Wayne Barrett (July 11, 1945 – January 19, 2017) was an American journalist. He worked as an investigative reporter and Managing editor for The Village Voice for 37 years, and was known as a leading investigative journalist focused on power and politics in the United States. [Barrett, Wayne (January 8, 2011). "Bloomberg give us the cold shoulder", New York Post.] He is known as New York City's "foremost muckraker."
“Our credo must be the exposure of the plunderers, the steerers, the wirepullers, the bosses, the brokers, the campaign givers and takers,” Barrett once said to journalism students at his alma mater, Columbia University. “So I say: Stew, percolate, pester, track, burrow, besiege, confront, damage, level, care.”
Early life and education
Barrett was born on July 11, 1945, in New Britain, Connecticut, and was raised in Lynchburg, Virginia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Saint Joseph's University and a Master of Science in the discipline from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he subsequently taught as an adjunct professor for over thirty years.
Career
Barrett spent nearly 40 years at
The Village Voice. His groundbreaking work into the early career of Donald Trump made him a latter-day authority for a new generation of reporters interested in the character and psyche of America’s 45th president.
Following his tenure at The Village Voice, Barrett was a fellow at The Nation Institute and a contributor to Newsweek. He was also a professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Barrett was best known for authoring many articles and books about politicians, including New York City figures such as Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and Ed Koch. Barrett was the first journalist to uncover Trump's business deceptions.
Barrett's book, Rudy!: An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani, was adapted into a 2003 television film, . He was interviewed for the 2006 documentary Giuliani Time and the 2017 documentary Get Me Roger Stone.
Barrett was a mentor to progressive activist and political commentator Nomiki Konst.
After Barrett's death, his complete writings were acquired by the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin.
Death
Barrett died in
Manhattan on January 19, 2017, from complications of interstitial lung disease and lung cancer.
Coincidentally, Barrett died the day before Trump was inaugurated as president. Barrett's writings on Trump continued to be relevant during the Trump presidency and were a valuable resource for journalists during that time.
Selected bibliography
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The Big Apple: City for Sale: Ed Koch and the Betrayal of New York (Harper and Row, 1988, ) (with Jack Newfield)
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Trump: The Deals and the Downfall (HarperCollins, 1992, )
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Rudy!: An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani (Basic Books, 2001, )
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Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11 (HarperCollins, 2006, ) (with Dan Collins)
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Trump: The Greatest Show on Earth: The Deals, the Downfall, the Reinvention (Regan Arts e-book April 26, 2016, ASIN: B01ECUXPIM; Paperback Edition August 2016, )
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Without Compromise: The Brave Journalism that First Exposed Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and the American Epidemic of Corruption (Hachette, 2020, ) (edited by Eileen Markey)
External links
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The Real Rudy: From the September print issue: The image of Rudy Giuliani as the hero of September 11 has never been seriously challenged. That changes now , The American Prospect online September 11, 2006
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"Rudy Giuliani's 5 Big Lies About 9/11: On the Stump, Rudy Can't Help Spreading Smoke and Ashes About His Dubious Record" , The Village Voice, August 8–14, 2007, pp. 22–36.
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"Rudy's Ties to a Terror Sheikh: Giuliani's business contracts tie him to the man who let 9/11's mastermind escape the FBI", The Village Voice, November 27, 2007
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Wayne Barrett Laid Off from Village Voice - video report by Democracy Now!
