Hedrick Smith: Difference between revisions

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Smith was born in [[Kilmacolm]], [[Scotland]]. He was educated at [[Choate Rosemary Hall|The Choate School]] (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in [[Wallingford, Connecticut]] and at [[Williams College]], where he earned a B.A. in American history and literature. After completing his studies at Williams, Smith did graduate work in PPE (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics) as a [[Fulbright Scholar]] at [[Oxford University]]. In 1969, he won a [[Nieman Fellowship]] to study at [[Harvard University]], concentrating in Russian studies.
Smith was born in [[Kilmacolm]], [[Scotland]]. He was educated at [[Choate Rosemary Hall|The Choate School]] (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in [[Wallingford, Connecticut]] and at [[Williams College]], where he earned a B.A. in American history and literature. After completing his studies at Williams, Smith did graduate work in PPE (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics) as a [[Fulbright Scholar]] at [[Oxford University]]. In 1969, he won a [[Nieman Fellowship]] to study at [[Harvard University]], concentrating in Russian studies.


==Newspaper career ==
==Career==
Smith’s career in print journalism began in the 1950s, with summer jobs as a cub reporter for The Greenville (S.C.) News. After college and serving three years in the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]], Smith joined [[United Press International]] in 1959, serving in bureaus in Memphis, Nashville and Atlanta, 1959-62. In the early 1960s, Smith began his long tenure with The New York Times covering [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], [[John Lewis]] and the [[Civil rights movement|civil rights struggle]] including hot spots such as [[Birmingham]], the desegregation of Ole Miss, and the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|March on Washington]]. As a foreign correspondent, Smith reported on the [[Vietnam War]] in [[Saigon]] (1963-64), on the Middle East region based in [[Cairo]] (1964-1966), and on the [[Cold War]] from both Washington (1967-70) and Moscow (1971-1974).
He was a reporter for the ''New York Times'' from 1962 to 1988. During his career with ''[[The New York Times]]'', he covered stories such as the [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and civil rights struggle, the [[Vietnam war]], and the [[Cold War]] from both [[Moscow]] and Washington. In 1971, Smith worked as chief diplomatic correspondent. Smith has worked for PBS since 1989 where he created 26 prime-time specials. His work focused on topics such as terrorism, Wall Street, Soviet perestroika, [[Wal-Mart]], [[Enron]], tax evasion, educational reform, health care, the environment, and Washington's power game.<ref name=about /> He appeared on television and radio news programs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?88832-1/day-larry-king|title=Smith interview |publisher=C-SPAN.org|work=[[Larry King Show]]}}</ref>


In 1971, as the ''Times'' chief diplomatic correspondent, Smith was a member of the team which produced the Pentagon Papers series; and in 1974, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for his coverage of the Soviet Union and its allies in Eastern Europe.
In 1971, as chief diplomatic correspondent, he was a member of the [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning team that produced the [[Pentagon Papers|Pentagon Papers series]]. In 1974, he won the [[Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting]] from Russia and Eastern Europe. In 1975-76, Smith became deputy national editor of the Times and then moved on to serve as Washington Bureau Chief (1976-79) and Chief Washington Correspondent (1979-1988). During his Washington tours he covered five American presidents and their administrations.


== Television productions ==
The former ''Times'' Washington Bureau Chief has gone on to publish five books and produced more than 50 hours of long-form documentary television. His most recent book, ''[[Who Stole the American Dream?]]'', which came out in September 2012, landed on ''The New York Times'' national bestseller's list, while remaining a best seller in a number of cities.
For PBS since 1989, Hedrick Smith has created 26 prime-time specials and mini-series on such varied topics as terrorism, Wall Street, [[Perestroika|Soviet perestroika]], [[Walmart|Wal-Mart]], [[Enron]], tax evasion, educational reform, health care, the environment, jazz greats [[Duke Ellington]] and [[Dave Brubeck]], and Washington’s power game.


Smith’s documentary work has won television’s major awards. Two of his Frontline programs, ''The Wall Street Fix'' and ''Can You Afford to Retire?'' won Emmys and two others, ''Critical Condition'' and ''Tax Me If You Can'' were nominated. Twice he has won or shared the Columbia-Dupont Gold Baton, or grand prize, for the year’s best public affairs program on U.S. television – for ''Inside Gorbachev’s USSR'' in 1990, and for ''Inside the Terror Network'' in 2002<ref>{{Cite web|title=Producer Hedrick Smith {{!}} About Us {{!}} FRONTLINE {{!}} PBS|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/us/smith.html#:~:text=The%20Wall%20Street%20Fix%20won,Paris%20and%20the%20American%20South.|access-date=2021-02-11|website=www.pbs.org}}</ref>. Along with the [[George Polk Awards|George Polk]], [[George Peabody Award|George Peabody]] and [[Sidney Hillman Foundation award|Sidney Hillman]] awards for reportorial excellence, his programs have won two national public service awards from journalism’s [[Sigma Delta Chi]].
Another highly successful book of his was ''The Russians'', based on his years as ''The New York Times''{{'}} Moscow Bureau Chief from 1971–74, which smashed the charts as a No. 1 American best-seller. It has since been translated into 16 languages and has been widely used in university and college courses. That book was followed by yet another national best-seller, ''The Power Game: How Washington Works'', an influential political masterpiece considered a bible for newly elected members of Congress and their staffs, which also became bedside reading for President Clinton.

