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Alix M. Freedman
Alix Marian Freedman (born November 25, 1957, in New York City) is an American journalist, and ethics editor at Thomson Reuters.
Freedman was raised in New York City, where she attended the Chapin School before graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy (1975). She graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in history and literature.
She is the recipient of several awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the Gerald Loeb Award. Freedman received the George Polk Award in 1999, making her family the first to have two generations to win the award. Her father, Emanuel R. Freedman, had won the Polk award in 1956.
Freedman gained her first experience in journalism writing articles for her school newspapers, first a few articles for The Exonian, at Phillips Exeter and then for The Harvard Crimson. At the time, she "didn't see herself continuing in journalism," even though her father, Emanuel Freedman, was a journalist. However, she did go into journalism.
In 1979, she was hired as a news assistant at The New York Times and worked there until 1982. In 1983 she worked as a staff reporter for BusinessWeek magazine until leaving in 1984 to work for The Wall Street Journal. Freedman spent 27 years with The Wall Street Journal, first with the Philadelphia bureau, (from 1984 to 1987) and then the New York bureau (from 1987 to 2011). During her time with the Journal, she was awarded three Loeb awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Polk award. In 2011 she left to become the global editor for ethics and standards at Reuters.
During her time at the New York bureau, Freedman reported extensively on the tobacco industry. In 1993 Freedman and a colleague were awarded the Front Page Award for specialized writing for "Smoke and Mirrors: How Cigarette Makers Keep Health Questions 'Open' Year After Year."
As the tobacco industry continued to face more scrutiny, Freedman reported on a libel lawsuit, seeking 10 billion dollars, filed by Phillip Morris against ABC television and its owner Capital Cities Inc. The suit was filed over the word spiked, used in the broadcast story, referring to nicotine being added back to tobacco during the production process. Her story, "Tar Wars: Philip Morris is Putting TV Journalism on Trial in its suit against ABC," reported on the lawsuit and how the tobacco company was spending a million dollars a month for 20 attorneys in their fight against ABC. Capital Cities, having earnings of just 6.4 billion in 1994, settled with Phillip Morris, printing a public apology and paying 15 million to cover the tobacco companies legal fees.
Freedman was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her continued coverage of the tobacco industry. In one of those reports, "Phillip Morris Memo Likens Nicotine to Cocaine," she wrote about a 15-page confidential internal document that pointed to the tobacco companies knowledge of the addictive nature of their product. The report explained that nicotine "'travels to the brain about eight to 10 seconds after a smoker inhales," "altering the state of the smoker.'"
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Alix M. Freedman
Alix Marian Freedman (born November 25, 1957, in New York City) is an American journalist, and ethics editor at Thomson Reuters.
Freedman was raised in New York City, where she attended the Chapin School before graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy (1975). She graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in history and literature.
She is the recipient of several awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the Gerald Loeb Award. Freedman received the George Polk Award in 1999, making her family the first to have two generations to win the award. Her father, Emanuel R. Freedman, had won the Polk award in 1956.
Freedman gained her first experience in journalism writing articles for her school newspapers, first a few articles for The Exonian, at Phillips Exeter and then for The Harvard Crimson. At the time, she "didn't see herself continuing in journalism," even though her father, Emanuel Freedman, was a journalist. However, she did go into journalism.
In 1979, she was hired as a news assistant at The New York Times and worked there until 1982. In 1983 she worked as a staff reporter for BusinessWeek magazine until leaving in 1984 to work for The Wall Street Journal. Freedman spent 27 years with The Wall Street Journal, first with the Philadelphia bureau, (from 1984 to 1987) and then the New York bureau (from 1987 to 2011). During her time with the Journal, she was awarded three Loeb awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Polk award. In 2011 she left to become the global editor for ethics and standards at Reuters.
During her time at the New York bureau, Freedman reported extensively on the tobacco industry. In 1993 Freedman and a colleague were awarded the Front Page Award for specialized writing for "Smoke and Mirrors: How Cigarette Makers Keep Health Questions 'Open' Year After Year."
As the tobacco industry continued to face more scrutiny, Freedman reported on a libel lawsuit, seeking 10 billion dollars, filed by Phillip Morris against ABC television and its owner Capital Cities Inc. The suit was filed over the word spiked, used in the broadcast story, referring to nicotine being added back to tobacco during the production process. Her story, "Tar Wars: Philip Morris is Putting TV Journalism on Trial in its suit against ABC," reported on the lawsuit and how the tobacco company was spending a million dollars a month for 20 attorneys in their fight against ABC. Capital Cities, having earnings of just 6.4 billion in 1994, settled with Phillip Morris, printing a public apology and paying 15 million to cover the tobacco companies legal fees.
Freedman was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her continued coverage of the tobacco industry. In one of those reports, "Phillip Morris Memo Likens Nicotine to Cocaine," she wrote about a 15-page confidential internal document that pointed to the tobacco companies knowledge of the addictive nature of their product. The report explained that nicotine "'travels to the brain about eight to 10 seconds after a smoker inhales," "altering the state of the smoker.'"