Scott Shane
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Scott Shane (born May 22, 1954 in
Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...
) is an American journalist, currently employed by ''
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 ...
'', reporting principally about the United States intelligence community.


Career and education

Shane received a bachelor's from
Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...
and a master's from
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
. He began his journalism career as a news clerk for ''
The Washington Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the Washington ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday Sta ...
'' (1979–1980), then as a local news reporter for the Greensboro (NC) ''
News & Record The ''News & Record'' is an American, English language newspaper with the largest circulation serving Guilford County, North Carolina, and the surrounding region. It is based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and produces local sections for Greensbo ...
'' (1980–1983). He became a reporter for ''
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 ...
'' (1983–2004), he served for two years as their Moscow correspondent (1988–1991). Since 2004 he has been a national news reporter 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 ...
''. Shane also made an appearance in the HBO series "The Wire" (Season 5, episode 2), playing himself. He is author of ''Objective Troy: A Terrorist, A President, and the Rise of the Drone'', which won the 2016
Lionel Gelber Prize The Lionel Gelber Prize is a literary award for English non-fiction books on foreign policy. Founded in 1989 by Canadian diplomat Lionel Gelber, the prize awards "the world’s best non-fiction book in English on foreign affairs that seeks to deep ...
. This book tells the story of
Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ar, أنور العولقي, Anwar al-‘Awlaqī; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a U.S. government drone strik ...
, who won fame as an imam outside Washington after the 9/11 attacks but eventually joined Al Qaeda in Yemen and was killed by a drone strike in 2011 on the orders of the then President Obama. He was the first U.S. citizen hunted and killed by his own government since the Civil War. Before joining ''The New York Times'', from 1983 to 2004 Shane was a reporter for ''
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 ...
'' covering a range of subjects. He was ''The Baltimore Sun''s Moscow correspondent from 1988 until 1991. Shane witnessed and reported on a crucial time in Russia's modern history. His book ''Dismantling Utopia: How Information Ended the Soviet Union'' provided a brilliant insight into the root causes of the demise of the Soviet regime. One of the main protagonists in the book was a dissident and political prisoner Andrei Mironov. In 1995, he and Tom Bowman wrote series of six articles on the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collect ...
. This was the first major investigation of the NSA since
James Bamford James Bamford (born September 15, 1946) is an American author, journalist and documentary producer noted for his writing about United States intelligence agencies, especially the National Security Agency (NSA). ''The New York Times'' has call ...
's 1982 book ''
The Puzzle Palace ''The Puzzle Palace'' is a book written by James Bamford and published in 1982. It is the first major, popular work devoted entirely to the history and workings of the National Security Agency (NSA), a United States intelligence organization. The ...
''. ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the home-delivery newspaper for many NSA employees working at its Ft. Meade, Maryland, headquarters. Apart from his role as a reporter of the news, Shane became part of the news himself for his contact with former CIA officer
John Kiriakou John Chris Kiriakou (born August 9, 1964) is an American author, journalist and former intelligence officer. Kiriakou is a columnist with Reader Supported News and co-host of ''Political Misfits'' on Sputnik Radio. He was formerly an analyst and ...
, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison on January 25, 2013, after entering into a plea-bargain agreement in which he accepted conviction for violation of one count of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, in return for all other charges against him by
the government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
being dropped. Kiriakou's attorneys had sought to depose Shane (named as "Journalist B" in the indictment) as part of his defense, but withdrew their
subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
to do so. The prosecution had contended that Kiriakou had been a source for Shane's 2008 report that named non-covert CIA employee
Deuce Martinez Deuce Martinez (born c. 1976) is an American intelligence professional. "Deuce" is not his given first name, but a nickname that was used in the first newspaper article naming him. He was involved at the start of the Central Intelligence Agency's ...
as having been an interrogator of
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (sometimes also spelled Shaikh; also known by at least 50 pseudonyms; born March 1, 1964 or April 14, 1965) is a Pakistani Islamist militant held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp under terrorism-re ...
, the mastermind of the attacks of September 11, 2001, although Martinez did not participate in the extensive pre-questioning
waterboarding Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method of waterboard ...
of "KSM". Shane wrote about his relationship with Kiriakou in a rare, first-person account published by ''The New York Times'' of a reporter's role in a story involving national security and secrecy.


References


External links


Charlie Rose interviews Scott Shane, June 23, 2008
– video * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shane, Scott Living people The New York Times writers The Baltimore Sun people 1954 births Williams College alumni