Matt Apuzzo (born October 20,[1] 1978) is an American journalist working for The New York Times.[2]

Matt Apuzzo
Apuzzo at the 2018 Pulitzer Prizes
Born (1978-10-20) October 20, 1978 (age 46)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materColby College
OccupationJournalist

Early life

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Apuzzo was born in Cumberland, Maine and attended Colby College, where he edited the school newspaper, the Colby Echo.[3]

Career

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He wrote for the Waterville Morning Sentinel while in college. He then worked for The Standard-Times in New Bedford, Massachusetts before moving to the Associated Press. He reported on New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct and revealed its collaboration with the CIA to conduct surveillance in Muslim communities. He won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting with Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley.[4] In 2013, Apuzzo co-wrote a book with Adam Goldman called Enemies Within.[5]

Since 2013, he has worked for The New York Times[6] and teaches journalism at Georgetown University.[7] At the Times, Apuzzo covered the militarization of police departments and broke several stories about the Justice Department's civil rights investigations in Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere.[8][9] In April 2015, Apuzzo and his colleague Michael S. Schmidt revealed the video footage of a white police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, shooting an unarmed black man running away from him.[10]

In July 2015, a story by Apuzzo and Michael S. Schmidt about the Hillary Clinton email controversy drew criticism from Mrs. Clinton's campaign and her supporters, including from the Times public editor Margaret Sullivan. The Washington Post media columnist Erik Wemple in April 2017 cleared Apuzzo and Schmidt of wrongdoing in connection with the story, saying if anything the Times had understated the severity of how seriously the government was investigating Mrs. Clinton.[11]

Apuzzo and two other Times reporters authored a series of stories in 2016 about how American torture policies in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, had led to long lasting mental health issues for those detainees tortured by Americans. The stories were one of the first accounts of the mental health toll created by American torture policies.[12]

In June 2018, the Times announced Apuzzo had been appointed Investigative Correspondent in Brussels and would be moving from the Washington bureau to join the International Desk from August 2018.[13] In April 2022, the Times announced that Apuzzo would become its first International Investigations Editor.[2]

Subpoena over leak investigations

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Apuzzo's phone records have been subpoenaed twice, under both the Obama and Trump administrations.[14] In 2013, it was revealed that the Justice Department secretly subpoenaed Apuzzo's phone records as part of a leak investigation into who provided the Associated Press information about a bomb plot foiled by the CIA.[15] It was later revealed that the Justice Department had conducted leak investigations into his stories twice before. He has been highly critical of government secrecy and the media's willingness to accept it.[16][17]

Awards

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Apuzzo has won or shared in three Pulitzer Prizes: The 2012 award for investigative reporting; the 2018 award for national reporting for coverage of Russian election interference and its connections to the Trump campaign's ties to Russia; and the 2021 prize for public service as part of the Times coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.[18][19]

References

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  1. ^ Lippman, Daniel. "BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: NYT reporter Matt Apuzzo". POLITICO. Retrieved 2023-01-22.
  2. ^ a b "Our First International Investigations Editor". The New York Times Company. 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  3. ^ "Apuzzo Wins Pulitzer". Colby College. 18 April 2012.
  4. ^ Byers, Dylan (December 19, 2013). "AP's Matt Apuzzo to New York Times". Politico.
  5. ^ Riedel, Bruce (September 10, 2013). ""Enemies Within: Inside the NYPD's Secret Spying Unit and bin-Laden's Final Plot Against America," by Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman". Lawfare Blog. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  6. ^ Calderone, Michael (December 19, 2013). "AP's Matt Apuzzo Joins The New York Times". Huffington Post.
  7. ^ "Matt Apuzzo". Georgetown University.
  8. ^ "Our First International Investigations Editor". The New York Times Company. 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  9. ^ Stolberg, Richard A. Oppel Jr , Sheryl Gay; Apuzzo, Matt (2016-08-09). "Justice Department to Release Blistering Report of Racial Bias by Baltimore Police". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-04-30.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Schmidt, Michael S.; Apuzzo, Matt (2015-04-07). "South Carolina Officer Is Charged With Murder of Walter Scott". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
  11. ^ Wemple, Erik; Wemple, Erik (2017-04-24). "New York Times sheds new light on its own controversial Clinton coverage". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
  12. ^ "'Civilized' nation can't justify torture". miamiherald. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
  13. ^ "Matt Apuzzo Joins the International Desk as Investigative Correspondent in Brussels". The New York Times Company. 2018-06-18. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  14. ^ Savage, Charlie; Benner, Katie (2021-06-03). "Trump Administration Secretly Seized Phone Records of Times Reporters". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  15. ^ Calderone, Michael (May 13, 2013). "AP Phone Records Seized By Justice Department As War On Leaks Continues". Huffington Post.
  16. ^ Calderone, Michael (September 3, 2013). "AP's Matt Apuzzo And Adam Goldman Crack Open Secretive Institutions, From NYPD To CIA". Huffington Post.
  17. ^ Wheeler, Marcy (June 12, 2008). "Matt Apuzzo Pushes Back". emptywheel.net.
  18. ^ "Our First International Investigations Editor". The New York Times Company. 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  19. ^ "Staffs of The New York Times and The Washington Post". .pulitzer.org. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
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