Mark Whitaker (born September 7, 1957) is an American author, journalist and media executive. He was editor of ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' from 1998 until 2006, the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

to lead a national news magazine. From 2004 to 2006, Whitaker served as president of the

American Society of Magazine Editors The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) is an industry trade group for magazine journalists and editors of magazines published in the United States. ASME includes the editorial leaders of most major consumer magazine in print and digital ...

. He was senior vice president and Washington bureau chief for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

. From 2011 to 2013, he was executive vice president and managing editor of

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

Worldwide. Whitaker has written the books ''My Long Trip Home'' (2011), a family memoir; ''Cosby: His Life and Times'' (2014), a biography of

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

; ''Smoketown: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance'' (2018), about the legacy of the African-American community of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

; ''Saying It Loud: 1966 – The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement'' (2023); and ''The Afterlife of Malcolm X: An Outcast Turned Icon's Enduring Impact on America'' (2025) about the impact of

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

. He was named one of ''

Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...

'' magazine's 25 most influential African-Americans for 2008. Whitaker is on the board of jurors for the

Peabody Awards The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

Life and work

Early life and education

Whitaker was born outside of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He graduated ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' with a degree in

social studies In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...

from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1979, where he served on the editorial board of ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students. His ...

''. He then studied international relations at Oxford University's

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

from 1979 until 1981 where he was a

Marshall Scholar The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is considered among the most prestigious scholarshi ...

Journalism

He was an editor of ''

,'' the first

to lead a national news magazine. While he ran the magazine, from 1998 until 2006, it won four

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

s—for coverage of

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the 2004 elections. From 2004 to 2006, Whitaker served as president of the

. Whitaker was senior vice president and Washington bureau chief for

, succeeding

Tim Russert Timothy John Russert (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's '' Meet the Press''. He was a senior vice president at NBC News a ...

after his fatal heart attack in June 2008. In that role, he oversaw all Washington-based reporting and production for NBC and MSNBC during the 2008 election and early years of the Obama presidency, in addition to appearing as an on-air analyst. Before moving to Washington, he served as chief deputy to the president of NBC News in New York. From 2011 to 2013, he was executive vice president and managing editor of

Worldwide, where he oversaw daily news coverage, launched CNN Films, and persuaded the network to hire food and travel writer

Anthony Bourdain Anthony Michael Bourdain ( ; June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author and Travel documentary, travel documentarian. He starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the huma ...

to create the program '' Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.'' After Bourdain's suicide in 2018, Whitaker praised the chef's coverage of under-reported countries such as Lebanon and said, "It's not a food show; it's journalism." Whitaker is a contributing correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning and a juror for the Peabody Awards.

Books

In 2011, Whitaker published a family memoir, ''My Long Trip Home'', about his turbulent upbringing as the child of an interracial marriage between a pioneering but self-destructive black scholar of Africa and a white French immigrant whose father, Edouard Theis, was a clergyman who helped save the lives of Jews during World War II in the French town of

Le Chambon-sur-Lignon Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (, literally "Le Chambon on Lignon"; ) is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France. Residents have been primarily Huguenot or Protestant since the 17th century. During World War II these Huguenot ...

. The book won critical praise and was a finalist for the ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. In 2014, Whitaker published a biography of

, ''Cosby: His Life and Times''.

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

reported that "some critics praised it" upon release. Neil Drumming called it "wonderfully thorough" in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' wrote that it is "an eye-opening book and a pleasure to read". It made several ''New York Times'' bestseller lists and

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

included it in two "best" lists. It sold about 6,000 copies. After the book was released and dozens of women came forward accusing Cosby of sexual assault, it was "widely criticized for idealizing Cosby", according to CBS. While dealing with Cosby's history of infidelity and a paternity extortion trial, Whitaker's biography did not explore the assault claims that pre-dated his book. When multiple similar allegations came to light after publication, Whitaker issued an apology. The book was not released in paperback. In 2018, Whitaker published ''Smoketown: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance,'' about the legacy of the African-American community of

, where his father grew up and his grandparents owned funeral homes. The book links stories of prominent artists who grew up in Pittsburgh—including musicians

Billy Strayhorn William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take the ...

Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously a ...

Earl Hines Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and ...

Roy Eldridge David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from ...

Kenny Clarke Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), known professionally as Kenny Clarke and nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride ...

, Ray Brown,

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first re ...

; artist

Romare Bearden Romare Bearden (, ) (September 2, 1911 – March 12, 1988) was an American artist, author, and songwriter. He worked with many types of media including cartoons, oils, and collages. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bearden grew up in New York C ...

; and playwright

August Wilson August Wilson (né Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called '' ...

—influential journalists for the black newspaper

The Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acquired in 1965 by ...

—including Robert Lee Vann, Wendell Smith and Evelyn Cunningham—and historic figures whose careers were shaped by their interaction with Pittsburgh—including

Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed "the Brown Bomber", Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He r ...

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

and

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

. Both scholars of black history and experts on Pittsburgh's local history praised the book as an important contribution to the study of African-American achievement and struggle in the mid-20th century. In 2023 Whitaker published ''Saying It Loud: 1966—The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement''. The book chronicled the sequence of events that changed the course of American racial and political history in that one pivotal year, including the rise of

Stokely Carmichael Kwame Ture (; born Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael; June 29, 1941November 15, 1998) was an American activist who played a major role in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement. Born in Trini ...

to the head of the

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and later, the Student National Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emer ...

and Carmichael's popularizing of the slogan "

Black Power Black power is a list of political slogans, political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people. It is primarily, but not exclusively, used in the United States b ...

"; the founding of the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...

Huey P. Newton Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African American revolutionary and political activist who co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966. He ran the party as its first leader and crafted its ten-point manifesto with ...

and

Bobby Seale Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an African American revolutionary, political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization the Black Panther Party (BPP) ...

; the celebration of the first Kwanzaa by cultural nationalist

Maulana Karenga Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett, July 14, 1941), previously known as Ron Karenga, is an American activist, author and professor of Africana studies, best known as the creator of the pan-African and African-American holid ...

; and the " White backlash" vote in the 1966 midterm elections that helped elect

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

as Governor of California and set the stage for the presidential runs of

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

and

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

in 1968. ''Saying It Loud'' was named one of the Washington Post's 50 best nonfiction books of 2023.

Awards

Whitaker was named one of ''

'' magazine's 25 most influential African-Americans for 2008. He also has an honorary degree from

Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Wheaton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Norton, Massachusetts. Wheaton was founded in 1834 as a female seminary. The trustees officially changed the name of the Wheaton ...

, where he gave the commencement speech in 1999 and where his mother taught French literature for three decades.

Personal life

Whitaker is married to Alexis Gelber, a former long-time editor at ''Newsweek''.

References

External links

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Ex-Newsweek Editor to Join NBC as a Senior Vice PresidentMark Whitaker Elected President of American Society of Magazine EditorsSo What Do You Do, Mark Whitaker?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitaker, Mark 1957 births Living people American editors Writers from Pittsburgh Journalists from Pittsburgh The Harvard Crimson people Marshall Scholars Harvard College alumni George School alumni 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American writers Presidents of the American Society of Magazine Editors African-American journalists African-American writers African-American non-fiction writers African-American male writers