Carl Robert Zelnick (August 9, 1940 – September 23, 2019) was an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, author and professor of journalism at the

Boston University College of Communication __NOTOC__ The Boston University College of Communication (COM) is the communication school of Boston University (BU), a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1947, it was the first university in the United States to of ...

, and winner of two

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

and two

Gavel Awards The Silver Gavel Award (also known as the ABA Silver Gavel Awards for Media and The Arts) is an annual award the American Bar Association gives to honor outstanding work by those who help to improve comprehension of jurisprudence in the United St ...

Career

Early in his career, Zelnick worked for ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...

'',

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, and the ''

Anchorage Daily News The ''Anchorage Daily News'' is a daily newspaper published by the Binkley Co., and based in Anchorage, Alaska. It is the most widely read newspaper and news website (adn.com) in the state of Alaska. The newspaper is headquartered in Anchorage, ...

'', and was executive editor of the Frost–Nixon interviews. (In the 2008 film '' Frost/Nixon,'' Zelnick is portrayed by

Oliver Platt Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is an American actor known for his work on stage and screen. He has been nominated for five Primetime Emmys, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and one Tony Award. Following his acting deb ...

.) He was a

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

for

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

for more than 20 years. His assignments included national political and

congressional A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...

affairs (1994–98),

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

(1986–94),

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

(1984–86) and

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

(1982–84). In 1998, he began teaching at Boston University, where he chaired the journalism department from 2002 to 2006. He was a research fellow at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace and formerly The Hoover Institute and Library on War, Revolution, and Peace) is an American public policy think tank which promotes personal and economic ...

Life

Zelnick was convicted in 2013 of misdemeanor negligent motor vehicle homicide and the civil infraction of failure to yield for an incident in October 2011, when he struck and killed a motorcyclist in

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth ( ; historically also spelled as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in and the county seat of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklor ...

. He was of

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 ...

descent.

Books

*''The Illusion of Net Neutrality: Political Alarmism, Regulatory Creep, and the Real End to Internet Freedom'' (2013), coauthored with his daughter, Eva Zelnick *''Israel's Unilateralism: Beyond Gaza'' (2006) *''Swing Dance: Justice O'Connor and the Michigan Muddle'' (2004) *''Winning Florida: How the Bush Team Fought the Battle'' (2001) *''Gore: A Political Life'' (2000) *''Backfire: A Reporter's Look at Affirmative Action'' (1996)

References

External links

*Robert Zelnick (2006):
Israel's Unilaterialism: Beyond Gaza
' Hoover Press, , 170 pages * Emmy Award winners Journalists from New York City Jewish American journalists Boston University faculty Hoover Institution people The Christian Science Monitor people 1940 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American journalists American male journalists {{US-journalist-1940s-stub