Mark Halperin
Encyclopedia
Mark E. Halperin is the senior political analyst for Time
magazine, Time.com, and MSNBC
and serves as a board member on the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College
. He is the co-author (with John Heilemann
) of Game Change
.
and Ina Young. He has two brothers, David and Gary. He was born in Bethesda, Maryland
, or Cambridge, Massachusetts
, and raised in Bethesda, where he attended Walt Whitman High School
. Halperin received his college degree from Harvard University in 1987.
and a researcher for World News Tonight. He then worked in the investigative
unit of World News Tonight and as a general assignment reporter in Washington
. In 1992 he worked full time as an off-air producer covering Bill Clinton
. In 1994 Halperin became a producer
with ABC
's special events unit in New York
and later an editorial producer.
In 1997 he was named the political director for ABC News. As director, Halperin appeared frequently as a correspondent
and political analyst for ABC News television
and radio
programs. He also founded and edited The Note, which appears daily on ABCNews.com. In October 2006, Halperin, along with John F. Harris
, released their book, The Way to Win: Clinton, Bush, Rove, and How to Take the White House in 2008 (ISBN 1400064473).
Since 2006 Halperin has been a board member of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College
in Goffstown, New Hampshire
. He has been on the NHIOP public advisory board since it was created in 2008. In February 2009, Halperin met with students and faculty at the NHIOP and gave a public lecture titled "The Obama Administration—The Story So Far".
In March 2007, Halperin became a political analyst for ABC News and was replaced as political director by David Chalian. In May 2007, he was hired as a political analyst and editor at large for Time magazine. In June 2010, he was hired as senior political analyst at MSNBC. In 2011, Time Magazine released an iPad
app called "Mark Halperin 2012" that contains material from Mr. Halperin's "The Page" as well as video, photos, breaking news, and Halperin's take on the news.
published a memo Halperin sent to ABC News staff about coverage of the U.S. presidential election
directing them not to "reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable" and that both John Kerry
and George W. Bush
used "distortion" in their campaign, but that Kerry’s distortions were not "central to his efforts to win."
Halperin was criticized by conservatives who used the memo to reinforce long-standing complaints of media bias
. ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider confirmed the authenticity of the memo and said Halperin "takes his responsibility to be fair as seriously as a heart attack." In 2006, Halperin would criticize the media for being biased in favor of Kerry after a controversial remark that the senator made.
on the program Morning Joe
, saying the president came off as "kind of a dick" during the previous day's press conference. His suspension was lifted little over a month later.
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine, Time.com, and MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
and serves as a board member on the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College is a nationally ranked, private, Benedictine, Catholic liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Founded in 1889 by Abbot Hilary Pfrängle, O.S.B. of Saint Mary's Abbey in Newark, New Jersey, at the request of Bishop Denis M. Bradley of Manchester, New Hampshire, the...
. He is the co-author (with John Heilemann
John Heilemann
John Arthur Heilemann is an American journalist for New York magazine, where he mainly covers US politics. He previously was a staff writer for The New Yorker, Wired, and The Economist. He is the coauthor of the No...
) of Game Change
Game Change
Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime is a book by political journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin about the 2008 United States presidential election. Released on January 11, 2010, it was also published in the United Kingdom under the title Race of...
.
Personal
Mark Halperin is the son of Morton HalperinMorton Halperin
Morton H. Halperin is an American expert on foreign policy and civil liberties. He served in the Johnson, Nixon, and Clinton administrations and in a number of roles with think tanks and universities such as the Council on Foreign Relations and Harvard University.- Early career :Halperin received...
and Ina Young. He has two brothers, David and Gary. He was born in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
, or Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, and raised in Bethesda, where he attended Walt Whitman High School
Walt Whitman High School
Walt Whitman High School is a public secondary institution serving roughly the western part of Bethesda--an unincorporated suburban area of Washington, DC, in Montgomery County, Maryland. The school is named in honor of the American poet. It is fed into by Thomas W. Pyle Middle School.-History:The...
. Halperin received his college degree from Harvard University in 1987.
Career
In 1988 Halperin started out as a desk assistant for ABC NewsABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
and a researcher for World News Tonight. He then worked in the investigative
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...
unit of World News Tonight and as a general assignment reporter in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. In 1992 he worked full time as an off-air producer covering Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. In 1994 Halperin became a producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
with ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's special events unit in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and later an editorial producer.
In 1997 he was named the political director for ABC News. As director, Halperin appeared frequently as a correspondent
Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...
and political analyst for ABC News television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
programs. He also founded and edited The Note, which appears daily on ABCNews.com. In October 2006, Halperin, along with John F. Harris
John F. Harris
John F. Harris is an American political journalist and the editor in chief for Politico, an Arlington, Virginia based political news organization. With Politico executive editor, Jim VandeHei, Harris founded Politico for its launch on January 23, 2007...
, released their book, The Way to Win: Clinton, Bush, Rove, and How to Take the White House in 2008 (ISBN 1400064473).
Since 2006 Halperin has been a board member of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College is a nationally ranked, private, Benedictine, Catholic liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Founded in 1889 by Abbot Hilary Pfrängle, O.S.B. of Saint Mary's Abbey in Newark, New Jersey, at the request of Bishop Denis M. Bradley of Manchester, New Hampshire, the...
in Goffstown, New Hampshire
Goffstown, New Hampshire
Goffstown is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 17,651 at the 2010 census. The compact center of town, where 3,196 people resided at the 2010 census, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the Goffstown census-designated place and is located at the...
. He has been on the NHIOP public advisory board since it was created in 2008. In February 2009, Halperin met with students and faculty at the NHIOP and gave a public lecture titled "The Obama Administration—The Story So Far".
In March 2007, Halperin became a political analyst for ABC News and was replaced as political director by David Chalian. In May 2007, he was hired as a political analyst and editor at large for Time magazine. In June 2010, he was hired as senior political analyst at MSNBC. In 2011, Time Magazine released an iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
app called "Mark Halperin 2012" that contains material from Mr. Halperin's "The Page" as well as video, photos, breaking news, and Halperin's take on the news.
2004 elections
In October 2004 the Drudge ReportDrudge Report
The Drudge Report is a news aggregation website. Run by Matt Drudge with the help of Joseph Curl and Charles Hurt, the site consists mainly of links to stories from the United States and international mainstream media about politics, entertainment, and current events as well as links to many...
published a memo Halperin sent to ABC News staff about coverage of the U.S. presidential election
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
directing them not to "reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable" and that both John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
used "distortion" in their campaign, but that Kerry’s distortions were not "central to his efforts to win."
Halperin was criticized by conservatives who used the memo to reinforce long-standing complaints of media bias
Media bias
Media bias refers to the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening the standards of journalism, rather than the...
. ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider confirmed the authenticity of the memo and said Halperin "takes his responsibility to be fair as seriously as a heart attack." In 2006, Halperin would criticize the media for being biased in favor of Kerry after a controversial remark that the senator made.
MSNBC suspension
On June 30, 2011, Halperin was suspended from his duties at MSNBC for "slurring" President Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
on the program Morning Joe
Morning Joe
Morning Joe is a weekday morning talk show on MSNBC, with Joe Scarborough discussing the news of the day in a panel format with co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist. It was created as the replacement for Imus in the Morning, which was canceled in April 2007 after simulcasting on MSNBC since 1996...
, saying the president came off as "kind of a dick" during the previous day's press conference. His suspension was lifted little over a month later.