Ben Jacobs (journalist)

Ben Jacobs is an American political reporter. He formerly worked for ''The Guardian'', where he gained mass media attention for being assaulted by Republican congressional candidate Greg Gianforte in May 2017. He previously worked at ''The Daily Beast''. His journalism has also been published in outlets including ''The Boston Globe'', ''The New Republic'', ''The Atlantic'', ''Jewish Insider'', ''New York Magazine'', and the online news sites ''Salon'' and ''Capital New York''. Jacobs has covered people such as Donald Trump and Chelsea Clinton.

Education

While studying at Grinnell College, Jacobs was president of the Iowa College Democrats. After graduating in 2006, he worked in electoral politics. Jacobs later graduated from Duke University School of Law.

Journalism career

Jacobs was a freelance reporter for ''The New Republic'', ''The Atlantic'', Salon, and ''The Boston Globe'' before joining ''The Daily Beast'' and later ''The Guardian''. In the second half of 2019, he wrote for ''Jewish Insider''. He is based in Washington, D.C.

Gianforte incident

On May 24, 2017, while covering Montana's at-large congressional district special election, 2017, Jacobs was physically assaulted by Republican candidate Greg Gianforte, following which Gianforte was cited by local law enforcement for misdemeanor assault. Jacobs was body-slammed by the candidate and his glasses were broken. A report in ''The Atlantic'' suggested that Jacobs' response to the body-slam, instead of fighting back, was to "get up and call out the situation for what it was ... asking for names of witnesses to the assault who will be assets to his case as it plays out in courts of law and public opinion", and that this showed a "judicious, prescient reaction" and an act of "redefining strength." A statement by the Republican candidate blamed Jacobs for causing the incident:

CNN analyst Gregory Krieg said that the act of describing Jacobs as a "liberal journalist" was being used as an "implicit excuse for the candidate's violent behavior." Professor Kathleen Jamieson sees the attack as part of a broader problem, caused in part by Donald Trump painting journalists as "the enemy of the American people," and in effect, inciting people such as Gianforte to violence.

He has experienced antisemitic harassment as a result of the incident. There is no indication, however, that Gianforte knew or cared that Jacobs was Jewish.

Gianforte won the special election on May 25. During Gianforte's acceptance speech that evening, he apologized to Jacobs and the Fox News crew for his assault. On June 7 Gianforte made a written apology to Jacobs and donated US$50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists, in return, Jacobs agreed to not pursue a civil claim against Gianforte.

On June 12, 2017, Gianforte pled guilty to the misdemeanor assault charge. He was sentenced to four days in jail, but the judge changed the sentence to 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management and a $300 fine along with an $85 court fee.

References

External links

Interview with Jacobs after Gianforte incident
CNN

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Ben

American male journalists
American political journalists
American victims of crime
Duke University School of Law alumni
Grinnell College alumni
Living people
The Guardian journalists
Year of birth missing (living people)
Jewish American journalists