Michael Kelly (editor)

Michael Thomas Kelly (March 17, 1957 – April 4, 2003) was an American journalist for ''The New York Times'', a columnist for ''The Washington Post'' and ''The New Yorker'', and a magazine editor for ''The New Republic'', ''National Journal'', and ''The Atlantic''. He came to prominence through his reporting on the 1990–1991 Gulf War, and was well known for his political profiles and commentary. He suffered professional embarrassment for his role as senior editor in the Stephen Glass scandal at ''The New Republic''. Kelly was killed while covering the invasion of Iraq, in 2003; he was the first US journalist to die during this war.

During a journalism career that spanned 20 years, Kelly received a number of professional awards for his book on the Gulf War and his articles, as well as for his magazine editing. In his honor, the Michael Kelly Award for journalism was established, as well as a scholarship at his ''alma mater,'' the University of New Hampshire.

Early life and education

Born in Washington, D.C. as one of four children, Kelly followed both of his parents into journalism. His mother is Marguerite (Lelong) Kelly, a columnist from New Orleans who wrote "The Family Almanac" for ''The Washington Post'', and his father was Thomas Vincent Kelly (August 2, 1923 – June 17, 2010), a political and features reporter for ''The Washington Star'' (formerly ''The Washington Daily News''), and later for ''The Washington Times''.

Kelly attended Gonzaga College High School, as his father had done. He graduated in 1979 from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. He had worked on the college newspaper, '' The New Hampshire''.

Career

Kelly's first media job was booking guests for ABC News and its ''Good Morning America'' television program. He was a newspaper journalist for ''The Cincinnati Post'' (1983–1986), ''The Baltimore Sun'' (1986–1989) and later, after writing freelance and reporting in the first Gulf War, he worked for ''The New York Times'' (1992–1994). While he worked freelance, his articles were published in ''The Boston Globe'' and '' GQ''. ''The New Republic'' published his reporting on the Persian Gulf War in 1991. He was a staff writer for ''The New York Times Magazine''. In 1994, he joined ''The New Yorker'' and wrote its "Letter From Washington" column until his departure in 1996.

At that point in his career, Kelly had worked with editors such as Hendrik Hertzberg at ''The New Republic'', Robert Vare at ''The New York Times Magazine'' and Tina Brown at ''The New Yorker''. In 1996, Kelly became the editor of ''The New Republic'', where his protectiveness of his staffers, along with the criticisms he leveled against publisher Martin Peretz's friend Al Gore, created friction with the magazine's management. He was dismissed after less than a year as editor.

Writer Stephen Glass had been a major contributor under Kelly's editorship; Glass was later shown to have fabricated numerous stories, and falsified his notes and other backup materials. ''The New Republic'' issued a public apology for this breach of journalism ethics after it was revealed by an investigation by Kelly's successor, Charles Lane. '' Forbes Online'' had published an exposé of Glass' work. Kelly was Glass's editor before ''Forbes'' exposed the latter's falsehoods. He was largely supportive of Glass, sending scathing letters to those who challenged the veracity of Glass's stories. In the 2003 film ''Shattered Glass'', which chronicles Glass's rise and fall at ''The New Republic'', Kelly was portrayed by Hank Azaria.

After losing his job at ''The New Republic'', Kelly was hired by David G. Bradley to write a column for the ''National Journal''. He was later promoted to editor. After Bradley purchased ''The Atlantic Monthly'' in 1999, he hired Kelly to run it. ''The Atlantic'' won three National Magazine Awards under Kelly's leadership and two more after his death.

''Martyrs' Day: Chronicles of a Small War''

Kelly won awards and accolades for his 1991 coverage of the first Gulf War. The United States military used a pool management system to organize reporters, control access, and gain favorable coverage, but Kelly opted out of that system in favor of independent reporting. His experience during Operation Desert Storm later served as the basis for his book ''Martyrs' Day: Chronicles of a Small War'' (1993). His reporting on the war for ''The New Republic'' had already won a National Magazine Award and the Overseas Press award.

His book received the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction in 1994. Ted Koppel compar