Bill Keller
Bill Keller (born January 18, 1949) is an American journalist. He was the founding editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project, a nonprofit that reports on criminal justice in the United States.[2] Previously, he was a columnist for The New York Times, and served as the paper's executive editor from July 2003 until September 2011. On June 2, 2011, he announced that he would step down from the position to become a full-time writer. Jill Abramson replaced him as executive editor.[3]
For other uses, see Bill Keller (disambiguation).
Bill Keller
January 18, 1949
Journalist
Keller worked in the Times Moscow bureau from 1986 to 1991, eventually as bureau chief, spanning the final years of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. For his reporting during 1988 he won a Pulitzer Prize.[4]
Early life[edit]
Keller is the son of former chairman and chief executive of the Chevron Corporation, George M. Keller.[1] He attended the Roman Catholic schools St. Matthews and Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo, California, and graduated in 1970 from Pomona College,[5] where he began his journalistic career as a reporter for a campus newspaper called The Collegian.[6] From July 1970 to March 1979, he was a reporter in Portland with The Oregonian, followed by stints with the Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report and the Dallas Times Herald. He is married to Emma Gilbey Keller and has three children.[7]
Nelson Mandela[edit]
Keller wrote a 128-page juvenile biography of Nelson Mandela published by Kingfisher Books in 2008, Tree Shaker: The Story of Nelson Mandela.[19] He had served as the Times bureau chief in Johannesburg from April 1992 to May 1995[7]—spanning the end of apartheid in South Africa and election of Mandela's African National Congress as the governing party in 1994.
Keller's wife since 1999, Emma Gilbey, wrote a full biography of Winnie Mandela published in 1993, The Lady: The Life and Times of Winnie Mandela (Jonathan Cape).[1]
Lisa Bonchek Adams column[edit]
In January 2014, two articles by Keller and his wife about cancer blogger Lisa Bonchek Adams generated substantial controversy about the nature of social media, digital journalism and terminal illness. The incident came to be known in social media as KellerGate.[20]
On January 8, 2014, Keller's wife Emma had written an article about Lisa Adams in The Guardian about whether people with terminal illness should be so public on social media. She wrote, "Should there be boundaries in this kind of experience? Is there such a thing as TMI? Are her tweets a grim equivalent of deathbed selfies? Why am I so obsessed?" The article was subsequently retracted by the editor, in part due to complaints by Adams and her family that the article "completely misrepresented the nature of her illness and her reasons for tweeting, was riddled with inaccuracies, and quoted from a private direct message to Keller through Twitter published without permission."[21]
A week later, Bill Keller published his own article about Lisa Adams called "Heroic Measures," this time questioning whether Lisa's efforts to prolong her life were worth the effort and cost, and suggesting those who "accept their inevitable fate with grace and courage" should be worthy of equal praise.[22]
The article ignited a backlash in many media channels. Articles appeared in The Nation ("Bill Keller Bullies Cancer Patient"),[23] and The New Yorker[24] among dozens of others.
The Times' public editor, Margaret Sullivan, responded to the criticism in a public column.[25] The response included Keller's responses defending the column. Sullivan wrote that it is not her practice to comment on whether she agrees with columnists, but did cite "issues here of tone and sensitivity." She also pointed out factual inaccuracies which were subsequently corrected.
The Marshall Project[edit]
The Marshall Project is a nonprofit nonpartisan online journalism organization covering criminal justice in the United States. The project was originally conceived by former hedge fund manager, filmmaker and journalist Neil Barsky, who announced it in his byline in an unrelated New York Times article in November 2013.[26][27] In February 2014, The New York Times reported that Keller was going to work for the Marshall Project.[27][28] The Marshall Project formally launched in November 2014.[29] Keller was editor in chief of the Marshall Project from 2014 until his retirement in 2019.[30] [31]