Christopher Goffard is a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning American journalist, author, and podcaster. He is a staff writer for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' and was a finalist for the

Edgar Allan Poe Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor ...

for the ''Best First Novel.'' His podcast '' Dirty John'' has been downloaded more than 50 million times.

Life and career

Goffard grew up in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

with an English degree. His career first started by covering city hall, law enforcement, and court beats for The '' St. Petersburg Times''. Goffard's last story for ''St. Petersburg Times'' was "The $40 lawyer". In January 2006 Goffard became a staff writer for the ''

''. He wrote his first crime novel ''Snitch Jacket'' (2007) and was a finalist for the

For Best First Novel in 2008. His writing continued in 2011 with his second non-fiction book, ''You Will See Fire: A Search For Justice In Kenya'' (2012). Goffard's two-part series jump-started the Los Angeles Times’ first ebook ''A Nightmare Made Real''. Goffard also launched his podcast '' Dirty John'' in October 2017, which was later adapted into a TV series of the same name.

Pulitzer Prize

Goffard led the Pulitzer Prize-winning team of reporters who wrote "How Bell Hit Bottom''"'' in 2010. In 2007, Goffard became a

finalist for feature writing. In 2010, he was part of the investigative reporting team covering the city officials corruption of public funds in

Bell, California Bell is an municipal corporation, incorporated city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located near the center of the former San Antonio Township (abolished after 1960), its population was 33,559 at the 2020 United States census ...

. The ''

'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011 for public service. Goffard again became a Pulitzer Prize finalist for feature writing in 2014 for his story "The Manhunt For Christopher Dorner".

Other awards

"How Bell Hit Bottom" also won the George Polk Award for local reporting, the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting, and the American Society of News Editors Distinguished Writing Award for Local Accountability Reporting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goffard, Christopher Los Angeles Times people Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American crime writers American crime reporters Journalists from Los Angeles American crime podcasters 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists American male journalists 21st-century American journalists Cornell University alumni