William Alvin Whitworth (born February 13, 1937) 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 journalis ...

and editor. He worked as a reporter for the

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

from 1963 to 1966, columnist and associate editor for ''

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 ...

'' from 1966 to 1980, and

editor in chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' from 1981–99.

Career

In 1960, on completion of his BA in English/Journalism at the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

, Whitworth began work at the ''

Arkansas Gazette The ''Arkansas Gazette'' was a newspaper in Little Rock, Arkansas, that was published from 1819 to 1991. It was known as the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi River. It was located from 1908 until its closing at the now historic Gazet ...

'' where he covered low-level community and political stories. After 4 years at the Gazette, he moved to New York to work as a reporter for the ''

'' (1963–66), covering the political turmoil of the 1960s beginning with the Kennedy assassination, and including the student antiwar movement, Harlem riots, and Bobby Kennedy's U.S. Senate race. He also reported on entertainment stories, including the Beatles’ first two U.S. appearances. From 1966 to 1980, he was hired by

William Shawn William Shawn (''né'' Chon; August 31, 1907 – December 8, 1992) was an American magazine editor who edited ''The New Yorker'' from 1952 until 1987. Early life and education Shawn was born William Chon on August 31, 1907, in Chicago, Illino ...

as a columnist for ''

'',Hendrik Hertzberg
Tomlinson, Trump, and Whitworth
''The New Yorker'', April 25, 2011. Retrieved 2018-01-07. writing celebrity features, and reporting other entertaining subjects, including making regular contributions to the popular “Talk of the Town” section. At The New Yorker he wrote a long, detailed piece about an interview he conducted with Eugene V. Rostow regarding the strategy, values and purposes of the Vietnam War. Whitworth began his editing career at ''The New Yorker'', working with such other columnists as

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...

, and writers of contributed pieces. In a 2011 interview with Marc Smirnoff of ''The Oxford American'', he said that one of his most challenging writers was journalist

Robert Caro Robert Allan Caro (born October 30, 1935) is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson. After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote '' The Power ...

, author of ''

The Power Broker ''The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York'' is a 1974 biography of Robert Moses by Robert Caro. The book focuses on the creation and use of power in New York local and state politics, as witnessed through Moses' use of unelecte ...

'', which was excerpted in the New Yorker in four installments in 1974. The excerpts differ from the version published in the book, as noted by Charles McGrath in a 2012 ''New York Times'' profile of Mr. Caro: When

Mort Zuckerman Mortimer Benjamin Zuckerman (born June 4, 1937) is a Canadian-American billionaire media proprietor, magazine editor, and investor. He is the co-founder, executive chairman and former CEO of Boston Properties, one of the largest real estate inves ...

bought ''

'' in 1981, he made Whitworth

of the monthly magazine. Whitworth spent almost two decades leading the magazine to numerous awards and commendations. After his retirement in 1999, he continued to edit occasional pieces, and he also took on assignments as a book editor.Wendy Werris,
Coming to Hollywood: Anjelica Huston
, ''Publishers Weekly'', Oct 24, 2014. Retrieved 2018-01-07.

References

External links

2011 extended interview
by Marc Smirnoff - Oxford American {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitworth, William American male journalists The Atlantic (magazine) people 1937 births Living people 20th-century American journalists