Joel Dreyfuss
Joel Dreyfuss | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Need valid birth date: year, month, day Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, editor, author, musician |
| Years active | Over 50 years |
| Known for | Co-founder of the National Association of Black Journalists; editor-in-chief of Red Herring and Information Week; senior editorial roles at The Washington Post, Fortune, Bloomberg Markets |
| Notable work | The Bakke Case: The Politics of Inequality; Simon’s New Song (film) |
Joel Dreyfuss (born September 1945) is a Haitian-American journalist, editor, and author whose extensive career spans more than fifty years across print, broadcast, and digital platforms. He has occupied prominent editorial positions at leading outlets such as The Washington Post, Fortune, Red Herring, and Bloomberg Markets, with reporting assignments in cities including New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Paris.
Career
As a co-founder of the National Association of Black Journalists, Dreyfuss also served on the Pulitzer Prize jury in 1981.
His professional experience includes reporting and senior editorial roles at the Associated Press, The Washington Post, USA Today, and The New York Post. Additionally, he has worked as a news producer for KPIX-TV and contributed to KQED-FM’s Newsroom as well as WNET’s 51st State.
His leadership roles encompass:
- Editor-in-chief: Red Herring and Information Week
- Editor: PC Magazine
- Executive editor: Black Enterprise
- Managing editor: The Root
- Editor-in-chief: Urban Box Office (media startup)
During his tenure at Fortune, he was associate editor and Tokyo bureau chief before returning as senior editor and personal technology columnist. He also held the position of senior writer at Bloomberg Markets.
Dreyfuss co-wrote The Bakke Case: The Politics of Inequality (1979). His work has been featured in collections such as The Butterfly’s Way, edited by Edwidge Danticat. He authored the award-winning animated children’s film Simon’s New Song.
Between 2016 and 2018, he penned columns for The Washington Post’s Global Opinions section. His articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine and Travel sections, as well as Politico, covering topics like international relations, Haiti, French politics, race issues, and media analysis.
His accolades include awards from the Overseas Press Club, induction into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame, and receipt of the Townsend Harris Medal from City College of New York. Since 1983, he has been affiliated with the Council on Foreign Relations.
Personal life
Born in September 1945 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Dreyfuss was raised across Monrovia, Paris, and New York City. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from City College of New York in 1971, where he later was honored with the Townsend Harris Medal and inducted into the Communications Alumni Hall of Fame. He also participated as an Urban Journalism Fellow at the University of Chicago.
His residences have included Chicago, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Tokyo. Presently, he splits his time between New York and Paris while working on a book chronicling his family’s three-century connection to Haiti.
Dreyfuss is married to Veronica Pollard. In addition to his journalism career, he is a musician who has performed bass on multiple albums.
Books
- The Bakke Case: The Politics of Inequality (co-authored with Charles R. Lawrence III), Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979.
Film
- Simon’s New Song, an award-winning animated children’s film (Nguzo Saba Productions).
Anthologies
- Provided essays for The Butterfly’s Way: Voices from the Haitian Diaspora in the United States, edited by Edwidge Danticat (Soho Press, 2001).
Albums
- King Nando Shing-a-ling – performed with King Nando and his Orchestra
- King Nando El Solitario (The Loner)
- Gerald Merceron: Haiti Insolite Kako 1915
Columns & Commentary
- Frequent contributor to The Washington Post Global Opinions between 2016 and 2018, focusing on topics such as race, Haiti, global politics, and media analysis.
References