Nigel Jaquiss | |
|---|---|
 Nigel Jaquiss in 2013 | |
| Born | 1962 (age 63–64) |
| Education | Dartmouth College, 1984B.A. Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, 1997Master's degree |
| Occupations | Journalist, winner ofPulitzer Prize 2005 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
Nigel Jaquiss (born 1962) is an Americanjournalist who won the2005 Pulitzer Prizefor investigative reporting, for his work exposing formerOregon GovernorNeil Goldschmidt's sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl while he wasmayor ofPortland, Oregon.[1] His story was published inWillamette Week in May 2004. He left Willamette Week in 2025 and became a reporter for Oregon Journalism Project, a new non-profit newspaper.[2]
Jaquiss graduated fromDartmouth College in 1984;[1] he spent eleven years as aWall Street andSingapore-basedcrude oil trader, working forCargill,Morgan Stanley andGoldman Sachs. He sought a career change, eventually enrolling atColumbia University Graduate School of Journalism where he got his master's degree in 1997.[3]
He began his journalism career in Portland in January 1998, working forWillamette Week. One of his first major stories was an exposé oftoxic mold and unsafe levels ofradon at Whitaker Middle School inNortheast Portland,[3] which led to the school shutting down and the building being demolished.[4]
Jaquiss almost lost his prize-winning scoop about Neil Goldschmidt when he and his editor (Mark Zusman) decided to give Goldschmidt a full week to respond to the allegationsWillamette Week was planning to make. Goldschmidt, who had previously told Zusman to "go get 'em" after a lunch in the middle of the paper's investigation, took his story toThe Oregonian instead. Zusman told the newspaper industry magazineEditor & Publisher that he and Jaquiss decided to post the story online immediately, so as not to risk being beat by the daily. Jaquiss' Pulitzer represented only the thirdalternative weekly paper to have been awarded the prize.[1][5]
Jaquiss was credited with having "brought down" another Oregon governor,John Kitzhaber, in 2015. Following a series of damaging articles, many of them written by Jaquiss for theWillamette Week in late 2014 and early 2015, Kitzhaber and his fianceeCylvia Hayes became the subject of a criminal investigation probing possible conflicts of interest and misuse of state resources. Kitzhaber resigned in February 2015.[6][7]
In 2006, Jaquiss reported on allegations made by the Industrial Customers of the Northwest Utilities about improper tampering with thebond rating of thePortland General Electric (PGE) corporation during the UE180rate case in which PGE was attempting to raise its rates by roughly 9%, equivalent to roughly $200 million in annual cash flow. According to the allegations that Jaquiss reported to the media, PGE finance officials attempted to improperly doctor the bond rating produced by Standard and Poor's and thereby increase the clout for the need to implement a rate hike.
In 2009, Jaquiss broke the initial news ofPortland mayorSam Adams' affair with an intern who may have been underage at the onset of their affair.
Jaquiss came to national attention in April 2014 during an interview with Republican candidates forOregon's 2014 U.S. Senate election. One of the candidates,Mark Callahan, noticed that he was writing "blah blah blah" in his notes while another candidate was speaking, which Callahan called "disrespectful". Soon after, in response to Callahan replying to a question onclimate change by stating that it is a myth, Jaquiss asked, "Where are you on theEaster Bunny?"[8]
Jaquiss married Margaret Remsen in 1989;[9] the couple have three children together as of his 2005 Pulitzer Prize win.[10]
