Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak is an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and currently works for the Associated Press as its Washington investigations editor. She previously reported for the AP from 1997 to 2000. She formerly worked for

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, where she led the science desk, the Center for Public Integrity, and at

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

for 10 years, and has also worked as a reporter for newspapers, including ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

''. She is a two-time winner of the

George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...

, one of journalism's most prestigious honors.

Early life

Kodjak attended high school at

Milton Academy Milton Academy (informally referred to as Milton) is a coeducational, co-educational, Independent school, independent, and College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts, educating students in g ...

in Milton, Massachusetts, spending her junior year abroad in France. In her senior year she missed several months of classes due to a bout with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

(AML), but succeeded in graduating on schedule with her class after receiving aggressive, newly developed treatment at the Tufts Medical Center Floating Hospital. She attended

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, graduating with majors in Italian and European Studies in 1991, and the

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

- The Medill School of Journalism in 1994, with specialties in legal and science writing. She also attended the

Università degli Studi di Siena The University of Siena (, abbreviation: UNISI), located in Siena, Tuscany, holds the distinction of being Italy's first publicly funded university as well as one of the oldest, originally established as ''Studium Senese'' in 1240. As of 2022, it ...

in Siena, Tuscany, and is fluent in English, French, and Italian.

Career in journalism

Mia Mottley and Alison Kodjak at the National Press Club

She began her journalism career at the ''

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the now defunct ''Boston Phoenix'', '' ...

'' before moving to ''

'' as a general assignment reporter, followed by a three-year stint at ''

The Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and '' The Palm Beach Daily News' ...

''. She next moved to become an international editor at the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

World Desk in New York from 1997 to 2000. In 2000, Kodjak joined

to report on a wide variety of financial and business subjects, including the U.S auto industry, the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

, the U.S. Treasury, economics and tax policy, winning several journalism awards. She frequently appeared on the Sunday morning talk show ''Political Capital with Al Hunt''. In 2008, she broke the

Allen Stanford Robert Allen Stanford (born March 24, 1950) is an American-Antiguan convicted financial fraudster, former financier, and sponsor of professional sports. He was convicted of fraud in 2012, having operated an eight billion dollar Ponzi scheme, and ...

ponzi scheme story after three years of investigation. Kodjak was awarded the Overseas Press Club's Malcolm Forbes Award for her coverage of the international food price crisis in 2008 in a special seven-part series, "Recipe For Famine". Her coverage of the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

and the ensuing government bailout won her several awards, including the 2009

for National Reporting with her Bloomberg colleagues

Mark Pittman James Mark Pittman (October 25, 1957 - November 25, 2009) was a financial journalist covering corporate finance and derivative markets. He was awarded several prestigious journalism awards, the Gerald Loeb Award, the George Polk Award, a New Yor ...

, Craig Torres, and

Bob Ivry Robert Ivry is an American financial journalist, and staff reporter for ''Bloomberg News''. He worked for the ''San Francisco Bay Guardian, San Francisco Examiner, Bergen Record,'' of Hackensack, New Jersey. His work appeared in ''Esquire, Washing ...

for their work entitled "Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Identify Bank Loan". That project also resulted in

Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg L.P. is an American privately-held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was co-founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Ze ...

's lawsuit against the Federal Reserve after the central bank refused to disclose how taxpayer funds were used in the bailout of banks. Kodjak and the same team of Bloomberg colleagues were also named as finalists for The Gerald R. Loeb Award. In 2010, the four Bloomberg journalists were awarded the

Hillman Prize The Sidney Hillman Foundation is an American charitable foundation that awards prizes to journalists who investigate issues related to social justice and progressive public policy. The foundation, founded in 1946, is named for Sidney Hillman, who w ...

for newspaper journalism for their article "The Fight For Transparency". In 2010, Kodjak and her Bloomberg colleagues Mark Pittman, Bob Ivry, and Christine Harper were awarded the “Best of the Best” Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) in Projects for their "Lehman's Lessons" package that showed what led to the financial markets crash. In 2011, Kodjak was awarded the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress. She moved to the Center for Public Integrity to head a new investigative journalism team in 2011. In 2013, Kodjak received her second George Polk Award for her reporting at the CPI on the fates of high-level financial and banking executives responsible for the

. She is the co-author (as Alison Fitzgerald), with Stanley Reed, of the book ''In Too Deep: BP and the Drilling Race that Brought it Down'', the story of BP's devastating oil-well explosion and spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the corporate culture and governance that led to it. On December 7, 2018, Kodjak was elected as 112th president of the National Press Club.

Personal life

Kodjak sits on the Board of Governors of the

National Press Club A press club is an organization for journalists and others who are professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press Club ...

and is past Chairwoman of the

Capital City Symphony The Atlas Performing Arts Center is a multiple space performing arts facility located on H Street in the Near Northeast neighborhood of Washington, DC. Housed in a renovated Art Deco movie house, the facility is home to several arts organizations ...

in Washington, D.C. Kodjak is married to Drew Kodjak, executive director of the

International Council on Clean Transportation The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) is an international nonprofit public policy think tank and research institute that provides technical, scientific, and policy analysis to environmental regulators on issues related to envi ...

. They have three children and live in

Takoma Park, Maryland Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., Washington, and part of the Washington metropolitan area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea ...

Awards

* 2008 - Malcolm Forbes Award - Overseas Press Club * 2009 - George Polk Award * 2009 -

Gerald Loeb Award The Gerald Loeb Awards, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was e ...

Finalist * 2010 -

* 2011 - Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress * 2011 - Best of the Best Award - Society of American Business Editors & Writers * 2013 - George Polk Award * 2019 - Gerald Loeb Award for Audio * 2023 - Peabody Award

References

External links