Sam Dolnick is an American journalist, film and television producer, and assistant managing editor for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.
He helped launch
''The Daily'' podcast and the documentary series, ''
The Weekly''.
Biography
Dolnick was born to novelist
Edward Dolnick and Lynn Iphigene Golden, who met at
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jews, Jewish community, Brandeis was established on t ...
as students.
His mother is the daughter of
Ruth Sulzberger Holmberg and a granddaughter of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' publisher
Arthur Hays Sulzberger
Arthur Hays Sulzberger (September 12, 1891December 11, 1968) was the publisher of ''The New York Times'' from 1935 to 1961. During that time, daily circulation rose from 465,000 to 713,000 and Sunday circulation from 745,000 to 1.4 million; the st ...
and his wife,
Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger. Through his mother, a director of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and the
Smithsonian Zoo, he is a fifth-generation member of the Ochs-Sulzberger family that owns the newspaper.
He has a brother,
Ben Dolnick
Ben Dolnick (born 1982) is an American fiction writer and author of the novels ''Zoology'' (2007), ''You Know Who You Are'' (2011), and ''At the Bottom of Everything: A Novel'' (2013).
Life
Ben Dolnick was born and raised in Chevy Chase, Marylan ...
, who is a novelist.
[New York Magazine: "Children of the Times - Who’s who in the Ochs-Sulzberger clan"](_blank)
retrieved September 27, 2015 He is also the nephew of
Arthur Golden
Arthur Sulzberger Golden (born December 6, 1956) is an American writer. He is the author of the bestselling novel ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' (1997).
Early life
Golden was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the son of Ruth (née Sulzberger) and Ben ...
, author of ''
Memoirs of a Geisha
''Memoirs of a Geisha'' is a historical fiction novel by American author Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first person perspective, tells the story of Nitta Sayuri and the many trials she faces on the path to becoming and wo ...
'', and
Michael Golden, former publisher of the ''
International Herald Tribune'' and vice chairman of
The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company is an American mass media company that publishes ''The New York Times''. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City.
History
The company was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones in New York City. ...
.
Dolnick graduated from
Georgetown Day School
Georgetown Day School (GDS) is an independent coeducational PK-12 school located in Washington, D.C. The school educates 1,075 elementary, middle, and high school students in northwestern Washington, D.C. Russell Shaw is the current Head of Sc ...
, where he played basketball, and received his undergraduate degree from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
.
After graduating from Columbia, he interned for
Wayne Barrett at ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'' in 2002 and worked night shifts at ''
The Staten Island Advance'' from 2002 to 2004.
In 2004, Dolnick joined the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...
and moved to
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...
in 2007 as a foreign correspondent for AP.
Dolnick joined ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in 2009 as a metro reporter.
Dolnick was promoted to deputy sports editor in 2013. In addition to covering amateur cage-fighting, horse racing, and the
Sochi Olympics
, ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'')
, nations = 88
, events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, athletes = 2,873
, opening = 7 February 2014
, closing = 23 February 2014
, opened_by = President Vladimir Putin
, cauldron =
, stadium = Fisht Olympic ...
, he also profiled the
Sinaloa cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel ( es, link=no, Cártel de Sinaloa), also known as the CDS, the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is a large, international organized crime syndicate that specializes in il ...
's 90 year-old drug mule,
Leo Sharp in 2014 for ''
The New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...
''. His story later became the inspiration for
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' D ...
's 2018 film,
''The Mule''. In 2014, he left the sports desk to become senior editor of the paper's mobile team.
In 2015, Dolnick was promoted to associate editor.
As associate editor, he was responsible for launching numerous digital and mobile initiatives at the ''Times'', including NYT Audio, NYT VR,
''The Daily'' podcast, The Daily 360, and the TV documentary series ''
The Weekly'', where he also serves as an executive producer. Dolnick was one of three cousins in the Ochs-Sulzberger family who had been candidates to become deputy publisher of the ''Times'' and successor to
Arthur Sulzberger Jr.
A.G. Sulzberger, the publisher's son, was named to the role in October 2016.
In 2017, Dolnick was elevated to masthead as an assistant editor. In that role, he oversees the ''Times audiovisual work.
In 2018, he profiled a man named Erik Hagerman who, upon learning that
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...
has become president, decided to cut off from all news media and live in self-imposed isolation.
In 2019, Dolnick was elected a member of the
Pulitzer Center
The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is an American news media organization established in 2006 that sponsors independent reporting on global issues that other media outlets are less willing or able to undertake on their own. The center's goal ...
board.
Awards and nominations
Dolnick was the recipient the 2012
Worth Bingham Prize
The Worth Bingham Prize, also referred to as the Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Reporting, is an annual journalism award which honors: "newspaper or magazine investigative reporting of stories of national significance where the public inter ...
for investigative reporting into
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
's privatized halfway houses.
He also won a
George Polk Award
The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...
in 2013 for the same work.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolnick, Sam
Living people
American newspaper editors
The New York Times masthead editors
Columbia College (New York) alumni
The Village Voice people
American journalists
George Polk Award recipients
Associated Press people
American television producers
Sulzberger family
The New York Times writers
American people of German-Jewish descent
Georgetown Day School alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)