For PBS since 1989, Smith has created 26 prime-time specials and mini-series on such hotly debated and much discussed topics as terrorism, Wall Street, Soviet perestroika, Wal-Mart, Enron, tax evasion, educational reform, health care and Washington's power game. Two of his ''Frontline'' programs, ''The Wall Street Fix'' and ''Can You Afford to Retire?'' won Emmys, while two others, ''Critical Condition'' and ''Tax Me If You Can'', were nominated.

On two occasions, Smith either won or shared the Columbia-Dupont Gold Baton, or grand prize, for best public affairs program on U.S. television for Inside Gorbachev's USSR in 1990, and for Inside the Terror Network in 2002, an investigation of the Al Qaeda pilots who carried out the 9/11 attack and how the U.S. failed to stop them. In addition to the George Polk, George Peabody and Sidney Hillman awards for reporting excellence, his programs have won two national public service awards.


==Awards and honors==
==Awards and honors==
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* Frontline: Poisoned Waters
* Frontline: Poisoned Waters


==Books authored==
==Bibliography==
* ''The Russians'' (1976) {{ISBN|978-0-8129-0521-2}}
* ''[https://www.amazon.com/Russians-Hedrick-Smith/dp/0812905210/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2KJEYO47PMSXZ&dchild=1&keywords=hedrick+smith+the+russians&qid=1613064698&sprefix=hedrick+smith+%2Caps%2C208&sr=8-2 The Russians]'' (1976) {{ISBN|978-0-8129-0521-2}}
*''[https://www.amazon.com/Pentagon-Papers-Secret-History-Vietnam/dp/1631582925/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2YNEVXLG5CID6&dchild=1&keywords=the+pentagon+papers+book&qid=1613064785&sprefix=the+pentagon+papers+%2Caps%2C212&sr=8-1 The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam War]'' (co-authored with [[Neil Sheehan]], 1971) [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] [[Special:BookSources/0-552-64917-1|0-552-64917-1]]
* ''The Power Game'' (1987)
* ''[https://www.amazon.com/Power-Game-How-Washington-Works-ebook/dp/B009QJMU1S/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3B1BP3X4VZOUH&dchild=1&keywords=the+power+game+how+washington+works&qid=1613064820&sprefix=the+power+game%2Caps%2C212&sr=8-1 The Power Game: How Washington Works]'' (1987)
* ''The New Russians'' (1990)
* ''[https://www.amazon.com/New-Russians-Hedrick-Smith/dp/0394581903/ref=sr_1_1?crid=NCM8IWKJJS3G&dchild=1&keywords=the+new+russians&qid=1613064839&sprefix=the+new+russians%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-1 The New Russians]'' (1990)
* ''The Media and the Gulf War'' (1992)
* ''[https://www.amazon.com/Media-Gulf-Press-Democracy-Wartime/dp/0932020992/ref=sr_1_1?crid=4BROZC1UTAN2&dchild=1&keywords=the+media+and+the+gulf+war+the+press+and+democracy+in+wartime&qid=1613064897&sprefix=the+media+and+the+gulf+war%2Caps%2C292&sr=8-1 The Media and the Gulf War]'' (1992)
* ''Rethinking America'' (1995)
* ''[https://www.amazon.com/Rethinking-America-Game-American-Innovators/dp/0679435514/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=rethinking+america+hedrick+smith&qid=1613064928&sr=8-1 Rethinking America]'' (1995)
* ''The Power Game'' (1996)
* ''[[Who Stole the American Dream?]]'' (2012)
* ''[[Who Stole the American Dream?]]'' (2012)



Revision as of 17:36, 11 February 2021

Hedrick Smith
File:Hedrick Smith B&W.jpg
BornJuly 9, 1933
Kilmacolm, Scotland
NationalityAmerican
EducationWilliams College, Oxford University
Years active1959 - present
Employer(s)The New York Times (1962-1988); Hedrick Smith Productions (1989-2012)
Notable workThe Russians, The Power Game: How Washington Works, The Pentagon Papers (co-authored), The New Russians, Rethinking America, Who Stole the American Dream?
AwardsPulitzer Prize for International Reporting (1974); Pulitzer Prize for Public Service (1971); 2x Emmy award winner, (The Wall Street Fix; Can You Afford to Retire?); DuPont-Columbia Grand Prize (1991)
HonoursNieman Fellow at Harvard (1969-1970); Fulbright Scholar at Oxford University (1955-56)
Websitewww.ReclaimTheAmericanDream.org

Hedrick Smith (born July 9, 1933) a Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times reporter and Emmy award-winning producer/correspondent[1], has established himself over the past 50 years as one of America’s premier journalists[2].  After serving 26 years with The New York Times from 1962-88 as correspondent, editor and bureau chief in both Moscow and Washington, Smith moved into television in 1989, reporting and producing more than 50 hours of long form documentaries for PBS over the next 25 years on topics from the inside story of the terrorists who mounted the 9/11 attacks and Gorbachev’s perestroika to Wall Street, Walmart and The Democracy Rebellion of grassroots citizen reform movements. He has authored five best-selling books including The Russians, The Power Game: How Washington Works, and Who Stole the American Dream, and co-authored several other books, including The Pentagon Papers[3] and Reagan: The Man, the President[4]. Smith is currently Executive Editor of the website ReclaimTheAmericanDream.org and the YouTube channel The People vs. The Politicians.

