Peter Zuckerman
Encyclopedia
Peter Zuckerman is an American
prize-winning journalist and author who has focused his career in court reporting, investigative journalism
and adventure stories.
in Los Angeles County, California
, and graduated from Reed College
in Portland with a degree in biology
in 2003. While a student at Reed, Zuckerman served on the editorial board of the Reed College Quest, a student-run newspaper. In March 2002 he wrote an opinion piece in The Oregonian ("The drug Olympics") condemning competitive use of drugs like GHB
at the school. He was the target of numerous threats within the Reed College community, and was criticized and praised in letters to the Oregonian.
Zuckerman interned for the Portland weekly Just Out
while at Reed, delivering the paper and fact-checking telephone numbers. He also interned for the Portland bureau of the Associated Press
. and The Springfield News. He went on to work as a journalist in Eastern Idaho.
Post Register
about the coverup of a multi-state child molestation case involving at least two dozen minors and the Boy Scouts of America
in Idaho. He was accused of having a bias against the Boy Scouts of America and the LDS Church because of their stance on homosexuallity.
For work on the series, Zuckerman received the 2006 Livingston Award
and the 2007 C.B. Blethen Award
, and the Post-Register won the Scripps Foundation's 2005 National Journalism Awards
for distinguished service to the First Amendment
.
After the story was published, Zuckerman became the target of personal attacks on the basis of his homosexual orientation.
Zuckerman was profiled in a September 25, 2007, documentary, "In A Small Town," broadcast in the PBS
series, Exposé: America's Investigative Reports
. The documentary was a nominated for an Emmy Award
. A profile about Zuckerman in Harvard University
's Nieman Foundation for Journalism
report about courage in journalism won the 2007 Mirror Award for best coverage of breaking news.
After moving back to Oregon, Zuckerman continued to target the Boy Scouts of America and the LDS church in his reporting in 2007 while working for The Oregonian
. As part of his work, Zuckerman obtained internal Boy Scout documents showing that as of December 31, 2004, two-thirds of the traditional troops in the organization's western region were chartered by the LDS church and nationwide roughly a third are part of the LDS church. In this article, Men Sue Scouts, Mormon Church, six men allege a former troop leader and church teacher abused them and seek $25 million in compensation as the LDS church failed to thoroughly investigate, report the abuse to law enforcement, provide mental health services to victims or remove the abuser from contact with children once it learned about the abuse.
Zuckerman later changed his reporting to focus on stories that had more of an environmental bent. For example, he wrote about the Forest Service
loosening its environmental standards so a gas corporation can clear cut through old growth in the Mount Hood National Forest
to make way for an LNG pipeline.
to work on a "dream book project" after his partner, Sam Adams, was elected mayor of Portland
While researching the book, Zuckerman nearly died while traveling through remote regions of Nepal and ingesting a "half plant, half animal" caterpillar fungus.
His forthcoming book, "Buried in the Sky", co-written with Amanda Padoan, tells the true story of the 2008 K2 disaster
from the perspective of Sherpas and Pakistani high-altitude porters. The book is being published in the United States and Canada by W.W. Norton & Company, in Italy by Mondadori, and in Sweden by Forma.
and the C.B. Blethen Award
Zuckerman has visited and taught at Poynter Institute
, University of Georgia
and the University of Southern California
. He is currently an adjunct fellow at the Attic Institute writing workshop and a resident at the Falcon Art Community.
.
Peter Zuckerman's partner is Sam Adams, the mayor of Portland. The Oregonian and Zuckerman took steps to ensure he had no influence over the coverage of his partner.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
prize-winning journalist and author who has focused his career in court reporting, investigative journalism
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
and adventure stories.
Early career
Zuckerman attended Chadwick SchoolChadwick School
Chadwick School is a nonsectarian independent K-12 day school located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, California.-History:...
in Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
, and graduated from Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
in Portland with a degree in biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
in 2003. While a student at Reed, Zuckerman served on the editorial board of the Reed College Quest, a student-run newspaper. In March 2002 he wrote an opinion piece in The Oregonian ("The drug Olympics") condemning competitive use of drugs like GHB
Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid
γ-Hydroxybutyric acid , also known as 4-hydroxybutanoic acid and sodium oxybate when used for medicinal purposes, is a naturally occurring substance found in the central nervous system, wine, beef, small citrus fruits, and almost all animals in small amounts. It is also categorized as an illegal...
at the school. He was the target of numerous threats within the Reed College community, and was criticized and praised in letters to the Oregonian.
Zuckerman interned for the Portland weekly Just Out
Just Out
Just Out is a bi-monthly LGBTQ newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1983 by Jay Brown and Renee LaChance. Former contributors to Just Out include novelist Marc Acito, Pink Martini pianist Thomas Lauderdale, and prize-winning reporter Peter Zuckerman.The newspaper's web...
while at Reed, delivering the paper and fact-checking telephone numbers. He also interned for the Portland bureau of the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
. and The Springfield News. He went on to work as a journalist in Eastern Idaho.
Newspaper career
In 2006, Zuckerman was the lead writer of a controversial multi-part story, Scouts' Honor, in the Idaho FallsIdaho Falls, Idaho
Idaho Falls is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, United States, and the largest city in Eastern Idaho. As of the 2010 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 56,813, with a metro population of 130,374....
