Bernard Blakeman Hounshell (September 4, 1978 – January 10, 2023) was an American journalist and editor who worked 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 ...

'', ''

Politico ''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 ...

,'' and ''

Foreign Policy A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through ...

.'' A graduate of Yale University, he was a 2011 finalist for the

Livingston Award The Livingston Awards at the University of Michigan are American journalism awards issued to media professionals under the age of 35 for local, national, and international reporting. They are the largest, all-media, general reporting prizes in Ame ...

. The same year, ''Time'' magazine identified him as operating one of the best Twitter accounts. He died by suicide in 2023 after living with

clinical depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introdu ...

Early life and education

Hounshell was born as Bernard Blakeman Hounshell in California on September 4, 1978 and had two siblings. He grew up in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...

and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 2002 after studying political science. After graduation, Hounshell moved to Egypt to study, and learn Arabic.

Career

In Cairo, Hounshell worked at the human-rights focussed ''Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies'' think tank founded by

Saad Eddin Ibrahim Saad Eddin Ibrahim ( arz, سعد الدين إبراهيم, ) (born 31 December 1938) is an Egyptian sociologist and author. He is one of Egypt's leading human rights and democracy activists, and a strong critic of former Egyptian President Hosni ...

. Hounshell edited ''

''On Politics'' newsletter after joining the newspaper in October 2021. He previously worked as a managing editor at ''

'' after starting his journalism career at ''

'' in 2006''.'' At ''Politico,'' Hounshell was instrumental in launching the national security newsletter, the ''NatSec Daily.'' ''Foreign Policy'' won the Media Industry Newsletter's ''Best of the Web'' award in 2008, under his leadership. Hounshell's

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 ...

account was identified by ''Time'' magazine as one of the 140 best of 2011. The same year, his reporting on the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econom ...

made him a

Livingston Awards for Young Journalists The Livingston Awards at the University of Michigan are American journalism awards issued to media professionals under the age of 35 for local, national, and international reporting. They are the largest, all-media, general reporting prizes in Ame ...

finalist. Hounshell co-edited Ricardo Lagos's 2012 memoir ''Southern Tiger: Chile's Fight for a Democratic and Prosperous Future.''

Personal life and death

Hounshell met musician and consultant Sandy Choi while working in Cairo; they moved to Washington D.C. in the 2000s, married, and had two children. He survived a stroke in 2020. Hounshell died by suicide on January 10, 2023, aged 44. Police found his body near the

Taft Bridge The Taft Bridge (also known as the Connecticut Avenue Bridge or William Howard Taft Bridge) is a historic bridge located in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It carries Connecticut Avenue over the Rock Creek gorge, including Rock Creek ...

. Hounshell's family released a statement that he had died "after a long and courageous battle with depression." Following his death, Joe Kahn and Carolyn Ryan of ''The New York Times'' wrote that Hounshell "was a dedicated journalist who quickly distinguished himself as our lead politics newsletter writer and a gifted observer of our country's political scene."

References

External links

Blake Hounshell Personal
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Blake Hounshell Professional
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Blake Hounshell
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Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hounshell, Blake 1978 births 2023 deaths 2023 suicides 21st-century American journalists American online publication editors Foreign Policy editors Journalists from California Journalists from Delaware Journalists from Pennsylvania Politico people Social media influencers Suicides by jumping in Washington, D.C. The New York Times editors Writers from Pittsburgh Yale College alumni