Megan Twohey

Megan Twohey is an American journalist with The New York Times. She has written investigative reports for Reuters, the Chicago Tribune, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.[1] Twohey's investigated reports have exposed exploitive doctors, revealed untested rape kits, and uncovered a secret underground network of abandoned unwanted adopted children.[2] Her investigative reports have led to criminal convictions and helped prompt new laws aimed at protecting vulnerable people and children.[3]

Megan Twohey
Twohey at the 2018 Pulitzer Prizes
Born
Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materGeorgetown University
OccupationJournalist
Awards2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service (named contributor)

In 2017, Twohey and fellow New York Times' journalist Jodi Kantor published a report about Harvey Weinstein detailing decades of sexual abuse allegations, and more than 80 women publicly accused Weinstein of sexually abuse or assault.[4] This led to Weinstein's firing and helped to ignite the viral #MeToo movement started by the American activist Tarana Burke.[4][5] That work was honored in 2018, when The New York Times was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.[6] Kantor and Twohey won the George Polk award and were named to Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people of the year. Twohey and Kantor's subsequent book, She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement about the Weinstein investigation, was ranked as one 2019's best books by the New York Public Library, NPR, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Time. The New York Times described the book as, "one of our most anticipated titles of September".[7] In addition to winning the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, Twohey was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting in 2014.[1][8]

Biography

Twohey is from Evanston, Illinois.[1] She went to Evanston Township High School, and graduated from Georgetown University in 1998.[9] Twohey's parents were both involved in news media; her mother Mary Jane Twohey produced news for television and her father John Twohey was an editor for the Chicago Tribune. Twohey initially joined The New York Times in 2016 to investigate Donald Trump's tax history, possible business ties to Russia, and his past treatment of women.[10] Twohey is currently a regular contributor for The New York Times.[1]

Investigative reports

Untested rape kits

In 2009, Twohey reported in the Chicago Tribune that several suburban police departments around Chicago were not submitting all rape kits for testing.[11] 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.[12][13]

Predatory doctors

From 2010 to 2011, Twohey published a series of articles in the Chicago Tribune detailing cases of doctors who had been convicted of violent felonies or sex crimes and were still practicing and abusing patients.[14] Her reporting has been credited for leading to new legislation and policies in Illinois aimed at protecting patients, for example requiring background checks for healthcare providers.[15][16]

Abandoned children

In 2013, Twohey published an investigative report in Reuters News that detailed how some people in America were using the internet to find places to abandon their adopted children.[17] Several segments of this story were broadcast on the Nightly News and the Today Show on NBC.[3] She received a Sydney Award and the Michael Kelly Award for her work revealing these underground networks.[3][18] Twohey was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for this work.[8]

Donald Trump

In 2016, Twohey and Michael Barbaro published several investigative pieces to The New York Times about sexual misconduct by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.[19][10] She has continued to report on the incidents into 2017.[20] Trump has threatened to sue The New York Times if they don't take down the articles,[21] though The Times refused.[22]

Weinstein sexual abuse
Book signing at Evanston Township High School

In 2017, Twohey and Jodi Kantor co-wrote a The New York Times exposé on sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein. Twohey said they were encouraged to investigate untold stories, and that Dean Baquet, executive editor, and Rebecca Corbett, head of investigative projects, had supported them even though Weinstein had threatened to sue The New York Times and the exposé risked hurting advertising money.[23] Twohey and Kantor had two in-person meetings with Weinstein. Twohey, Kantor, and Corbett also had multiple conversations with Weinstein's lawyers and publicists.[24] A follow-up piece with fellow reporter Ellen Gabler added more allegations and expanded the Weinstein timeline.[25] 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.[26] 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.[27] They received a Sydney Award for their exposé. They were also given L.A. Press Club's Inaugural Impact Award and the McGill Medal for Journalistic Courage from the Grady College of Journalism.[28][29] The New York Times won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for public service for Twohey's and Jodi Kantor's reporting, sharing the award with Ronan Farrow at The New Yorker,[30][31] as well as the 2018 Gerald Loeb Award for Investigative business journalism.[32]

She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement by Twohey and Kantor was published by Penguin Press in September 2019.[33]

Personal life

Her father John Twohey is a veteran journalist who joined the Chicago Tribune in 1977 after serving for five years as design director of the Washington Post. At the Tribune he held various newsroom management positions including associate managing editor for features, sports editor, Sunday magazine editor, and editor of the Op-Ed page. He also worked as a vice president of the Tribune Company's content-licensing agency. Earlier in his career, Twohey served as press secretary for Sargent Shriver’s 1972 Democratic vice presidential run and for Sen. Fred Harris (D-Okla.);[34] Megan's mother Mary Jane Twohey worked as a Congressional aide and as a news producer at WETA-TV in Washington, DC before serving for many years as a spokesperson and media-relations manager for Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Twohey's husband Jim Rutman is a literary agent.