Post Register
The Post Register
The Post Register is a U.S. daily newspaper serving the Idaho Falls, Idaho, area, as well as Jackson, Wyoming, and West Yellowstone, Montana. It is owned by the Jerry Brady family and their employees.- History :...
about the coverup of a multi-state child molestation case involving at least two dozen minors and the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
in Idaho. He was accused of having a bias against the Boy Scouts of America and the LDS Church because of their stance on homosexuallity.
For work on the series, Zuckerman received the 2006 Livingston Award
Livingston Award
The Livingston Awards are American journalism awards issued to media professionals under the age of 35 for local, national, and international reporting...
and the 2007 C.B. Blethen Award
C.B. Blethen Award
The C.B. Blethen Award honors the best journalist in the northwest United States. C. B. Blethen was publisher of The Seattle Times from 1915 until his death in 1941....
, and the Post-Register won the Scripps Foundation's 2005 National Journalism Awards
National Journalism Awards
The National Journalism Awards are awards of US$10,000 to $25,000 in American journalism given by the Scripps Howard Foundation that recognize the best work in journalism in 17 categories, including: human interest writing; environmental and public service reporting; investigative reporting;...
for distinguished service to the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
.
After the story was published, Zuckerman became the target of personal attacks on the basis of his homosexual orientation.
Zuckerman was profiled in a September 25, 2007, documentary, "In A Small Town," broadcast in the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
series, Exposé: America's Investigative Reports
EXPOSÉ: America's Investigative Reports
Exposé: America's Investigative Reports is a half-hour PBS documentary series that details some of the most revealing investigative journalism in America. Tentatively titled Airtime during development, Thirteen/WNET and the Center for Investigative Reporting launched AIR: America's Investigative...
. The documentary was a nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
. A profile about Zuckerman in Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's Nieman Foundation for Journalism
Nieman Foundation for Journalism
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University is the primary journalism institution at Harvard. It was founded in 1938 as the result of a $1 million bequest by Agnes Wahl Nieman, the widow of Lucius W. Nieman, founder of The Milwaukee Journal...
report about courage in journalism won the 2007 Mirror Award for best coverage of breaking news.
After moving back to Oregon, Zuckerman continued to target the Boy Scouts of America and the LDS church in his reporting in 2007 while working for The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
. As part of his work, Zuckerman obtained internal Boy Scout documents showing that as of December 31, 2004, two-thirds of the traditional troops in the organization's western region were chartered by the LDS church and nationwide roughly a third are part of the LDS church. In this article, Men Sue Scouts, Mormon Church, six men allege a former troop leader and church teacher abused them and seek $25 million in compensation as the LDS church failed to thoroughly investigate, report the abuse to law enforcement, provide mental health services to victims or remove the abuser from contact with children once it learned about the abuse.
Zuckerman later changed his reporting to focus on stories that had more of an environmental bent. For example, he wrote about the Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
loosening its environmental standards so a gas corporation can clear cut through old growth in the Mount Hood National Forest
Mount Hood National Forest
The Mount Hood National Forest is located east of the city of Portland, Oregon, and the northern Willamette River valley. The Forest extends south from the Columbia River Gorge across more than of forested mountains, lakes and streams to the Olallie Scenic Area, a high lake basin under the slopes...
to make way for an LNG pipeline.
Book career
In January 2009, Zuckerman took a leave from The OregonianThe Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
to work on a "dream book project" after his partner, Sam Adams, was elected mayor of Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
While researching the book, Zuckerman nearly died while traveling through remote regions of Nepal and ingesting a "half plant, half animal" caterpillar fungus.
His forthcoming book, "Buried in the Sky", co-written with Amanda Padoan, tells the true story of the 2008 K2 disaster
2008 K2 disaster
The 2008 K2 disaster occurred on August 1, 2008, when eleven mountaineers from international expeditions died on K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth. Three others were seriously injured. It was the worst single accident in the history of K2 mountaineering.-Expedition goal: K2:K2 is the...
from the perspective of Sherpas and Pakistani high-altitude porters. The book is being published in the United States and Canada by W.W. Norton & Company, in Italy by Mondadori, and in Sweden by Forma.
Teaching
Zuckerman has received numerous journalism awards, including the Livingston AwardLivingston Award
The Livingston Awards are American journalism awards issued to media professionals under the age of 35 for local, national, and international reporting...
and the C.B. Blethen Award
C.B. Blethen Award
The C.B. Blethen Award honors the best journalist in the northwest United States. C. B. Blethen was publisher of The Seattle Times from 1915 until his death in 1941....
Zuckerman has visited and taught at Poynter Institute
Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute is a non-profit school for journalism located in St. Petersburg, Florida. The school's mission statement says that "The Poynter Institute is a school dedicated to teaching and inspiring journalists and media leaders. It promotes excellence and integrity in the practice of...
, University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
and the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. He is currently an adjunct fellow at the Attic Institute writing workshop and a resident at the Falcon Art Community.
Personal life
Peter Zuckerman is the cousin of author Amanda Padoan and son of Bruce Zuckerman, director of Archaeological Research at the University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
.
Peter Zuckerman's partner is Sam Adams, the mayor of Portland. The Oregonian and Zuckerman took steps to ensure he had no influence over the coverage of his partner.