Phil Bronstein (born October 4, 1950) is an American journalist and editor. He serves as executive chair of the board for the

Center for Investigative Reporting The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) is a nonprofit news organization based in San Francisco, California. CIR was founded in 1977 as the nation’s first nonprofit investigative journalism organization. It subsequently grew into a multi ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. He is best known for his work as a war correspondent and investigative journalist. In 1986, he was a finalist for the

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 ...

for his reporting on the fall of Philippine dictator

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

. Later, he held leadership positions with the ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...

'', ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'', and

Hearst Newspapers Hearst may refer to: Places * Hearst, former name of Hacienda, California, United States * Hearst, Ontario, town in Northern Ontario, Canada * Hearst, California, an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, United States * Hearst Island, a ...

Corporation.

Early life

Bronstein was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia, on October 4, 1950. As a child, Bronstein's family moved frequently. Much of his youth was spent in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada. Eventually, he settled in California. Bronstein attended but did not graduate from the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

. While at Davis, he got his first taste of journalism. He wrote movie reviews for the school paper.

Career

Bronstein's first professional job was as a reporter for

KQED-TV KQED (channel 9) is a PBS member television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The station is owned by KQED Inc., alongside fellow PBS station KQEH (channel 54) and NPR member KQED ...

in San Francisco. In 1980, ''

The San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the H ...

'' hired him as a beat reporter. He went on to report from conflict areas around the world as a foreign correspondent for eight years, such as

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. In 1991, Bronstein was promoted to the executive editor position at the ''Examiner''. He held that position until 2000. When an alligator escaped into a city lake in 1996, Bronstein arrived in scuba gear to assist with the capture, but police turned him away. PHIL BRONSTEIN

Hearst Corporation Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings Inc. and Hearst Communications Inc. comprise an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate owned by the Hearst family and based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York ...

, the parent company of the ''Examiner'', bought the ''

'' in 2000. The ''Chronicle'' was the other major daily paper for the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. Hearst already owned the ''Examiner'' and chose to merge the two newsrooms. Bronstein became senior vice president and executive editor of the ''Chronicle'' in November 2000. Bronstein was editor after the merger, which occurred at the same time as a general decline in the newspaper industry, making the job even more difficult. Bronstein made staffing changes, created new features, and attempted to bring the ''Chronicle'' into the Internet age, all while preserving the Bay Area cultural viewpoint. In the first two years after the merger, staff was reduced from 520 to 485 and there was less content within the daily paper. In January 2008, Hearst Corporation announced Bronstein as editor-at-large for both the ''Chronicle'' and Hearst Newspapers. In his new role, Bronstein wrote a weekly column for the ''Chronicle''. He also wrote blog entries for SFGate.com. At the ''Chronicle'', he was replaced as editor by ''

Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...

'' editor Ward Bushee. Bronstein left Hearst Newspapers and the ''Chronicle'' in March 2012. He had been named chairman of the board for the

in 2011. Upon leaving the ''Chronicle'', his role at the Center expanded.

Personal life

Bronstein married actress

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress and film producer. Known for primarily playing femmes fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the ...

on February 14, 1998. They were unable to conceive children as Stone suffered from an autoimmune disease, resulting in several miscarriages. They

adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

a baby son, Roan Joseph Bronstein in 2000. The couple separated in 2003. They completed their divorce on January 29, 2004. At first, Stone and Bronstein shared joint custody of their adopted son, Roan. In 2008, a judge gave Bronstein full custody of their son. In 2001, Bronstein was attacked by a

Komodo dragon The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large reptile of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo (island), Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Dasami, and Gili ...

at the

Los Angeles Zoo The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens is a zoo founded in 1966 and located in Los Angeles, California, United States. The city of Los Angeles owns the zoo, its land and facilities, and the animals. History Eastlake Zoo, opened in Eastlak ...

. He was on a private tour, and a keeper had invited him into the enclosure. Bronstein was bitten on his bare foot, as the keeper had told him to take off his white shoes and socks, which the keeper stated could excite the Komodo dragon as they were the same color as the white rats the zoo fed the dragon. Although he escaped, Bronstein needed to have several tendons in his foot reattached surgically. In 2006, Bronstein married Christine Borders, the daughter of

Borders Book Store Borders is an international book and stationery retailer. Borders was founded in the United States in 1971 by brothers Tom and Louis Borders, the first bookshop opened in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In October 1992, it was purchased by Kmart, and was ...

co-founder Louis Borders. She is the founder of "A Band of Wives," a social network for women. The couple have two children. He sold his

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

sea cliff home in 2022.

Awards and recognition

In 1986, Bronstein was a finalist for the

for his reporting on the overthrow of

, long-standing dictator of the

. Bronstein's work in the Philippines also earned him awards from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, the

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

, the World Affairs Council, and the

Media Alliance Media Alliance is an American media resource and advocacy center for media workers, non-profit organizations, and social justice activists. Through policy work and grassroots organizing, Media Alliance aims to ensure the unfettered flow of informa ...

References

External links

San Francisco Chronicle

KQED-TV Website

Bronstein's Official Hearst Corp. biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bronstein, Phil 1950 births American expatriate writers in Canada American investigative journalists American newspaper editors Reptile attack victims Living people San Francisco Chronicle people San Francisco Examiner people University of California, Davis alumni Writers from Atlanta Journalists from Atlanta Writers from Montreal Writers from San Francisco