Ryan W. Grim (born March 23, 1978)[1] is an American author and journalist. Grim was Washington, D.C. bureau chief for HuffPost and formerly the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for The Intercept.[2][3] In July 2024, Grim and The Intercept's co-founder Jeremy Scahill left The Intercept to co-found Drop Site News.[4] He is an author and has published some of his books through Strong Arm Press, an independent progressive publishing house he cofounded.[5][6] Grim and conservative journalist Emily Jashinsky were the regular Friday hosts of Rising before they resigned in September 2022 and joined Breaking Points, where they host the show Counterpoints.[7]

Ryan Grim
Grim in 2009
Born (1978-03-23) March 23, 1978 (age 46)[1]
EducationSt. Mary's College of Maryland (BA)
University of Maryland, College Park (MPP)
OccupationJournalist

Early life and education

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Grim was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from St. Mary's College of Maryland, and Master of Public Policy from the University of Maryland, College Park.[8][9]

Career

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After earning his master's degree, Grim worked as a legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project. Grim has written about the history of drug use and drug culture in the United States. He has presented his research on why drugs are popular at certain times in history and his thoughts on the government's war on drugs. He also worked as a stockbroker in New York City.[citation needed]

Grim joined HuffPost (then The Huffington Post) in January 2009.[10] In his role heading a team at HuffPost, reporters on the team twice made finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.[10][11] Towards the end of his tenure at HuffPost, significant leadership changes were occurring, sparked by Arianna Huffington's exit.[12]

The Intercept

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Grim left his position at HuffPost in 2017 after nine years with the paper, joining The Intercept to head its Washington, D.C. bureau.[10] According to Politico, while at The Intercept, Grim focused the media organization's policy interests towards people who are "progressive welfare state enthusiasts, anti-interventionists and surveillance paranoids."[10]

During the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination, Grim was the first to report that California Senator Dianne Feinstein had received a letter related to Kavanaugh, which was later revealed to be from Christine Blasey Ford alleging that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her in high school.[12][13] Grim also reported on former Trump aide Rob Porter's abuse allegations by his ex-wives. He reported early on the 2018 campaign of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.[12]

In August 2020, Grim used emails from the University of Massachusetts Amherst chapter of the College Democrats to dismantle an attempt to smear progressive candidate Alex Morse.[14]0

In 2023, Grim obtained and published a leaked Pakistani diplomatic cable alleging U.S. State Department pressure on the Pakistani government to remove Prime Minister Imran Khan from office in 2022.[15]

Drop Site News

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In July 2024, Grim and Jeremy Scahill, the co-founder of The Intercept, founded Drop Site News.[4][16] Although there was previously friction between the pair and The Intercept board, Drop Site is backed with some funding by The Intercept.[4][17]

Publishing

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Following the move to The Intercept, Grim and Alex Lawson established Strong Arm Press, a small imprint printing press. Grim launched the press because he felt that the first Trump administration was moving too quickly for the standard publishing cycle, which takes around a year to publish a book. He launched Strong Arm Press to accommodate shorter, cheaper, lower-volume books with a shorter publishing turnaround time. The first title published was Out of the Ooze, a profile of Tom Price that reached Amazon's top 100 list. Books are funded through crowdfunding campaigns.[5] Grim published We've Got People, a history of progressivism and the Democratic Party, through Strong Arm Press in 2019.[18][19]

Notable corrections

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In 2016, Grim published a blog post in which he questioned FiveThirtyEight's models and predictions for the 2016 United States presidential election. Grim's criticisms were later repudiated by FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver, and Grim issued corrections to his post.[20][21][22]

Publications

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  • This Is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America; Publisher: Wiley (June 22, 2009) ISBN 0-470-16739-4.
  • We've Got People: From Jesse Jackson to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the End of Big Money and the Rise of a Movement (May 2019) ISBN 978-1-947492-38-7
  • The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution (December 2023) ISBN 978-1250869074

References

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  1. ^ a b @ryangrim (March 23, 2021). "For my birthday I'm offering my newsletter for free" (Tweet). Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Farhi, Paul (June 1, 2020). "Intercept's Ryan Grim holds fast on Tara Reade story". The Washington Post. Gale A625416156 – via Cengage.
  3. ^ "Ryan Grim". HuffPost. Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Tani, Max (July 9, 2024). "Instagram removes Gaza posts from lefty news org Democracy Now". Semafor. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Freed, Benjamin (February 21, 2018). "How Can a Small Progressive Publisher Keep Up With the Trump Administration? Via Crowdfunding. And Speed". Washingtonian. Archived from the original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  6. ^ Silverman, Melissa (August 7, 2017). "Washington Small Presses Make Their Mark". Ploughshares at Emerson College. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  7. ^ Baragona, Justin (September 1, 2022). "Ryan Grim and Emily Jashinsky Exit The Hill's Popular Web Show 'Rising'". Confider. The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  8. ^ McGee, Trish (June 6, 2013). "For 2013 graduates, 'the race is just beginning'". MyEasternShoreMD. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  9. ^ "Philosophy Alumni of SMCM". faculty.smcm.edu. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d Gold, Hadas; Pompeo, Joe (May 5, 2017). "Ryan Grim to leave HuffPost for The Intercept". Politico. Archived from the original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  11. ^ "Ryan Grim". The Intercept. Archived from the original on February 25, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  12. ^ a b c Perlberg, Steven (April 24, 2019). "How the Intercept Is Fueling the Democratic Civil War". Politico Magazine. Archived from the original on January 21, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  13. ^ Edmondson, Catie (October 1, 2018). "Trump, Defending Kavanaugh, Accuses Senate Democrats of Hypocrisy and Dishonesty". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  14. ^ Featherstone, Liza (August 13, 2020). "The Left Needs to Stop Falling for Absurd Sex Panics". Jacobin. Thankfully, the Intercept's Ryan Grim stepped in to reveal that there weren't even any "victims" of "discomfort" or "power dynamics." Messages Grim obtained show that the College Dems planned the whole thing deliberately, as one of the group's leaders was hoping to get an internship with Rep. Neal, Morse's opponent.
  15. ^ Johnson, Jake (August 10, 2023). "Secret Cable Reportedly Shows US Urged Pakistani Government to Oust Imran Khan". Common Dreams. Archived from the original on March 16, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  16. ^ "Scahill and Grim Launch New Media Outlet With The Intercept's Support". The Intercept. July 8, 2024. Archived from the original on July 8, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  17. ^ Tani, Max (April 14, 2024). "The Intercept is running out of cash". Semafor. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  18. ^ Grim, Ryan (June 6, 2019). "'Patience Is Not a Virtue': Ryan Grim on We've Got People and the Modern Democratic Party". Splinter News (Interview). Interviewed by Paul Blest. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
  19. ^ "We've Got People". Kirkus Reviews. July 8, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
  20. ^ Sterne, Peter (November 9, 2016). "A measure of vindication for Nate Silver". Politico. Archived from the original on October 3, 2017. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  21. ^ Graham, David A. (February 3, 2020). "What Does Nate Silver Know?". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  22. ^ "Nate Silver rages at Huffington Post editor in 14-part tweetstorm". Politico. November 5, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
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