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Molly Ball

Molly Ball
Ball in 2017
Education
Occupations
  • Political journalist
  • writer
SpouseDavid Kihara
Awards

Molly Ball is an American political journalist and writer. She is the senior political correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.[1] She is the author of a 2020 biography of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Early life and education

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Ball was raised in Colorado and Idaho.[2] She graduated from Cherry Creek High School in the Denver suburb of Greenwood Village in 1997. She attended Yale University, where she wrote for The Yale Herald.[3] and graduated in 2001.[4][5]

Career

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In 2001, Ball had a summer internship at The Washington Post,[3] then in January 2002 moved to Cambodia and spent one year and three months reporting for The Cambodia Daily.[6] Her stint in Cambodia was cut short due to falling ill and having to return to the United States for medical treatment. Subsequently, she has worked as a reporter for the Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Politico, The Atlantic, Time, and The Wall Street Journal.

Recognition

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In 2019, Ball received the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency for her coverage of the Trump administration.[7] Other awards she has received include the Lee Walczak Award for Political Analysis, the Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism, the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award, and the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting.[2] Ball received the 2020 Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress from the National Press Foundation for her reporting on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which judges called "authoritative," "compelling" and "nuanced."[8] She was recognized as Outstanding Journalist in Print in the 2020 Washington Women in Journalism awards.[9]

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In 2015, James Taranto of The Wall Street Journal criticized Ball's treatment of a Trump supporter in an article Ball wrote for The Atlantic titled, "The Ecstasy of Donald Trump",[10] observing that she described the supporter with "a leathery complexion and yellow teeth", which Taranto argued was an instance of media bias and disrespect towards ordinary citizens.[11][12] In 2021, Ball's Time magazine article, "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election", described efforts by political groups, business leaders, and activists to influence the 2020 election. While Ball characterized this as protecting election integrity, critics questioned her journalistic ethics and objectivity.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

In December 2019, Ball and The Atlantic were sued for defamation and invasion of privacy in the Tokyo District Court, Japan, by the family of Bernard Krisher over a piece by Ball titled "When the Presses Stop" published in January/February 2018 edition of the magazine.[20][21] The case went to trial and settled in January 2024. As part of the legal settlement the magazine made numerous deletions, corrections and clarifications to the article. This included correcting Ball's claim that Krisher, who was her employer at The Cambodia Daily, did nothing to help her with a health insurance issue, which was proven false by emails showing Krisher had indeed attempted to assist her. [21] Additionally, Ball was required to erase and destroy all copies of the photographs she had taken without the subjects' knowledge and consent during her visit to their private quarters.[22]

Personal life

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Ball is of Jewish heritage.[23] She lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband, David Kihara, an editor at Politico, and their three children.[24][25]

In 2007, she won $100,000 on the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.[4]

References

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  1. ^ @mollyesque (September 25, 2023). "Some news about me: I have a new job!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b "Molly Ball". Pulitzer Center. Archived from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Washingtonpost.com: Journalism Internships for College Students". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Molly Ball (profile of)". Washington Week. PBS. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  5. ^ "For Yale Women, boundless ambition, local action". YaleNews. July 11, 2013.
  6. ^ Ball, Molly (September 27, 2023). "An announcement And a reflection on my career in journalism". mollyball.substack.com.
  7. ^ "Reporting Prizes: Reporting on the Presidency 2019". Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation. June 4, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  8. ^ "Molly Ball Wins Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress". National Press Foundation. December 1, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  9. ^ "Meet the Winners of the 2020 Washington Women in Journalism Awards". Washingtonian. September 22, 2020. Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  10. ^ Ball, Molly (November 26, 2015). "The Ecstasy of Donald Trump". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  11. ^ Ball, Molly (December 2, 2015). ""Yellow Teeth" and Descriptive Journalism". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  12. ^ Taranto, James (November 27, 2015). "Bully for Whom". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  13. ^ Wulfsohn, Joseph (February 5, 2021). "Time report touts 'cabal of powerful people' behind 'conspiracy,' 'shadow campaign' to shape election". Fox News. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  14. ^ "Irresponsible Hype from Molly Ball and Time Magazine". National Review. February 10, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  15. ^ Ball, Molly (February 4, 2021). "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election". TIME. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  16. ^ PEYTON, arlie] (December 3, 2022). "Why Time Magazine's Shadow Campaign Story Is Frightening". Medium. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  17. ^ www.votervoice.net https://www.votervoice.net/iframes/EAGLE/newsletters/39056. Retrieved June 21, 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. ^ "A Saintly Conspiracy to Save Democracy? -Capital Research Center". capitalresearch.org. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  19. ^ "The Groups and Persons Mentioned in Time's "Shadow Campaign" Article -Capital Research Center". capitalresearch.org. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  20. ^ Ball, Molly (December 8, 2017). "When the Presses Stop". The Atlantic. ISSN 2151-9463. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  21. ^ a b Wemple, Erik (March 1, 2024). "Opinion | Settlement in Japanese court ends embarrassing episode for the Atlantic". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  22. ^ "Legacy battle | FCCJ". www.fccj.or.jp. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  23. ^ @mollyesque (June 2, 2016). "...almost--almost!--makes me want to get high with my own neurotic Jewish mom" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. ^ @mollyesque (June 26, 2015). "Happening now: Lively debate on my Arlington, VA, neighborhood listserv about whether to rename the Jefferson Davis Highway" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. ^ Friess, Steve (July 1, 2013). "The neon story machine: Former Vegas journos strike it big in D.C." KNPR. Ball, a staff writer for The Atlantic who lived in Las Vegas from 2004 to 2009 and whose husband, former R-J cops reporter David Kihara, is managing editor for the website of WJLA, the ABC affiliate in D.C
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