Megan Twohey | |
|---|---|
 Twohey at the 2018 Pulitzer Prizes | |
| Born | |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Awards | 2018Pulitzer Prize for Public Service (named contributor) |
Megan Twohey (/ˈtuːi/TOO-ee)[1] is an American journalist. She is aninvestigative reporter atThe New York Times and previously reported forReuters, theChicago Tribune, and theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel.[2] Twohey's reports have exposed exploitative doctors, revealed untestedrape kits, and uncovered a secret underground network of abandoned unwanted adopted children.[3] Her stories have led to criminal convictions and helped prompt new laws aimed at protecting vulnerable people and children.[4]
On October 5, 2017, Twohey and fellowTimes journalistJodi Kantor published a report aboutHarvey Weinstein detailingdecades of sexual abuse allegations, and more than 80 women publicly accused Weinstein of sexually abusing or assaulting them.[5] The story led to Weinstein's firing and helped to ignite the viral#MeToo movement started by the American activistTarana Burke.[5][6] That work was honored in 2018, whenThe New York Times was awarded the2018Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.[7] Kantor and Twohey won theGeorge Polk award and were named toTime magazine's list of 100 most influential people of the year. Twohey and Kantor subsequently authored a 2019 book,She Said, which chronicled their report about Weinstein and was adapted into afilm of the same name in 2022. In addition to winning the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, Twohey was a finalist for thePulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting in 2014.[2][8]
Twohey was born inWashington, D.C. and raised inEvanston,Illinois.[2] Twohey's parents were both involved in news media; her mother Mary Jane Twohey was a television news producer and her father John Twohey was an editor for theChicago Tribune.
She went toEvanston Township High School, then attendedGeorgetown University, graduating in 1998 with a Bachelor's degree inAmerican studies.[9][10] While in college, she interned at theABC News productionNightline.[10]
After graduating from Georgetown, Twohey wrote forWashington Monthly and theNational Journal before spending a year in Moscow as a reporter forThe Moscow Times. In 2002, she became a general assignment reporter for theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel, then began writing investigations at theChicago Tribune.[10] She reported for Reuters before joiningThe New York Times in 2016, first focusing onDonald Trump's tax history, possible business ties to Russia, and his past treatment of women.[11]
In 2009, Twohey reported in theChicago Tribune that several suburban police departments around Chicago were not submitting all rape kits for testing.[12] In the following year, Illinois became the first U.S. state to require every rape kit be tested, and many other states in the U.S. followed soon after.[13][14]
From 2010 to 2011, Twohey published a series of articles in theChicago Tribune detailing cases of doctors who had been convicted of violent felonies or sex crimes and were still practicing and abusing patients.[15] Her reporting has been credited for leading to new legislation and policies inIllinois aimed at protecting patients, for example requiring background checks for healthcare providers.[16][17]
In 2013, Twohey published an investigative report inReuters News that detailed how some people in the United States were using the internet to find places to abandon their adopted children.[18] Several segments of this story were broadcast on theNightly News and theToday Show onNBC.[4] She received aSydney Award and theMichael Kelly Award for her work revealing these underground networks.[4][19] Twohey was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for this work.[8]
In 2016, Twohey andMichael Barbaro published several investigative pieces toThe New York Times about sexual misconduct by then-presidential candidateDonald Trump.[20][11] She continued to report on the incidents into 2017.[21] Trump threatened to sueThe New York Times if they did not take down the articles.[22][23]
On October 5, 2017, Twohey andJodi Kantor co-wrote aNew York Times exposé onsexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein. Twohey said they were encouraged to investigate untold stories, and thatDean Baquet, executive editor, and Rebecca Corbett, head of investigative projects, had supported them even though Weinstein had threatened to sueThe New York Times.[24] Twohey and Kantor had two in-person meetings with Weinstein. Twohey, Kantor, and Corbett also had multiple conversations with Weinstein's lawyers and publicists.[25] A follow-up piece with fellow reporterEllen Gabler added more allegations and expanded the Weinstein timeline.[26] Twohey said it was an emotional experience when she began seeing friends and family using the#MeToo on her social media feed in the aftermath of the Weinstein allegations.[27]Jezebel announced in 2018 Twohey and Kantor were publishing an international book, set to be published in Spring 2019, based on their investigation that would reveal more about what happened.[28] They received aSidney Award for their exposé. They were also given L.A. Press Club's Inaugural Impact Award and the McGill Medal for Journalistic Courage from theGrady College of Journalism.[29][30]The New York Times won the2018Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for Twohey's and Jodi Kantor's reporting, sharing the award withRonan Farrow atThe New Yorker,[31] as well as the 2018Gerald Loeb Award for Investigative business journalism.[32]