Early life and education

Smith was born in Kilmacolm, Scotland. He was educated at The Choate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut and at Williams College, where he earned a B.A. in American history and literature. After completing his studies at Williams, Smith did graduate work in PPE (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics) as a Fulbright Scholar at Oxford University. In 1969, he won a Nieman Fellowship to study at Harvard University, concentrating in Russian studies.

Newspaper career

Smith’s career in print journalism began in the 1950s, with summer jobs as a cub reporter for The Greenville (S.C.) News. After college and serving three years in the U.S. Air Force, Smith joined United Press International in 1959, serving in bureaus in Memphis, Nashville and Atlanta, 1959-62. In the early 1960s, Smith began his long tenure with The New York Times covering Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis and the civil rights struggle including hot spots such as Birmingham, the desegregation of Ole Miss, and the March on Washington. As a foreign correspondent, Smith reported on the Vietnam War in Saigon (1963-64), on the Middle East region based in Cairo (1964-1966), and on the Cold War from both Washington (1967-70) and Moscow (1971-1974).

In 1971, as chief diplomatic correspondent, he was a member of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team that produced the Pentagon Papers series. In 1974, he won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting from Russia and Eastern Europe. In 1975-76, Smith became deputy national editor of the Times and then moved on to serve as Washington Bureau Chief (1976-79) and Chief Washington Correspondent (1979-1988). During his Washington tours he covered five American presidents and their administrations.

Television productions

For PBS since 1989, Hedrick Smith has created 26 prime-time specials and mini-series on such varied topics as terrorism, Wall Street, Soviet perestroika, Wal-Mart, Enron, tax evasion, educational reform, health care, the environment, jazz greats Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck, and Washington’s power game.

Smith’s documentary work has won television’s major awards. Two of his Frontline programs, The Wall Street Fix and Can You Afford to Retire? won Emmys and two others, Critical Condition and Tax Me If You Can were nominated. Twice he has won or shared the Columbia-Dupont Gold Baton, or grand prize, for the year’s best public affairs program on U.S. television – for Inside Gorbachev’s USSR in 1990, and for Inside the Terror Network in 2002[5]. Along with the George Polk, George Peabody and Sidney Hillman awards for reportorial excellence, his programs have won two national public service awards from journalism’s Sigma Delta Chi.

Awards and honors

In 1971, he was a member of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for its work on the Pentagon Papers.[6] He won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1974 for stories from Russia and Eastern Europe.

Smith has also won many television awards. His Frontline shows, The Wall Street Fix and Can You Afford to Retire? won Emmys and two other awards and his Frontline shows, Critical Condition and Tax Me If You Can were nominated. He has won or shared the Columbia-Dupont Gold Baton for the year's best public affairs program on U.S. television twice. He has also won the George Polk, George Peabody and Hillman awards for his excellence in reporting along with two national public service awards.[6]

Organizations

Smith has been a Nieman Fellow.

List of PBS productions

  • Frontline: After Gorbachev's USSR
  • Frontline: Bigger than Enron
  • Frontline: Can You Afford to Retire
  • Frontline: Dr. Solomon's Dilemma
  • Frontline: Guns, Tanks, and Gorbachev
  • Frontline: Inside the Terror Network
  • Frontline: Is Walmart Good for America?
  • Frontline: Tax Me If You Can
  • Frontline: The Wall Street Fix
  • Frontline: Poisoned Waters

Bibliography

  • The Russians (1976) ISBN 978-0-8129-0521-2
  • The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam War (co-authored with Neil Sheehan, 1971) ISBN 0-552-64917-1
  • The Power Game: How Washington Works (1987)
  • The New Russians (1990)
  • The Media and the Gulf War (1992)
  • Rethinking America (1995)
  • Who Stole the American Dream? (2012)

References

  1. ^ "Producer Hedrick Smith | About Us | FRONTLINE | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  2. ^ "Hedrick Smith". Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  3. ^ The Pentagon Papers. 2017-12-12. ISBN 978-1-63158-292-9.
  4. ^ "9780026119504: Reagan the Man the President - AbeBooks - Smith, Hendrick: 0026119501". www.abebooks.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  5. ^ "Producer Hedrick Smith | About Us | FRONTLINE | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  6. ^ a b "Hedrick Smith About Hedrick Smith". Hedrick Smith. Retrieved 26 April 2013.

External links