David Neiwert


David Neiwert is an American freelance journalist and blogger. He received the National Press Club Award for Distinguished Online Journalism in 2000 for a domestic terrorism series he produced for MSNBC.com. Neiwert has concentrated in part on extremism in the Northwest.

Work

He worked at newspapers around the Pacific Northwest from 1978–1996, notably in Idaho ; Montana ; and in western Washington. He went to work at MSNBC.com in 1996 as a writer-producer, and continued there through late 2000. Since then, he has focused on writing books and producing his blog Orcinus, which tends to report on the crossover between the mainstream and the far right. The blog won early recognition in the liberal blogosphere in the form of consecutive Koufax Awards for Best Series in 2003 and 2004.
The Northwest Progressive Institute named its annual awards to the region's best liberal bloggers after Neiwert. He edited the political blog Crooks And Liars from 2008–2012. As of 2018, Neiwert worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center as their Pacific Northwest correspondent. His book, And Hell Followed With Her: Crossing the Dark Side of the American Border, won the for general nonfiction.
In January 2019, Neiwert left Hatewatch to join Daily Kos as a correspondent.

Personal life

Neiwert was raised in Idaho Falls, Idaho in a population heavy in both Mormonism and the John Birch Society. Neiwert notes that this highly conspiratorial background is "probably part of why I’m immune to conspiracism." His family is Methodist and comes from a German-American background.
Neiwert attended the University of Idaho, where he obtained his B.A. in English, as well as the University of Montana, where he studied creative writing. He notes that he contributed to Republican political campaigns during this time.
He has been married since 1989 to Lisa Dowling of Helena, Montana. They live together in Seattle with their daughter.

Publications