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Jamil Smith (journalist)

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Jamil Smith
Headshot of Jamil Smith. He wears glasses, a green-and-black checked collared shirt and a blue Los Angeles Dodgers cap. He smiles, looking off-camera.
Smith in February 2018
Born (1975-09-23) September 23, 1975 (age 49)
Residence Los Angeles, California
Nationality United States
Alma mater Shaker Heights High School
University of Pennsylvania
Occupation Journalist
Television producer
Years active 2002-present
Employer Rolling Stone
Notable credit(s)

Inside The NFL

Hard Knocks
The Rachel Maddow Show
Melissa Harris-Perry
Home town Cleveland, Ohio
Awards Sports Emmy Awards (2006, 2009 and 2010)
Website twitter.com/JamilSmith

Jamil Smith (born September 23, 1975)[1][2] is an American print and television journalist as well as a television producer. His reporting and commentary deal with a range of political and cultural topics, including race, gender, national politics and pop culture. He has been a senior editor at The New Republic, a senior national correspondent at MTV News, and is now a senior writer for Rolling Stone magazine.

While a television segment producer for NFL Films, Smith won in three Sports Emmy Awards, in 2006, 2009 and 2010. He has also served as a producer for The Rachel Maddow Show and Melissa Harris-Perry.

Early life

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A native of Cleveland, Ohio,[3] Smith attended the Hawken School through eighth grade, then graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 1993.[2] While at Shaker Heights High School, he wrote for the student newspaper, The Shakerite, for four years,[4] as well as participating in the wrestling and track teams[2] and the school's Minority Achievement Community program, where black upperclassmen with high grade point averages mentor black freshman and sophomore boys with lower GPAs.[3]

Smith did his undergraduate work at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1997.[5] While in college, Smith wrote for the campus student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian, and participated in Students Together Against Acquaintance Rape.[6] He also studied abroad at Kings College London.[6]

Career

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After four years as an assistant at the William Morris Agency,[7] Smith began his career in television and film production in 2002 as a production assistant with CNN.[6] He next went to HBO Sports, then NFL Films,[6] where he worked on production teams that won three Sports Emmys, two for Inside the NFL and another for the Cincinnati Bengals installment of the Hard Knocks series.[8][9][10] In 2010, he joined MSNBC, serving as a producer for both The Rachel Maddow Show and Melissa Harris-Perry.[11][12]

As a journalist and commentator, Smith has drawn notice for work on a range of political and cultural topics, including race and racism,[13][14] police brutality,[15][16] feminism and gender roles,[17] and national politics.[18]

Smith joined The New Republic in January 2015, part of a wave of new hires following the 2014 removal of editor-in-chief Franklin Foer, which prompted the departure of 55 staff members and contributors. Foer's replacement, Gabriel Snyder, hired Smith as a senior editor covering race, politics and gender.[19] With the magazine facing criticism both from those upset by changes at the long-standing institution and also from those critical of the magazine's history, particularly its treatment of race-related topics, Smith described his role, with colleagues, as aiming "to help usher this magazine into a different era."[20] While at The New Republic, Smith also launched and hosted the magazine's first podcast, Intersection.[21]

In 2016, Smith became a senior national correspondent for MTV News,[22] hired alongside writers and editors including Ana Marie Cox, Jessica Hopper, Charles Aaron, Meredith Graves, Doreen St. Félix and Ira Madison III as part of a significant expansion of MTV News programming.[23][24] Among other on-air appearances for MTV, Smith served as a co-host, with Charlamagne Tha God, Marc Lamont Hill and Franchesca Ramsey,[25] of the joint MTV-BET townhall "What Now", following the police shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile and the shooting of police officers in Dallas that all took place in the first week of July 2016.[26] At MTV, Smith also hosted The Racket, a YouTube series on politics, especially the US Presidential campaign.[27] He also appeared on the MTV News podcast The Stakes, including hosting an episode commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 1992 Los Angeles uprising.[28]

After layoffs at MTV News in June 2017,[28] Smith became a freelance reporter and opinion writer, writing (among other works) "The Revolutionary Power of Black Panther," the cover story for Time magazine’s February 19, 2018 issue;[29] this made Black Panther the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to be featured on Time's cover.[30] Examining the cultural significance of the film,[31] Smith argued THAT "Black Panther is poised to prove to Hollywood that African-American narratives have the power to generate profits from all audiences. And, more important, that making movies about black lives is part of showing that they matter."[32]

Smith joined Rolling Stone as senior writer in March 2018.[33]

Honors

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While a segment producer at NFL Films, Smith was part of teams that won the 2006 and 2009 Outstanding Studio Show - Weekly Sports Emmy for Inside the NFL[8][9] and the 2010 Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology Sports Emmy for Hard Knocks: Training Camp With The Cincinnati Bengals.[10]

Smith has repeatedly been named to The Root 100 list of leading black influencers, including in 2011 for his work on The Rachel Maddow Show,[34] in 2013 for his work on Melissa Harris-Perry,[35] and in 2015 for his work at The New Republic, where, The Root wrote, he "hits on cultural touch points from campus rape to the Rev. Al Sharpton, banging out a nice mix of opinion, headlines and original reporting."[14]

