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Mark Zusman in 2007

Mark Zusman (born 1954) is the editor and publisher of Willamette Week, an alternative newspaper and media company based in Portland, Oregon. He has been the paper's editor since 1983,[1] and became its publisher in 2015, when Richard Meeker stepped down from that position.[2]

Willamette Week is part of the City of Roses Newspaper Company, which also owns the Santa Fe Reporter in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Indy Week in The Triangle area of North Carolina.[3]

Career[edit]

Zusman and business partner Richard Meeker created City of Roses in 1982.[4] In 2005, Willamette Week became the first and only weekly newspaper to win the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting[5] and the first to win a Pulitzer for a story that was first published on the web. In 1986, Zusman was awarded the Gerald Loeb Award for Business Journalism for stories he wrote about Nike,[6] and in 1987 he won the Bruce Baer Award for journalism in Oregon for his coverage of Portland homeless advocate Michael Stoops.[7] In 2013, Zusman was inducted into the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication Hall of Achievement.[8] During a 2016 roundtable discussion of local and national politics on an edition of Oregon Public Broadcasting's "Think Out Loud", he strongly criticized The Oregonian for not endorsing a candidate in the presidential race.[9]

Zusman has been the president of the board of the Independent Media Institute based in San Francisco. He was elected to the board of the Washington D.C.-based Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (now the Association of Alternative Newsmedia) in 2005[10] and later served as its president.[11] He serves as a judge for the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism.[12]

A 1970s graduate of the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication (SJOC), where he earned a Master's in Journalism, Zusman has served as a guest lecturer at SJOC.[13] He has lectured at the Academy of Alternative Journalism at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.[13] He is also a former fellow of the East–West Center.

MusicfestNW & TechfestNW[edit]

Zusman and Meeker are the founders of MusicfestNW, a two-decades-old music festival that takes place in clubs throughout Portland and on the waterfront each summer.[14]

He is also a founder of TechfestNW, an annual technology conference in Portland, Oregon which launched in 2011.[15][16][17] As a frequent moderator, he brings a journalistic lens to main stage interviews with leaders in the tech space. Recent interviews have included technology journalist Kara Swisher, co-founder of Recode;[18] and David Plouffe, Obama campaign manager and former Uber exec.[19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Nicholas, Jonathan (January 9, 1984). "Free, and fresh, weekly". The Oregonian, p. B1.
  2. ^ Walker, Mason (June 12, 2015). "Willamette Week publisher steps down". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  3. ^ Sorg, Lisa (August 22, 2012). "Steve Schewel announces sale of Independent Weekly". The Independent Weekly. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  4. ^ Connelly, Joel (April 3, 2005). "Oregon still reeling from Goldschmidt sex scandal". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  5. ^ "Tri City Herald - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved February 22, 2010. [dead link]
  6. ^ "Auletta Wins Loeb Award". The New York Times. May 9, 1986. Retrieved July 13, 2015. Other Loeb Award winners were: Mark L. Zusman of The Willamette (Ore.) Week, first place in the category of newspapers with circulations of less than 350,000 for The Man Who Saved Nike...
  7. ^ "Bruce Baer Award: Past Winners". University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. Archived from the original on May 16, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  8. ^ "Murmurs: Cashing In Our Egg McMuffin Vouchers". Willamette Week. November 6, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  9. ^ "Endorsements | Think Out Loud | WNYC". WNYC. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  10. ^ "Two New Members Elected to AAN Board". Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. June 19, 2005. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  11. ^ Zaragoza, Jason (July 26, 2011). "AAN Members Approve Name Change, Elect Zankowski As President". Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  12. ^ "About the Payne Awards". University of Oregon. February 2012. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  13. ^ a b "Mark Zusman | 2013 Hall of Achievement Inductee". University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  14. ^ Tucker, Reed (July 13, 2009). "50 Authentic American Experiences in 2009: Oregon". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on July 17, 2009. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
  15. ^ Rogoway, Mike (July 29, 2014). "TechFestNW refines its vision with big-name speakers, job fair and venture capitalists". The Oregonian. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  16. ^ Spencer, Malia (July 10, 2015). "TechFestNW lands at Portland's Revolution Hall - Portland Business Journal". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  17. ^ Spencer, Malia (April 7, 2015). "TechFestNW takes on the 'sharing economy'". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  18. ^ "Kara Swisher - Co-Founder, Recode | TechfestNW". TechfestNW. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  19. ^ wweek.vimeo (May 2, 2015), Techfest NW: Mark Zusman, David Plouffe, Mayor Charlie Hales Panel Discussion, retrieved May 17, 2018

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