Alex Pareene (born ) 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 ...

, writer, and editor. He was the editor of the online news magazine ''

Gawker ''Gawker'' is an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers and based in New York City focusing on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month as of 2015. Founded ...

''.Alex Pareene returns to Gawker Media
Jeremy Barr, ''

Capital New York ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'', January 7, 2015

Career

Pareene grew up in south

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...

and graduated from

Minneapolis South High School Minneapolis South High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in the Corcoran neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. A member of the Minneapolis Public Schools district, it is both the oldest and largest public high s ...

, where he wrote for the school's newspaper and took part in the extracurricular theater program. Pareene attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

to study playwriting, but later dropped out. Pareene began his career writing a

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in Reverse ...

entitled "Buck Hill." In January 2006 he started writing for the Washington, D.C. political gossip blog '' Wonkette'', then a part of

Gawker Media Gawker Media LLC (formerly Blogwire, Inc. and Gawker Media, Inc.) was an American online media company and blog network. It was founded by Nick Denton in October 2003 as Blogwire, and was based in New York City. Incorporated in the Cayman Isla ...

, before he moved to their main web property ''

'' in October 2007. In April 2010 he left ''Gawker'' to write about politics for the online news magazine ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...

''.The Definitive Guide to Alex Pareene
, Gawker, April 21, 2010; accessed August 23, 2012 In their farewell post, the ''Gawker'' staff wrote of Pareene, "His writing is hysterical, his voice is unique, and his political mind is finely tuned into the idiocies and hypocrisies of our crumbling democracy." He later joined First Look Media to launch the blog ''Racket'' with

Matt Taibbi Matthew Colin Taibbi (; born March 2, 1970) is an American author, journalist, and podcaster. He has reported on finance, media, politics, and sports. A former contributing editor for ''Rolling Stone'', he is an author of several books, co-host o ...

. In January 2015, he rejoined Gawker Media. He was Gawker's editor-in-chief from October 2015 to August 2016, when the site ended operations. Pareene later served as a senior editor at ''

Deadspin ''Deadspin'' is a sports blog founded by Will Leitch in 2005 and based in Chicago. Previously owned by Gawker Media and Univision Communications, it is currently owned by G/O Media. ''Deadspin'' posted daily previews, recaps, and commentaries o ...

'' and editor-in-chief of ''

Splinter News Splinter was an American left-leaning news and opinion website owned by G/O Media. It launched in July 2017 and ceased publication in November 2019. Content The site was a news and opinion website. According to direct owner Fusion Media Group, t ...

'' before becoming a staff writer at ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...

'' in 2019. As of 2022, he publishes a newsletter on

Substack Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers. Founded in 2017, Substack ...

called "The AP (Alex Pareene) Newsletter".

Hack List

At ''Salon'', the rise of personalities who dominate the

24-hour news cycle The 24-hour news cycle (or 24/7 news cycle) is 24-hour investigation and reporting of news, concomitant with fast-paced lifestyles. The vast news resources available in recent decades have increased competition for audience and advertiser attent ...

continued to be one of Pareene's mainstay concerns. ''Salon'' published a yearly list composed by Pareene called the ''Hack 30: The Worst Pundits in America'', a list of people described as "the most predictable, banal, intellectually dishonest and all-around hacky newspaper columnists, cable news shouting heads and political opinion-mongers working today." The ''

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, ana ...

'' described the list as a "fun-to-read, blunt, stick-it-in-deep-and-twist-it list of mostly old-world print-y pundits." The list became so popular in media circles that Pareene began composing essay-length posts throughout the year about each person featured in the list to expound upon what he considered to be their hackery.

Donald Trump

Pareene has been a frequent critic of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, both before and after his election as President. At varying times Pareene has referred to Trump as a "fictional television clown tycoon", "a living freak show" and "a weird attention-hungry idiot." On August 15, 2012, Trump criticized Pareene on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

as a "lightweight reporter" who is a "total joke in political circles".Donald Trump Not a Fan of ‘Loser Salon,’ Which Is His Name for Salon
Dan Amira, ''New York'', August 15, 2012; accessed August 23, 2012 Over the previous week Trump had been alluding to a "very, very major" surprise for the

2012 Republican National Convention The 2012 Republican National Convention was a gathering held by the U.S. Republican Party during which delegates officially nominated former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin for president and vic ...

that would be "unique and interesting". Pareene had written that Trump's surprise "is almost definitely just going to be some idiotic video where Trump 'fires' _Barack_Obama.html" ;"title="Barack_Obama.html" ;"title=" Barack Obama"> Barack Obama">Barack_Obama.html" ;"title=" Barack Obama"> Barack Obamaimpersonator." One day later, Obama impersonator Kevin Michel posted on his Twitter feed a picture of himself with Trump and advised his followers to "watch the Republican National Convention", prompting some news outlets to conjecture that Trump was upset that Pareene had accurately predicted his surprise. When interviewed by ''Politico'' about Trump's criticism, Pareene responded, "I was hoping the first universally loathed NBC personality to publicly call me out would be the monkey from ''Animal Practice'', but I'll settle for Trump."Donald Trump punches down, misses
Dyla Byers, ''Politico'', August 15, 2012

Books

*''A Tea People's History'', 2 October 2011, 49 pages, Salon Media Group, *''The Rude Guide To Mitt'', 17 April 2012, 51 pages, Salon Media Group,

References

External links