Sharon Waxman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Circa 1963 (age 61–62) United States |
| Education | Barnard College (BA) St Antony's College, Oxford (MPhil) |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, author,blogger |
| Years active | 1989-present |
Sharon I. Waxman (born c. 1963)[1] is an American author, journalist, and blogger who has been a correspondent forThe Washington Post andThe New York Times, and founded the Hollywood and media business news siteTheWrap in early 2009.[2]
Waxman grew up in aModern Orthodox,Jewish family inCleveland, Ohio.[3][4][5] She graduated fromBarnard College in 1985 with a bachelor of arts inEnglish literature. She then graduated fromSt. Antony's College,Oxford University, in 1987 with a master of philosophy in modernMiddle East studies.[6][7]
Waxman was a foreign correspondent in Europe and the Middle East from 1989 to 1995.[6] During that time, she worked forReuters, as a Jerusalem correspondent, and a number of American newspapers.[7]
In 1995, she moved to Los Angeles to cover Hollywood forThe Washington Post.[6] In 1998, Waxman won the feature writing award for arts and entertainment from theUniversity of Missouri.[8] In 1999, she was nominated for thePulitzer Prize byThe Washington Post for her work covering theSecond Palestinian Intifada.[8] In 2000, she won the Penney Award, the highest prize infeature writing.[7] Between 2001 and 2003, Waxman covered stories in the Middle East forThe Washington Post.[7]
In 2012, Waxman was named the best online columnist at the National Entertainment Journalism Awards (NEJA).[8] The following year, she won the Distinguished Journalist in New Media from theSociety of Professional Journalists.[9] Most recently, Waxman's WaxWord received an NEJA for Best Entertainment Blog in 2024.[10]
In 2021 Sharon Waxman was named Online Journalist of the Year by theLA Press Club's SoCal Journalism Awards,[11] with WaxWord[11][12] named as the best blog that same year. Additionally, “TheWrap-Up”[13] podcast, creator of TheGrill[14] podcast has won several top awards as has the website under her editorial leadership.
In 2005, she published the LA Times best-seller "Rebels on the Backlot: Six Maverick Directors and How They Conquered the Hollywood Studio System."[15][16] The book profiles six directors, includingQuentin Tarantino andDavid O. Russell. In 2008, Waxman published her second book, "Loot: The Battle Over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World,"[17] which explores the global trade in antiquities and the battle by source countries to retrieve antiquities held in Western museums.[18]
Waxman founded the Hollywood and media business news site TheWrap in early 2009.[19] According toCBS Market Watch, Waxman raised $500,000 for TheWrap news, as a news portal site covering entertainment and media, which launched on January 26, 2009.[20] A second round of financing was closed in 2010. By 2013, TheWrap.com had grown into a site with 30 employees. It also convenes an annual conference attended by leaders in entertainment, media, and technology called TheGrill.
TheWrap has won multiple awards for investigative reporting, columns, criticism and feature writing. In 2021 Waxman was honored as the Best Online Journalist at theL.A. Press Club SoCal Journalism Awards, as well for her blog, WaxWord.[11] TheWrap was chosen as the best online news website at the SoCal Journalism Awards in 2018, 2012 and 2009, and best entertainment website at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards in 2018.[21] In 2019, the site won two National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards for the multimedia package “#AfterMeToo: 12 Accusers Share What Happened Next, From Firing to More Trauma.”[22] In 2021, theL.A. Press Club’s SoCal Journalism Awards gave the site top prizes for feature photography as well as for its weekly podcast, “TheWrap-Up.”[11]
She is also the creator of WrapWomen, a power base of influential women in media and entertainment, dedicated to promoting women’s leadership.[23] WrapWomen convenes the largest annual event for women and underrepresented groups in entertainment, The Power Women Summit, which in 2021 drew 1 million streams over 3 days in a virtual format.[24]
In October 2021,The Daily Beast published a story about Waxman titled "Hollywood Media Mogul Is 'Degrading' Boss From Hell, Her Staffers Say."[25] Twenty former employees of The Wrap spoke withThe Daily Beast, detailing how Waxman's "toxic" actions in the workplace caused high turnover in her newsroom.
