John A. Jenkins

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John A. Jenkins (born 1950-12-16) is an American journalist, author, President and Publisher of CQ Press[1] in Washington, D.C..

Prior to joining CQ in 1998, Jenkins served as a subsidiary president of high-tech magazine publisher Ziff Davis, Inc.,[2] a subsidiary president of France Telecom, and, for 23 years, as an executive and member of the board of directors of The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (BNA),[3] the Washington, D.C. information and publishing company.

Jenkins began his career in 1971 as a reporter for BNA covering the Justice Department and courts. He demonstrated an investigative streak from the start, breaking stories about corporate scandals that led to investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Watergate Special Prosecutor. In the summer of 1974, he scooped the world by revealing the Justice Department’s intention to break apart the giant AT&T telephone monopoly. His story ran four months before the lawsuit was filed.

As a journalist and author, Jenkins’s work appeared in major magazines in the U.S. and abroad, including The New York Times Magazine,[4] [5] [6] where he was a regular contributor from 1983 through 1987; GQ (American and British editions); The Washington Monthly; and The American Lawyer. He is a four-time recipient of the American Bar Association’s Gavel Award Certificate of Merit, the highest award in legal journalism, for his coverage of law and the courts. His historic article in The New York Times Magazine, “A Candid Talk with Justice Blackmun,” won the ABA award.

Jenkins’s 1983 cover story about Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, based on numerous interviews spanning many months, was his first assignment for The Times Magazine. Blackmun’s blunt assessments of his colleagues and the court were unprecedented for a sitting justice, and they garnered headlines nationwide. Two years later, Justice William Rehnquist sat for similar interviews. Jenkins’s cover story in The Times Magazine, entitled “The Partisan,” revealed new information about Rehnquist’s conservative past and brought unwelcome attention to the justice, who vowed never again to cooperate in such an endeavor. Eleven years later, Rehnquist wrote to Jack Rosenthal, the editor of The Times Magazine: “You are correct that I did give an interview to John Jenkins for the article which appeared in your magazine in 1985; it may have been in part the impression that article made on me that led me to decide not to grant any such interviews in the future."

Jenkins wrote only occasionally for magazines after the 1980s, and mostly then for his friend Michael VerMeulen, who was editor of the British edition of GQ. Jenkins preferred to concentrate on book writing and publishing. Jenkins is also the author of two popular books about lawyers, The Litigators: Inside the Powerful World of America's High-Stakes Trial Lawyers (Doubleday, 1989),[7] and Ladies’ Man: The Life and Trials of Marvin Mitchelson (St. Martin’s, 1992).[8]

Jenkins is a member of the Authors Guild, PEN American Center, and the executive council of the Association of American Publishers’ Professional and Scholarly Division, and is active in civic, professional and charitable affairs as a board member. He is the founder of the Broadway Bound Fund [9], which provides acting classes to youngsters through Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City. He served on the Federal Advisory Committee of the Commerce Department’s National Technical Information Service,[10] the board of directors of the Friends of the Law Library of Congress,[11] and the board of directors of the Information Industry Association.[12]

A Washington, D.C. native and 1972 graduate of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland,[13] he lives with his wife and children in New York City and Washington, where he remains active in city affairs following nine years of service as an elected advisory neighborhood commissioner.

[edit] References

  1. ^ CQ Press: An Independent Publisher Advancing Democracy by Informing Citizens. Bookstore
  2. ^ Ziff Davis Media - Ziff Davis Publishing - Corporate Information
  3. ^ BNA - Essential Information. Expert Analysis
  4. ^ THE HUNT BROTHERS; Battling a Billion-Dollar Debt - New York Times
  5. ^ MR. POWER - Free Preview - The New York Times
  6. ^ THE PARTISAN - Free Preview - The New York Times
  7. ^ Amazon.com: The Litigators: Inside the Powerful World of America's High-Stakes Trial Lawyers: John A. Jenkins: Books
  8. ^ Amazon.com: Ladies' Man The Life and Trials of Marvin Mitchelson (Hollywood divorce lawyer): John A. Jenkins, B/W Photos: Books
  9. ^ Home
  10. ^ NTIS Homepage
  11. ^ Law Library of Congress (Library of Congress)
  12. ^ Software & Information Industry Association
  13. ^ Philip Merrill College of Journalism | University of Maryland

[edit] External links

Articles by Jenkins in the New York Times Magazine:

  • The Hunt Brothers: Battling a Billion-Dollar Debt [1]
  • Mr. Power [2]
  • The Partisan [3]

Books by Jenkins:

  • The Litigators: Inside the Powerful World of America's High-Stakes Trial Lawyers (Doubleday) [4]
  • Ladies’ Man: The Life and Trials of Marvin Mitchelson (St. Martin’s) [5].