Molly Ball is an American political journalist and writer. She is the senior political correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.[1] She is the author of a 2020 biography of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Molly Ball | |
|---|---|
 Ball in 2017 | |
| Education | Yale University |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse | David Kihara |
| Awards | |
Early life and education
editBall was raised in Colorado and Idaho.[2] She graduated from Cherry Creek High School in the Denver suburb of Greenwood Village in 1997. She attended Yale University, where she wrote for the Yale Herald[3] and graduated in 2001.[4][5] She had a summer internship at the Washington Post[3], then moved to Cambodia and spent one year and three months reporting for the The Cambodia Daily.[6]
Career
editShe has since been a reporter for Politico, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and the Las Vegas Sun. She covered U.S. politics for The Atlantic, where she won the 2012 Toner Prize for Excellence in Public Reporting for her coverage of the 2012 United States elections, including the 2012 United States presidential election and the 2012 gay marriage referendums.[7] In 2017, Ball joined Time as the National Political Correspondent,[8] then the The Wall Street Journal in 2023.
Recognition
editIn 2019, Ball received the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency for her coverage of the Trump administration.[9] Other awards she has received include the Lee Walczak Award for Political Analysis, the Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism, the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award, and the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting.[2] Ball received the 2020 Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress from the National Press Foundation for her reporting on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which judges called "authoritative," "compelling" and "nuanced."[10] She was honored as Outstanding Journalist in Print in the 2020 Washington Women in Journalism awards.[11]
Criticisms and Controversies
editBall has also faced criticism regarding her reporting. In 2015, James Taranto of The Wall Street Journal criticized Ball's treatment of a Trump supporter in an article Ball wrote for The Atlantic titled, "The Ecstasy of Donald Trump,"[12] pointing out that she described the supporter with "a leathery complexion and yellow teeth," which Taranto argued was an instance of media bias and disrespect towards ordinary citizens .[13][14] In 2021, Molly Ball's Time magazine article, "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election," described efforts by political groups, business leaders, and activists to influence the 2020 election. While Ball characterized this as protecting election integrity, critics questioned her journalistic ethics and objectivity, sparking significant debate. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]
In January 2024, as a result of a defamation and invasion of privacy lawsuit, The Atlantic issued numerous removals, corrections and clarifications to an article Ball wrote in December 2017 titled "When the Presses Stop."[22][23][24]As part of the legal settlement, Ball agreed to erase and destroy all copies of photographs taken of the subjects in their private quarters without their consent.[24]
Personal Life
editBall is of Jewish heritage.[25] She lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband, David Kihara, and their three children.[26][27]
In 2007, she won $100,000 on the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.[4]
References
edit- ^ @mollyesque (September 25, 2023). "Some news about me: I have a new job!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b "Molly Ball". Pulitzer Center. Archived from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- ^ a b "Washingtonpost.com: Journalism Internships for College Students". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ^ a b "Molly Ball (profile of)". Washington Week. PBS. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
- ^ "For Yale Women, boundless ambition, local action". YaleNews. July 11, 2013.
- ^ Ball, Molly (September 27, 2023). "An announcement And a reflection on my career in journalism". mollyball.substack.com.
- ^ Loughlin, Wendy S. (March 28, 2013). "The Atlantic's Molly Ball is the winner of the Newhouse School's 2012 Toner Prize". Newhouse School. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- ^ Time Staff (October 10, 2017). "Molly Ball Joins TIME as National Political Correspondent". Time. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ "Reporting Prizes: Reporting on the Presidency 2019". Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation. June 4, 2019. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
- ^ "Molly Ball Wins Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress". National Press Foundation. December 1, 2020. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
- ^ "Meet the Winners of the 2020 Washington Women in Journalism Awards". Washingtonian. September 22, 2020. Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
- ^ Ball, Molly (2015-11-26). "The Ecstasy of Donald Trump". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ^ Ball, Molly (2015-12-02). ""Yellow Teeth" and Descriptive Journalism". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ^ Taranto, James. "Bully for Whom". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=requires|archive-url=(help) - ^ Wulfsohn, Joseph (2021-02-05). "Time report touts 'cabal of powerful people' behind 'conspiracy,' 'shadow campaign' to shape election". Fox News. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ^ "Irresponsible Hype from Molly Ball and Time Magazine". National Review. 2021-02-10. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ^ Ball, Molly (2021-02-04). "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election". TIME. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ^ PEYTON, arlie] (2022-12-03). "Why Time Magazine's Shadow Campaign Story Is Frightening". Medium. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ^ www.votervoice.net https://www.votervoice.net/iframes/EAGLE/newsletters/39056. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "A Saintly Conspiracy to Save Democracy? -Capital Research Center". capitalresearch.org. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ^ "The Groups and Persons Mentioned in Time's "Shadow Campaign" Article -Capital Research Center". capitalresearch.org. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ^ Ball, Molly (2017-12-08). "When the Presses Stop". The Atlantic. ISSN 2151-9463. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ^ Wemple, Erik (2024-03-01). "Opinion | Settlement in Japanese court ends embarrassing episode for the Atlantic". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ^ a b "Legacy battle | FCCJ". www.fccj.or.jp. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ^ "Twitter verified account". Jun 1, 2016.
...almost--almost!--makes me want to get high with my own neurotic Jewish mom
- ^ "Twitter verified account". Jun 26, 2015.
- ^ Friess, Steve (July 1, 2013). "The neon story machine: Former Vegas journos strike it big in D.C." KNPR.
Ball, a staff writer for The Atlantic who lived in Las Vegas from 2004 to 2009 and whose husband, former R-J cops reporter David Kihara, is managing editor for the website of WJLA, the ABC affiliate in D.C