Twohey and Kantor authored a book which chronicled their exposé into Weinstein and the structures of power that enabled him, titledShe Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement, which was published by Penguin Books in September 2019.[33] In 2022, the book was adapted into afilm of the same name. The film is directed byMaria Schrader from a screenplay byRebecca Lenkiewicz. Twohey is played byCarey Mulligan.[34]
In December 2021, Twohey and Gabriel Dance published an investigative report inThe New York Times aboutan American web forum dedicated to discussing and encouraging suicide.[35] The report identified the founders of the suicide forum as Lamarcus Small and Diego Joaquín Galante and confirmed the deaths of 45 participants of the forum.[35][36] As part of the report, Twohey and Dance consulted established reporters and suicide and medical experts, to find ways to limit the potential forsuicide contagion.[35] Twohey stated that the overall lack of awareness over the site pushed them to name it in their report, but that the decision was among the "biggest ethical issues that we had ever dealt with",[35] and also stated that the hope of the report was “to bring about more accountability than anything else.”[37] Twohey's report was later cited in a letter from members of theU.S. House of Representatives toAttorney GeneralMerrick Garland asking the attorney general what action could be taken against the site.[36]
In November 2022,The New York Times published a piece co-written by Twohey about the concerns some medical professionals (includingHilary Cass) had about the possible consequences of transgender adolescents taking puberty blockers.[38] Erin Rook ofLGBTQ Nation called the reporting "reckless" and provided the perspectives of three health experts who disputed the analysis, including one who was interviewed for theNew York Times article.[39] In Rook's article, Dr. AJ Eckert (director of the gender-affirming care program for Anchor Health in Connecticut and a teacher atQuinnipiac University'sSchool of Medicine) called theTimes' piece "another hit piece against trans people".[39] Eckert also wrote an article published byScience-Based Medicine, in which he said "the reporting ignored evidence and important context to weave a narrative portraying puberty blockers as far more risky than they actually are".[40]
A statement issued by the executive committee of theWorld Professional Association for Transgender Health and the board of its U.S. affiliate said the reporting "furthers the atmosphere of misinformation and subjectivity that has grown to surround the area of gender affirming medical interventions for transgender youth", and accused the authors of "[coming] up short in their interpretation and application of available data".[41] On social media, lawyer and transgender rights activistChase Strangio of theACLU pointed to the piece as an example of how "rhetoric found in major news outlets fuels anti-trans violence", according to thegeek culture websiteThe Mary Sue.[42] A writer forSlate magazine said theNew York Times piece "does not seem to trust [the] medical consensus view".[43]Fox News said the report "sparked jeers from critics on social media mocking their newfound nuanced coverage of puberty blockers" and was "also blasted by progressives".[44] In anop-ed published byTeen Vogue, thechief medical officer of theLos Angeles LGBT Center said theNew York Times' authors "[failed] to meaningfully investigate the most compelling reason why medical providers consider puberty blockers in trans and gender diverse youth: These medications save lives."[45]
Her father John Twohey is a journalist, who wasChicago Times magazine editorial director in 1989.[46][47][48] He joined theChicago Tribune in 1977, after serving for five years as design director ofThe Washington Post. Earlier in his career, he served as press secretary forSargent Shriver's 1972 Democratic vice presidential run and for SenatorFred R. Harris (D-Okla.).[49] Megan's mother Mary Jane Twohey worked as a Congressional aide and as a news producer atWETA-TV inWashington, D.C. before serving for many years as a spokesperson and media-relations manager forNorthwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Twohey's husband, Jim Rutman, is a literary agent.[50][51][52]
John Twohey, a former editor of the Chicago Tribune Magazine
The Chicago Tribune shuffles its staff to improve arts coverage under Associate M.E. John Twohey.
He has been with SLL since 1998.
Media related toMegan Twohey at Wikimedia Commons
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