to 1990 he hosted a two-hour nightly news show called '' HEAT with John Hockenberry''. During his 15 years with NPR, he covered many areas of the world, including an assignment as a Middle East correspondent, reporting on the

Persian Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

in 1991 and 1992. Beginning in November 1991 he served as the first host of NPR's ''

Talk of the Nation ''Talk of the Nation'' (''TOTN'') is an American talk radio program based in Washington D.C., produced by National Public Radio ( NPR) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on current events and controversial i ...

''.Cooke, Anne Marie; Reisner, Neil H. (December 1991)
The Last Minority.
''

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 ...

'' After leaving NPR in 1992,Cox, Ana Marie (May 1999). John Hockenberry. ''

Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...

'', pp. 40-43. Hockenberry also worked for

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

series '' Day One'' from 1993 to 1995, covering the civil war in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

and the early days of al-Qaeda in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, before joining ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasio ...

'' as a correspondent in 1996. John Hockenberry (cropped)

In 1995, Hockenberry published his memoir ''Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs and Declarations of Independence''. In 1996 he appeared off-Broadway in his one-man autobiographical play, ''Spoke Man''.Mandell, Jonathan (March 3, 1996)
ON A ROLL?/It may be hip to be 'crip' on stage and film, but try getting a wheel in the door
'' Newsday''; accessed January 2, 2018. From 1996 to 1997 he hosted '' Edgewise'', an eclectic news magazine program that aired on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...

.Heffernan, Virginia (August 1997)
Anatomy of a cancellation: how MSNBC's Edgewise went over the edge
, Salon.com; accessed January 2, 2018. In 1999, he hosted '' Hockenberry'', a show which aired on MSNBC for 6 months.Kurtz, Howard (July 8, 1999)
MSNBC Drops 'Hockenberry' Talk Show; Award-Winning Journalist to Return to 'Dateline NBC' Full Time After Only Six Months
''

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 na ...

''; accessed January 2, 2018. He reported on the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the wa ...

in 1999. His weekly radio commentaries aired on the nationally broadcast public radio program '' The Infinite Mind'' from 1998 to 2008. He also served as host on ''The DNA Files'' for the series airing in 1998, 2001, and 2007. He began developing ''

The Takeaway ''The Takeaway'' is a morning radio news program co-created and co-produced by Public Radio International and WNYC. Its editorial partner is WGBH-FM; at launch the BBC World Service and ''The New York Times'' were also editorial partners. In ...

'' in 2007 and hosted the show from its 2008 premiere until August 2017.Simon, Clea (October 11, 2007). The Takeaway host will step-down from his show-hosting duties at weeks end in August 2017 (8/7/17
"Public radio's new morning show set to go"
''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''; accessed January 2, 2018. Hockenberry has narrated several nonfiction projects on healthcare, including '' Nova'' series ''Survivor M.D.: Hearts & Minds,'' ''Who Cares: Chronic Illness in America,''Who Cares: Chronic Illness in America
via PBS ''Remaking American Medicine''. He also narrated the

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior o ...

documentary, ''War Against the Weak''. He has written for ''

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 d ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', '' I.D.'', ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

'',Hockenberry, John (August 2001.
The Next Brainiacs.
''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

'' '' The Columbia Journalism Review'', '' Details'', and ''

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 ...

''. He published his first novel, ''A River Out of Eden'', in 2002, and he has written about "The Blogs of War" in ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

'' magazine. In May 2006, he began writing his own blog, "The Blogenberry".Van Til, Reinder; Olson Gordon L. (2007). ''Thin ice: coming of age in Grand Rapids.'' Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing; On April 2, 2008, he hosted the premiere of the series ''Nanotechnology: The Power of Small'', discussing the impact of nanotechnology as concerns the general public.Press release (March 10, 2008)
New Nanotechnology Television Series Does "Sweat the Small Stuff"
''Nanotechnology Now'' (vi
powerofsmall.org
accessed January 2, 2018. Hockenberry has appeared as presenter and moderator at numerous design and idea conferences around the nation including the Aspen Design Summit, The TED conference, the

World Science Festival The World Science Festival is an annual science festival produced by the World Science Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in New York City. There is also an Asia-Pacific event held in Brisbane, Australia. The foun ...

, and the

Aspen Comedy Festival The Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival, was a comedy festival that ran from 1995 to 2008. The festival included stand-up comedy performances, appearances by the casts of television shows, and has a film component calle ...

. He also regularly speaks on media, journalism, and disability issues. He was one of the founding inductees to the Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame in 2005. In a ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'' exposé, published December 1, 2017, journalist Suki Kim accused Hockenberry of sexually harassing her and other women he had worked with on ''The Takeaway''.