Personal life

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In 2017, Smith moved from Brooklyn, New York[36] to Los Angeles, California.[4] He married in 2012.[3][37]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Smith, Jamil (September 23, 2017). "My first @nytopinion op-ed, published on my birthday". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "March 2018 Newsletter: Journalist Jamil Smith ('93) Returns to SHHS to Discuss His Career and his Time Magazine Cover Story on Black Panther". Shaker Heights Schools. March 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Grzegorek, Vince (April 29, 2015). "Cleveland Native and Senior Editor at The New Republic Jamil Smith Talks About His New Job, the New New Republic, and How the Media Should be Covering Race". Cleveland Scene. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sheperd, Lauren; Krouse, Anna (February 23, 2018). "From The Shakerite to Time Magazine". The Shakerite. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  5. ↑ "Gazette: Alumni Notes". www.upenn.edu. University of Pennsylvania. July–August 2003. Retrieved 2018-03-17.CS1 maint: date format (link)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Claytor, Ifeolu (October 5, 2017). "Ten Things You Need to Know about Jamil Smith | ACLU of Ohio". www.acluohio.org. ACLU of Ohio. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  7. ↑ Smith, Jamil (January 31, 2015). "On writing professionally". Storify. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "May | 2006 | The Emmy Awards". emmyonline.com. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. May 1, 2006. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "WINNERS OF 30th ANNUAL SPORTS EMMY® AWARDS ANNOUNCED BY NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES, DICK EBERSOL HONORED WITH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD | The Emmy Awards". emmyonline.com. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. April 27, 2009. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "WINNERS OF 31st ANNUAL SPORTS EMMY® AWARDS ANNOUNCED BY NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES, JOHN MADDEN HONORED WITH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD | The Emmy Awards". emmyonline.com. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. April 26, 2010. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  11. ↑ Koblin, John (28 February 2016). "After Tense Weeks, Melissa Harris-Perry's MSNBC Show Is Canceled". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  12. ↑ Mullin, Benjamin (7 January 2015). "The New Republic begins replenishing its staff". Poynter. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  13. ↑ Vernon, Pete (March 13, 2018). "The media today: Facing a critical moment, Vice plans for change at the top". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "The Root 100 - 78 Jamil Smith". The Root. September 9, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  15. ↑ "WATCH: The New Republic's Jamil Smith Speaks on Loretta Lynch's Task in Baltimore". Fusion. April 30, 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  16. ↑ Tolan, Casey (May 27, 2016). "Louisiana Just Passed a 'Blue Lives Matter' Bill That Makes Attacks Against Police Hate Crimes". Fusion. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  17. ↑ Solis, Marie (June 1, 2016). "In Just 3 Minutes, Jamil Smith Nails How Toxic Masculinity Fuels Rape Culture". Mic. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  18. ↑ Waldman, Paul (9 March 2018). "Opinion | Happy Hour Roundup". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  19. ↑ "The New Republic Makes First Hires Following Staff Walkout". Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  20. ↑ Connor, Jackson (2015-02-06). "New Republic Editor Jamil Smith Asks For Time Before Critics Declare Magazine Dead". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  21. ↑ "Jamil Smith on the "Intersection" of Race, Gender and Politics". NBC News. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  22. ↑ Steinberg, Brian (11 February 2016). "Viacom Reboots MTV News in First Step Toward Reviving Network". Variety. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  23. ↑ Greenberg, Julia (February 11, 2016). "MTV Wants You to Want Your MTV News All Over Again". Wired. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  24. ↑ Gensler, Andy (June 28, 2017). "MTV Restructuring News Department, Shifting to Emphasis on Video (Updated)". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  25. ↑ Boedeker, Hal (July 8, 2016). "'What Now?' MTV, BET offer town hall". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  26. ↑ Konerman, Jennifer (July 8, 2016). "'What Now?': MTV Town Hall Addresses Police Violence". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  27. ↑ Spangler, Todd (18 April 2016). "MTV Bows Digital Series Covering 'Ridiculous' President Election Hosted by Jamil Smith". Variety. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Florence and Normandie: 25 Years After the L.A. Riots". MTV News. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  29. ↑ Purdom, Gwendolyn (February 9, 2018). ""Black Panther" made it on the cover of "Time" magazine, and here's why that's so important". HelloGiggles. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  30. ↑ Allah, Sha Be (2018-02-12). "'Black Panther' Star Chadwick Boseman Graces Time Magazine Cover, First Time Ever For Marvel Movie". The Source. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  31. ↑ Mtshali, Khanya Khondlo (2018-02-15). "Black Panther is great. But let's not treat it as an act of resistance". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  32. ↑ Smith, Jamil (February 19, 2018). "The Revolutionary Power of Black Panther". Time. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  33. ↑ Pompeo, Joe (March 5, 2018). "Can Rolling Stone Become Cool Again?". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  34. ↑ Amadu Jacky Kaba: Talented Tenth: An Analysis of the 2011 Root Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Young Black Americans. In: International Journal of Humanities and Social Science. 2, March 2012.
  35. ↑ Stodgill, Alexis Garrett (2013-11-21). "MSNBC star hosts and contributors honored at The Root 100 2013 Awards Gala in NYC". The Grio. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  36. ↑ Goodrich, Barry (August 5, 2016). "'That Man Made Me a Cleveland Sports Fan'". Cleveland Magazine. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  37. ↑ Smith, Jamil (2013-06-26). "Married less than a year, and I don't feel threatened by marriage equality for LGBT Americans. Not in the slightest. #sorryconservatives". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
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