Barry Sussman
Encyclopedia
Barry Sussman is an American editor, author, and public opinion analyst who deals primarily with public policy issues.
He was city news editor at The Washington Post at the time of the Watergate break-in and was detached to direct the coverage that led to the Post’s being awarded the Pulitzer prize for public service in 1973. His book, The Great Coverup: Nixon and the Scandal of Watergate, was named by the New York Times as one of the best books of the year in 1974. Now regarded as a Watergate classic, it is in its fourth edition, available in print and ebook versions. Among other awards, Sussman was named editor of the year by the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild for his work on Watergate, and he has lectured widely on the subject.
While initially a close supervisor of the acclaimed journalists Bob Woodward
and Carl Bernstein
, in later years Sussman became estranged from them.
He is also the author of What Americans Really Think, published by Pantheon in 1988, based on columns he wrote while pollster and public opinion analyst at the Washington Post, and Maverick, A Life in Politics, written with and about the former U.S. Senator and governor of Connecticut, Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., published in 1995 by Little, Brown.
He is currently (since 2003) editor of the Watchdog Project of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism
at Harvard University
, and runs a website, niemanwatchdog.org, which is aimed at improving news reporting on public policy issues.
Sussman started in journalism in 1960 as a reporter at the Bristol (Va.-Tenn.) Herald Courier
, a daily with a circulation of about 25,000. He left after 16 months but soon returned as managing editor before going to the Washington Post in 1965. He was a state-suburban editor, then DC editor, with a staff of 40 to 45 reporters and, after Watergate, he founded the Washington Post poll, designing and conducting opinion surveys and reporting on the results. In 1981 he was in charge for the Post in establishing and directing the Washington Post/ABC News poll, again designing surveys and doing most of the reporting on the findings. Sussman left the Post in 1987 to become managing editor for national news at United Press International
, in charge of 800 reporters and editors across the U.S. and 40 more in UPI’s Washington Bureau. He left UPI after less than one year, however, and set up shop as an independent pollster, continuing to focus on public policy issues. Clients included trade associations, the AFL-CIO
, and other interest groups. In the 1990s he became active as an international news media consultant, with assignments at newspapers in Spain, Portugal and seven Latin American countries. Currently he is a board member of the group Innovation Media Consulting.
In September 2011 Sussman was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from Brooklyn College, his alma mater.
He was city news editor at The Washington Post at the time of the Watergate break-in and was detached to direct the coverage that led to the Post’s being awarded the Pulitzer prize for public service in 1973. His book, The Great Coverup: Nixon and the Scandal of Watergate, was named by the New York Times as one of the best books of the year in 1974. Now regarded as a Watergate classic, it is in its fourth edition, available in print and ebook versions. Among other awards, Sussman was named editor of the year by the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild for his work on Watergate, and he has lectured widely on the subject.
While initially a close supervisor of the acclaimed journalists Bob Woodward
Bob Woodward
Robert Upshur Woodward is an American investigative journalist and non-fiction author. He has worked for The Washington Post since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post....
and Carl Bernstein
Carl Bernstein
Carl Bernstein is an American investigative journalist who, at The Washington Post, teamed up with Bob Woodward; the two did the majority of the most important news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations, the indictment of a vast number of...
, in later years Sussman became estranged from them.
He is also the author of What Americans Really Think, published by Pantheon in 1988, based on columns he wrote while pollster and public opinion analyst at the Washington Post, and Maverick, A Life in Politics, written with and about the former U.S. Senator and governor of Connecticut, Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., published in 1995 by Little, Brown.
He is currently (since 2003) editor of the Watchdog Project of the 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...
at 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...
, and runs a website, niemanwatchdog.org, which is aimed at improving news reporting on public policy issues.
Sussman started in journalism in 1960 as a reporter at the Bristol (Va.-Tenn.) Herald Courier
Bristol Herald Courier
The Bristol Herald Courier is a 39,000 circulation daily newspaper owned by Richmond, Virginia-based Media General, Inc. The newspaper is located in Bristol, Virginia, a small city located in Southwest Virginia on the Tennessee border....
, a daily with a circulation of about 25,000. He left after 16 months but soon returned as managing editor before going to the Washington Post in 1965. He was a state-suburban editor, then DC editor, with a staff of 40 to 45 reporters and, after Watergate, he founded the Washington Post poll, designing and conducting opinion surveys and reporting on the results. In 1981 he was in charge for the Post in establishing and directing the Washington Post/ABC News poll, again designing surveys and doing most of the reporting on the findings. Sussman left the Post in 1987 to become managing editor for national news at United Press International
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
, in charge of 800 reporters and editors across the U.S. and 40 more in UPI’s Washington Bureau. He left UPI after less than one year, however, and set up shop as an independent pollster, continuing to focus on public policy issues. Clients included trade associations, the AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
, and other interest groups. In the 1990s he became active as an international news media consultant, with assignments at newspapers in Spain, Portugal and seven Latin American countries. Currently he is a board member of the group Innovation Media Consulting.
In September 2011 Sussman was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from Brooklyn College, his alma mater.