References
  1. "Megan Twohey". The New York Times. 2018-01-12. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  2. GmbH, finanzen.net. "CJF to present Special Citation to New York Times reporters who broke Harvey Weinstein story". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  3. "Megan Twohey | The Michael Kelly Award". www.kellyaward.com. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  4. "NYT reporters on breaking Harvey Weinstein story, #MeToo "reckoning"". NBC News. December 19, 2017. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  5. Kantor, Jodi; Twohey, Megan (2017-10-05). "Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  6. LaForme, Ren (April 16, 2018). "Here are the winners of the 2018 Pulitzer Prizes". Poynter. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  7. Faludi, Susan (September 8, 2019). "'She Said' Recounts How Two Times Reporters Broke the Harvey Weinstein Story". New York Times. Book Review. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  8. "Finalist: Megan Twohey of Reuters". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  9. "Alumni US | Georgetown University, Washington D.C. Metro Area". alumnius.net. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  10. Twohey, Megan; Barbaro, Michael (2016-10-12). "Two Women Say Donald Trump Touched Them Inappropriately". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  11. Twohey, Megan. "Dozens of rape kits not submitted for testing by Chicago suburban police departments". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  12. reporter, Megan Twohey, Tribune. "Illinois to test every rape kit". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  13. "Illinois | ENDTHEBACKLOG". www.endthebacklog.org. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  14. Tribune, Chicago. "Doctors operate unchecked". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  15. reporter, Megan Twohey, Tribune. "Legislation puts medical licenses of sex offenders in cross hairs". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  16. "Sex offenders barred from health care". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  17. "Reuters Investigates - The Child Exchange". Reuters. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  18. "Megan Twohey Wins October Sidney for Exposing America's Underground Market for Adopted Children". Hillman Foundation. 2013-10-09. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  19. Barbaro, Michael; Twohey, Megan (2016-05-14). "Crossing the Line: How Donald Trump Behaved With Women in Private". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  20. Twohey, Megan (2017-11-01). "Trump's Female Accusers Feel Forgotten. A Lawsuit May Change That". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  21. "The New York Times's Lawyer Responds to Donald Trump". The New York Times. 2016-10-13. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  22. Rappeport, Alan (2016-10-13). "Donald Trump Threatens to Sue The Times Over Article on Unwanted Advances". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  23. Symonds, Alexandria (2017-10-15). "How to Break a Sexual Harassment Story". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  24. "How These Two Women Finally Exposed Harvey Weinstein". Marie Claire. 2017-10-23. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  25. Astor, Maggie (2017-12-07). "2 Times Reporters Will Write Book on Sexual Abuse Scandals". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  26. Lang, Brent (2017-12-13). "How New York Times Reporters Broke Hollywood's Biggest Sexual Harassment Story". Variety. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  27. Cills, Hazel. "Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, Who Broke the Weinstein Story, Will Publish Book Internationally". Jezebel. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  28. "Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey win November Sidney for exposing Weinstein harassment & Hollywood complicity". Hillman Foundation. 2017-11-08. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  29. "New York Times reporters receive 2018 McGill Medal for Journalistic Courage - Grady College". Grady College. 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  30. pulitzer.org
  31. The New York Times, for reporting led by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, and The New Yorker, for reporting by Ronan Farrow
  32. "UCLA Anderson School of Management Announces 2018 Gerald Loeb Award Winners". PR Newswire. June 25, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  33. Kantor, Jodi; Twohey, Megan (2019-09-10). She Said: Breaking the sexual harassment story that helped ignite a movement. [S.l.]: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0525560340. OCLC 1090752916.
  34. Tribune Media Services Exec John Twohey to Step Down
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