Who's behind the news?
Who's behind the news?
New York City, New York, USA
NPR (Media Correspondent, since 2004)
Cornell University (BA, History)
Irik Sevin Visiting Fellow, Cornell
Arthur Rowse Award ×5
Bart Richards Award 2017
David Folkenflik (born September 15, 1969) is an American journalist and author who has served as NPR's media correspondent since 2004, based in New York City. His reporting covers the media industry, journalism ethics, press freedom, and the relationship between news organizations, politicians, and the public — making him one of the most prominent media critics in American public broadcasting. His work appears primarily on NPR's flagship programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered and on NPR's web and mobile platforms.
Folkenflik graduated from Cornell University with a BA in history, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Cornell Daily Sun. He began his professional career at the Durham Herald-Sun in North Carolina and subsequently spent more than a decade at the Baltimore Sun, where he covered higher education, national politics, and media before joining NPR in 2004. At NPR, he has broken repeated news about the troubled management of major regional newspapers including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune under the Tronc holding company; reported on misinformation, social media platform governance, and news industry economics throughout successive administrations; and has remained a central voice analyzing the ownership and operational decisions shaping American journalism.
He is married to podcaster Jesse Baker; his parents are literary scholars Vivian Folkenflik and Robert Folkenflik.
Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism
National Press Club · Five-time winner — the leading national award for media criticism
Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism
Penn State, 2017 · Named the nation's leading media critic
Mongerson Award for Investigative Reporting on the News
2002 · Inaugural award
SPJ Ethics in Journalism Award · National Headliners Club Top Honors
Society of Professional Journalists, 2018
Murdoch's World: The Last of the Old Media Empires (PublicAffairs, 2013) — an examination of Rupert Murdoch's global media empire at the height of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.
Page One: Inside the New York Times and the Future of Journalism (PublicAffairs, 2011) — edited volume examining the state of The New York Times and journalism's digital transformation.