Journalists Mourn NY Times Writer Blake Hounshell After His Death by Suicide: ‘A Once-in-a-Generation Talent’
The media world has been in shock following news of the death of influential journalist Blake Hounshell.
Hounshell, 44, had a storied career in the field. He served as the managing editor of Foreign Policy, a top editor at Politico, and ultimately moved to The New York Times to write the “On Politics” newsletter. Politico reported he died by suicide after a lengthy battle with depression.
Times Executive Editor Joseph Kahn memorialized Hounshell in a staff memo, saying that he “quickly distinguished himself as our lead politics newsletter writer and a gifted observer of our country’s political scene. He became an indispensable and always insightful voice in the report during a busy election cycle.” Other tributes to Hounshell have been published by Politico and elsewhere.
In a moving piece, former Politico Magazine editor Garrett M. Graff described Hounshell as the consummate editor whose enthusiasm for the work helped put both Foreign Policy and Politico on the map.
“Across his stints at Foreign Policy and POLITICO, he edited hundreds of bylines, from senior policymakers to interns, making every story sharper and every headline snappier,” Graff wrote.
The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta, who worked for Hounshell at Politico, penned a touching Twitter thread about the bond they had as not just colleagues, but also the struggles they shared with their mental health.
“I’m numb,” Alberta wrote. “Not because we’ve lost a great journalist, but because we’ve lost a great person.”
Similar sentiments were delivered by Hounshell’s colleagues and admirers across the media spectrum.
From Politico founding editor John Harris:
And here’s the tribute from Politico Editor-in-Chief Matt Kaminski:
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