Media criticism

In 2005 he wrote a scathing review of the Academy Award-winning film '' Million Dollar Baby'' called "And the Loser Is..."Hockenberry, John (2005). "And the Loser Is..." MillionDollarBigot.org via Not Dead Yet

The review was submitted to a disability website with the title "Million Dollar Bigot" as an exclusive feature. The essay was discussed in news articles globally, and Hockenberry was interviewed about it on Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, FAIR's weekly news show '' Counterspin''.Jackson, Janine; Randall, Steve (March 4, 2005)
John Hockenberry on Million Dollar Baby, Dahr Jamail on Iraq.
'' Counterspin'' A short documentary film was made, also called ''Million Dollar Bigot'', completed on July 13, 2005, featuring Hockenberry as well as many other disability activists.Detweiler, Craig (2008). ''Into the dark: seeing the sacred in the top films of the 21st century.'' Baker Academic, Hockenberry wrote in the January 2008 ''

Technology Review ''MIT Technology Review'' is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and editorially independent of the university. It was founded in 1899 as ''The Technology Review'', and was re-launched without "The" in ...

'' magazine that on the Sunday after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

he was pitching stories on the origins of al Qaeda and

Islamic fundamentalism Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a puritanical, revivalist, and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. Islamic fundamentalists are of the view that Muslim-majority countries should return ...

.Hockenberry, John (January/February 2008)
You Don't Understand Our Audience: What I learned about network television at Dateline NBC.
''

Technology Review ''MIT Technology Review'' is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and editorially independent of the university. It was founded in 1899 as ''The Technology Review'', and was re-launched without "The" in ...

'' He wrote that then-NBC programming chief Jeff Zucker, who came into a meeting Hockenberry was having with ''Dateline'' executive producer David Corvo, said ''Dateline'' should instead focus on the firefighters and perhaps ride along with them à la '' COPS'', a Fox reality series. According to Hockenberry, Zucker said "that he had no time for any subtitled interviews with jihadists raging about Palestine." Hockenberry has further claimed that

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

, NBC's parent company, discouraged him from talking to the Bin Laden family about their estranged family member. Hockenberry says that he asked GE, which does business with the Bin Laden family company, to help him get in contact with them. Instead, a PR executive called Hockenberry's hotel room in Saudi Arabia and read him a statement about how GE didn't see its "valuable business relationship" with the Bin Laden Group as having anything to do with ''Dateline''. In another instance, Hockenberry claimed a story he did about a

Weather Underground The Weather Underground was a far-left militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, the group was organized as a faction of Students for a Democr ...

member would not appear on the Sunday edition of ''Dateline'' unless the 1960s family drama ''

American Dreams ''American Dreams'' is an American drama television series that ran on NBC for three seasons & 61 episodes, from September 29, 2002, to March 30, 2005. The show tells the story of the Pryor family of Philadelphia during the mid-1960s, with many ...

'', which followed ''Dateline'' in the schedule at the time, did a show about "protesters or something."

Personal life

Hockenberry is divorced from Alison Craiglow, whom he married in 1995.Staff report (October 22, 1995)
WEDDINGS; Alison Craiglow, John Hockenberry.
''

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 d ...

'' They have five children, including two sets of twins: Zoe, Olivia, Regan, Zachary, and Ajax. Hockenberry was previously married to Chris Todd. The couple had no children, and divorced in 1984.

Sexual harassment allegations

In December 2017, author Suki Kim accused Hockenberry of sexual harassment, stating that he had sent suggestive emails and made unwanted sexual advances to her and other women. He had left New York Public Radio the previous August, but NYPR president and chief executive Laura Ruth Walker said, " was not terminated for sexual misconduct.” In a lengthy essay titled "Exile" that was published in the October 2018 issue of '' Harper's'', Hockenberry discussed his "personal and public shame" regarding the episode.Exile
Harpers. Retrieved 21 September 2018.

Works

* Hockenberry, John (1995). ''Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs and Declarations of Independence''. Hyperion. . * Hockenberry, John (2002). ''A River Out of Eden''. Anchor, . * Hockenberry, John (). ''Frontline'' episode
Climate of Doubt
' on climate change denial and the climate change controversy

References

External links

*
John Hockenberry biography
via ''The Infinite Mind'' (LCMedia)
John Hockenberry biography
via ''The DNA Files''
John Hockenberry: SCI Hall of Fame » 2005 Inaugural Inductees

Million Dollar Bigot – Complete Video
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hockenberry, John 1956 births 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American memoirists American male dramatists and playwrights American male journalists American people with disabilities American radio personalities American radio reporters and correspondents American television reporters and correspondents Journalists from Ohio Journalists from Oregon Living people People with paraplegia Public Radio International personalities University of Oregon alumni Writers from Dayton, Ohio Writers from Grand Rapids, Michigan Writers with disabilities