Marilyn W. Thompson
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Marilyn Walser Thompson (born 1952) is an American investigative journalist, author, and editor. She is the author of books covering American events such as the
Wedtech The Wedtech scandal was an American political scandal involving the award of government contracts. It was first brought to light in 1986. History The Wedtech Corporation was founded in the Bronx, New York by John Mariotta who manufactured baby ...
scandal and the
2001 anthrax attacks The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as Amerithrax (a portmanteau of "United States, America" and "anthrax", from its FBI case name), occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after th ...
, and co-authored two biographies of Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC). At the Washington ''Post'', Thompson was an editor of reports on gun violence that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in public service in 1992. As an editor on the Investigative Team, she led the group that won the
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journali ...
in 1999 and 2000.


Education

Thompson graduated from
Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...
(1974) with a Bachelor's in English, and was managing editor of '' The Tiger'', the university's student newspaper.


Career

Following graduation from Clemson University, she joined the Columbia (SC) ''Record'' as a governmental affairs and investigative reporter. From 1982 to 1986 she worked for the Philadelphia ''Daily News'', first as a freelancer then as a staff general assignment and investigative reporter. In 1986, she moved to the New York ''Daily News'' as a general assignment reporter and uncovered the
Wedtech scandal The Wedtech scandal was an American political scandal involving the award of government contracts. It was first brought to light in 1986. History The Wedtech Corporation was founded in the Bronx, New York by John Mariotta who manufactured bab ...
, the story of a South Bronx minority-owned defense contractor that won special treatment from the
Reagan administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following his landslide victory over ...
. The investigation led to dozens of federal indictments, from low-level government contracting officials to a White House official who owned company stock. In 1987, Thompson was promoted to Assistant City Editor for Investigations before being transferred to Washington, DC, in 1988, to cover the Justice Department and Attorney General
Ed Meese Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931) is an American attorney, law professor, author and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who served in Ronald Reagan's Governorship of Ronald Reagan, gubernatorial administration ...
’s entanglement in the Wedtech affair. Thompson moved to The Washington ''Post'' in 1990 as a general assignment reporter on the Metro desk assigned to
Prince George's County, Maryland Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it ...
government. She was promoted to Metro Projects Editor the next year and helped edit a package on gun violence that was a finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journali ...
. She transferred to the ''Post’s'' national desk as Deputy National Editor for investigations, managing a number of
Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...
scandals. She was promoted to Assistant Managing Editor of the Investigative Team, a group that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1999 and 2000. In 2003 Thompson was a visiting professor of journalism at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
. She left the ''Post'' in 2004 to become editor of the '' Herald-Leader'' in Lexington, KY, then returned to Washington after the demise of
Knight-Ridder newspapers Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time ...
. Between 2006 and 2007, she worked for a year as investigations editor in the Los Angeles ''Times'' Washington bureau, then moved to the New York ''Times'' as a reporter in the Washington bureau. She was recruited back to the ''Post'' in 2007 to serve as an enterprise editor on the National desk, and was promoted to National Editor. Thompson left the ''Post'' in 2011 to work for three years as Washington bureau chief for
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
. She left Reuters to serve as Deputy Editor of
POLITICO ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
and after a year, became a Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School. Thompson returned to the ''Post'' under contract to help manage coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign. After a brief stint at
Kaiser Health News KFF, which was formerly known as The Kaiser Family Foundation or The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, is an American non-profit organization, headquartered in San Francisco, California. It prefers KFF, which is its business operating name, to ...
as deputy investigations editor, she returned to the ''Post'' in 2017 as National weekend and deputy political enterprise editor. Thompson joined
ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in New York City. ProPublica's investigations are conducted by its staff of full-time reporters, and the resulting stories are distributed to ne ...
in 2018 as an editor on the local news network, after which she was asked to set up a ProPublica Washington bureau with six reporters investigating the federal government. After helping break the Wedtech government corruption story, Thompson wrote ''Feeding the Beast: How Wedtech Became the Most Corrupt Little Company in America'' (1990). In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001, she wrote ''The Killer Strain: Anthrax and a Government Exposed'' (2004). In 2001, Thompson co-wrote, with
Jack Bass Jack Bass is an American author and journalist. He was born in Columbia, South Carolina to Nathan and Esther (Cohen) Bass in 1934 and grew up in the town of North as the youngest of seven children. He graduated from the University of South Caroli ...
, an
unauthorized biography An unauthorized biography, sometimes called a kiss-and-tell, or a tell-all, is a biography written without the subject's permission or input. The term is usually restricted to biographies written within the subject's lifetime or shortly after ...
of
Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Before his 49 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South ...
. In 2003, she broke the story in The Washington ''Post'' of Thurmond’s mixed-race daughter Essie Mae Washington-Williams. After this front-page expose, she and Bass updated their Thurmond biography with a new title, ''Strom: The Complicated Personal and Political Life of Strom Thurmond''.


Works

* * (with
Jack Bass Jack Bass is an American author and journalist. He was born in Columbia, South Carolina to Nathan and Esther (Cohen) Bass in 1934 and grew up in the town of North as the youngest of seven children. He graduated from the University of South Caroli ...
) * * (with Jack Bass)


Awards and honors

In 1976 and 1982, Thompson was named South Carolina Journalist of the Year. In 1982, she was named a Congressional Fellow by the
American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political scientists in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, it publishes four ...
and spent a year studying Congress. Thompson was The Washington ''Post'''s editor of reports on gun violence that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in public service in 1992. As the ''Post'''s Managing Editor of the Investigative Team, she led the group that won the
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journali ...
in 1999 and 2000. In 2012, Thompson was named a Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Marilyn W. American investigative journalists American women writers 1952 births People from Salisbury, North Carolina Clemson University alumni Harvard Kennedy School people Living people