Jack Shafer

Early life and education

Jack Shafer was born on November 14, 1951, and grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, describing himself as "the son of lapsed Catholics". As a newspaper boy in his youth, he delivered hardcopies of the Kalamazoo Gazette for five years. He chose not to do an undergraduate journalism degree, graduating instead from Western Michigan University with a B.A. in communications. In his first five years after graduation, Shafer lived in California, "then hitched through Asia, New Zealand and Australia".

Career

Shafer has been writing and editing as an American journalist since the 1980s, and writing as a columnist since the early 2000s. After his postgraduate travels, he returned to the United States and freelanced until being hired as a managing editor by the libertarian magazine Inquiry; he would remain with it until it ceased publication in 1984. Early, Shafer would also do editing for SF Weekly.

Washington City Paper's Russ Smith hired Shafer as an editor in 1985—described by Mark Lisheron of the American Journalism Review as "his [Shafer's] real break"—a position he'd hold until he joined Slate magazine online, after departing City Paper in 1995. About Smith's hiring, Shafer said, "I will always be grateful, although I reserve the right to be peculiar about how I express that gratitude".

At Slate, he wrote about the media and other topics; his 15 years of writing and editing there included penning its "Press Box" column, which he began in 2000.

Significant series

Posner plagiarism reporting

Responding to and confirming a reader tip, Shafer reported that Gerald Posner, *The Daily Beast'''s chief investigative reporter, had plagiarized—presented "identical or nearly identical"—sentences (five in number) from a single story published by The Miami Herald.

However, three days later, Shafer published further cases perceived as plagiarism—content from a Miami Herald blog, a Miami Herald editorial, Texas Lawyer and a health care journalism blog—from Posner's work, leading to Posner's departure from The Daily Beast. Posner offered an explanation of ways in which the plagiarism might have occurred, and explanation which has received critical review.

Perspectives

Much of Shafer's writing focuses on what he sees as a lack of precision and rigor in reporting by the mainstream media, which he says "thinks its duty is to keep you cowering in fright." He has frequently written about media coverage of the war on drugs.

On journalistic awards

Shafer "famously had zero use for [journalistic] awards", which "he groused, were a parade of self-congratulatory 'industry peacockery'", and so did not seek them out (the irony of which has been noted, given articles of his, e.g., "So You Won a Pulitzer: Who Cares?").

On his libertarianism

Shafer wrote early in his career—through the early 1980s—for Inquiry, a libertarian magazine, and has written about "his own libertarian politics"; he has asserted in interview, however, that "they are driven in their criticism by a deep suspicion of authority more than any particular ideology". In particular, he appreciates approaches to criticism that are "clear-eyed", an attribute he ascribes to two "unapologetic leftists" that he admires, A.J. Liebling and Alexander Cockburn (having written a "paean" to Liebling, whom he is said to idolise).

In 2000, following the U.S. national elections, he presented his views as follows:I agree with the Libertarian Party platform: much smaller government, much lower taxes, an end to income redistribution, repeal of the drug laws, fewer gun laws, a dismantled welfare state, an end to corporate subsidies, First Amendment absolutism, a scaled-back warfare state. (You get the idea.)" Later he wrote, "Traditionally, the state censors and marginalizes voices while private businesses tend to remain tolerant."

On April 20, 2020, Shafer expressed opposition to the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, saying, "You wouldn't put a dead man on a ventilator, would you?".

Rebuttals

Judith Miller, writing in her 2015 autobiography, harshly addresses Shafer's criticism of what he termed was her "wretched" reporting on Iraq in The New York Times—in at least six of his pieces in Slate—referring to his writing as "assaults" or "personal attacks", to his own reporting as "erroneou[s]", and arguing that he "never once sought a response from me", suggesting that his motivation was to achieve "buzz and internet clicks".

Personal life

Shafer is married to Nicole Arthur, who has worked as a features editor in the Style section of The Washington Post; they have two daughters. Mark Lisheron's article in the AJR describes him as "follow[ing] baseball, but... repelled by the $9 cup of beer at the park", and as one who has "force[d] himself outdoors... add[ing] birding to hiking, which has taken him from Newfoundland to the Galapagos Islands".

Citations

References

1. Lisheron, Mark. (2012). "A Fearless Media Critic". University of Maryland, Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
2. Tani, Max. (March 2025}}{{citation needed). "Top Reporters Leave Politico". [[Semafor (website).
3. Graham, David A.. (April 19, 2010). "Gerald Posner: 4 Popular Excuses for Plagiarism". [[Newsweek.com]].
4. Shafer, Jack. (2010-02-05). "Plagiarism at the Daily Beast: Gerald Posner Concedes Lifting from the Miami Herald.".
5. Shafer, Jack. (2010-02-08). "More Posner Plagiarism". Slate.
6. Shafer, Jack. (2010-02-11). "The Posner Plagiarism Perplex: What to Make of Gerald Posner's Blog Statement".
7. Graham, writing in ''Newsweek'', op. cit., states that Posner resigned. Shafer, writing in ''Slate'', "The Posner Plagiarism Perplex", op. cit., quotes Edward Felsenthal, ''The Daily Beast'' Executive Editor, stating that "an in-house review of Posner’s work has turned up 'additional examples of copied and unattributed material'", further stating that Posner was dismissed.
8. Shafer, Jack. (December 14, 2010). "Stupid Drug Story of the Week". [[Slate.com]].
9. Oremus, Will. (September 30, 2016). ""I Regard All of My Columns as Failures and Hate Them Equally": Jack Shafer Did as Much as Anyone to Forge Slate's Sensibility.". [[Slate.com]].
10. Shafer, Jack. (November 7, 2000). "How Slatesters Voted". [[Slate.com]].
11. Shafer, Jack. (December 21, 2010). "Whose Internet Is It, Anyway?". [[Slate.com]].
12. Shafer, Jack. (April 20, 2020). "Don't Waste Stimulus Money on Newspapers". [[Slate.com]].
13. Miller, Judith. (2015). "The Story: A Reporter's Journey". Simon and Schuster.