Rachel Sklar (born December 8, 1972) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

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 ...

contributor, and media blogger.

Early years

Sklar was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. She is a graduate of

the University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames River bisecting t ...

where she was the Vice-President Communications of the University Students' Council, as well as a regular contributor to the campus newspaper, ''The Gazette''. She was also an active member of the University of Western Ontario Debating Society. She graduated with honors from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

Faculty of Law, where she was valedictorian.

Career

Sklar became a full-time freelance journalist on a wide array of topics. Her work has been published 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 ...

'', '' Glamour'', ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', ''

Wallpaper Wallpaper is used in interior decoration to cover the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" to help cover uneve ...

'', ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'', and ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

''. Her numerous publications in Canada include the self-published book ''A Stroke of Luck: Life, Crisis and Rebirth of a Stroke Survivor'' (Toronto: 1998, Parnassus Books), which she co-authored with the dentist Howard Rocket (the father of a childhood friend) about his stroke and recovery. Sklar was, until 7 November 2008, the Media & Special Projects Editor for the ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

''. She wrote and edited the site's Eat The Press page. She previously wrote and edited FishbowlNY, a New York-based media industry blog. Sklar is a guest panelist on Fox News Watch, a current events

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...

program on the

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...

, and has made appearances on ''

Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld ''Red Eye'' (also known as ''Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld'' from 2007 to 2015 and ''Red Eye w/ Tom Shillue'' from 2015 to 2017) is an American late-night/early-morning satirical talk show on Fox News, which aired at 3:00 a.m. ET Tuesday throug ...

'', which is also a Fox News program. In January 2009, she left the Huffington Post to join ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

''. She has worked for Dan Abrams, at Abrams Research and as Editor-at-Large for Mediaite. She is the founder of two advocacy sites: Change The Ratio, which promotes the careers of women in new media and tech; and Charitini.com, which promotes social micro-giving. In 2013, Sklar soft launched tech start-up, The Li.st, that serves as "a platform for awesome women."

Recognition

In 2010, she was listed by The Wall in "Social media movers and shakers: The ones to watch in 2011" along with

Ben Parr Ben Parr (born February 12, 1985) is an American journalist, author, venture capitalist and entrepreneur. He is the author of ''Captivology: The Science of Capturing People's Attention'', a book on the science and psychology of attention and ho ...

and Murray Newlands, and listed in 2011 Silicon Alley (NYC) 100 List by

Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...

for Change the Ratio. In 2012, Sklar was listed as one of

Datamation ''Datamation'' is a computer magazine that was published in print form in the United States between 1957 and 1998,

's list of "10 Women in Tech Who Give Back." In 2015 she and her daughter Ruby (born that year) were named as part of ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

'' 50.

References

External links

Profile and articles at the HuffingtonPost.com

Video debates featuring Sklar
on Bloggingheads.tv {{DEFAULTSORT:Sklar, Rachel Jewish Canadian journalists Canadian lawyers Living people University of Toronto Faculty of Law alumni University of Western Ontario alumni 1972 births Canadian bloggers HuffPost writers and columnists Journalists from Toronto American women columnists 21st-century Canadian journalists 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century Canadian women journalists