Kevin Merida
Kevin Merida is an American journalist and author. He is ESPN Senior VP and editor-in-chief at the ESPN sports blog The Undefeated.[1]
Personal life and education
Kevin Merida was born in Wichita, Kansas. He was raised in the Washington, D.C. area.[2] He attended Crossland High School.[3] He graduated from Boston University.[4] After graduating, he attended the University of California, Berkeley's "Summer Program for Minority Journalists."[3] Merida is married to Donna Britt. In 2012, The Huffington Post named the couple one of the "Black Voices Power Couples" of the year.[5]
Career
Merida has worked as a writer and editor at the Dallas Morning News and the Milwaukee Journal.[2] At those newspapers, he wrote about crime and society.[3] He started working at The Washington Post in 1993.[3] At The Washington Post, Merida covered primarily US politics, including news related to the White House and the United States Congress.[2][6] He also authored a series on African American men in the United States, called "Being a Black Man," which was featured in the newspaper.[6] In 2008, Merida became Assistant Managing Editor at The Washington Post for the paper's United States national news department.[6] He was named managing editor, "responsible for news and features coverage as well as the Universal News Desk," on February 4, 2013.[2]
Merida's journalistic and research focus generally involves biographies about "difficult subjects," as described by the Houston Institute for Race & Justice. He has covered biographical subjects like Strom Thurmond, Bob Dole, George W. Bush, and Newt Gingrich.[4]
Merida co-authored 'Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas, about Clarence Thomas, with Michael A. Fletcher.[7]
Awards
- 1990, Pulitzer Prize finalist[4]
- 2000, Journalist of the Year, National Association of Black Journalists[5]
- 2006, Vernon Jarrett Award for Journalistic Excellence[4]
Bibliography
- Merida, Kevin. Being a Black Man: At the Corner of Progress and Peril. New York: Public Affairs (2007). ISBN 1586485229
- Merida, Kevin and Deborah Willis. Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs. New York: Amistad (2008). ISBN 0061733091
- Merida, Kevin and Michael Fletcher. Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas. New York: Broadway (2008). ISBN 0767916360
References
- Nwulu, Mac (October 19, 2015). "Kevin Merida Named Editor-in-Chief for "The Undefeated"– ESPN Site on Sports, Race and Culture". ESPN MediaZone. ESPN. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- Beaujon, Andrew. "Kevin Merida named managing editor of The Washington Post". Poynter MediaWire. Poynter Institute. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
- Weil, Martin (16 December 2008). "Merida Takes The Helm of The Post's National Staff". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2012.(subscription required)
- "Kevin Merida". Contemporary Authors. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2012.(subscription required)
- Williams, Brennan (17 November 2012). "Couple Of The Year Countdown: Donna Britt and Kevin Merida". Black Voices. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- Calderone, Michael. "WaPo's Merida named AME / National". Washington Post. Politico. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- Patterson, Orlando (17 June 2007). "Thomas Agonistes". Sunday Book Review. The New York Times. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
External links
- Kevin Merida on Twitter
- Appearances on C-SPAN