Alex Markels
1736 Bluff St.
Boulder, CO 80304
202-652-2091 (w)
202-725-5802 (h)
alex@markels.com

 

Work Experience

Freelance Writer
1997 - present
Authored features, columns and breaking news on a broad range of topics, such as the recent housing downturn, eco-terrorism and the animal rights movement, pirate radio and the deregulation of the telecommunications industry, the epidemic of male depression, big energy’s investment in wind power and the agonizing death of an extreme skier. Contributed cover stories and major features for publications and broadcasts including the New York Times, National Public Radio, Marketplace, Los Angeles Times,  Mother Jones, Outside and Wired.

Senior Writer
U.S. News & World Report                                                               
June, 2006 - March, 2008
Authored features and breaking news stories on a broad range of topics, including cover packages on the recent housing bubble and subsequent crisis, financier Warren Buffett's brain, Americans’ defining values and pre-historic explorers. Also contributed major features on the 2008 Presidential election, New Orleans' recovery after Hurricane Katrina,
how drought is changing the American West, the controversy over drug-reimportation from Canada and an investigation of wildland firefighter deaths amid safety concerns at the USDA Forest Service.

Supervising Editor
National Public Radio                                                               
March, 2005 - June, 2006
Oversees news coverage at NPR's Morning Edition, a five-days-a-week radio news magazine with 13 million listeners. Supervises staff, makes assignments and provides editorial guidance to reporters and production staff; Tracks ongoing flow of news, recommends specific stories and areas of coverage, and is also responsible for editorial integrity and quality. Contributed occasional radio stories, including stories on gasoline price gouging, executive pay abuses, surging prices in the market for vintage guitars, terrorism and the laws of war and the plight of former vice presidential staffer I. Lewis Libby.

Contributing writer
New York Times
Sept., 2002 - present
Contributed features and breaking news stories for the Times' business, sports, national, travel and real estate sections, including stories on the increasingly personal nature of environmental protest, a legal showdown over human rights lawsuits,
the sexual assault case against Kobe Bryant and traveling along Vail, Colorado's backroads.

Staff Reporter
Wall Street Journal
Dow Jones & Co.
December, 1994 - September, 1997

Authored features, investigative and breaking news stories on a wide variety of managerial and workplace issues, including nine
Page One stories and 32 Marketplace front-page features on topics such as corporate downsizing and restructuring, racial discrimination and diversity training, sexual harassment, Internet privacy and technology in the workplace, ballooning executive pay and a flu-season epidemic of sick supervisors who refuse to go home.

Senior Editor
Snow Country Magazine
New York Times Co.
June, 1991 - September, 1994
Authored and edited features, columns and departments for mountain sports magazine with 460,000 circulation. Promoted from assistant to senior-level editor; managed editorial and art staff; assigned features and photography; established and managed editorial bureau in Vail, Colorado; co-developed market research studies.

Editorial Intern
Outside Magazine
Mariah Publications, Inc.
September, 1990 - April, 1991
Assisted in all stages of production at outdoor sports and lifestyle magazine with 400,000 circulation. Researched, fact-checked and proofread features and columns; authored articles and developed sidebars and charts for Dispatches, Destinations and Reviews departments.

 

Education


Ted Scripps Fellow
Center for Environmental Journalism
University of Colorado, Boulder
Completed: May, 2004
One of five journalists selected nationally for a year-long appointment to study key environmental issues through enrollment in graduate-level environmental science and public policy courses. Completed classes in renewable energy policy, environmental ethics and justice, water and natural resource law, and climate change; conducted in-depth study of "immigration and the environment" issues for a forthcoming book. 

Master of Science, Journalism
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
New York, NY
Graduated: May, 1990

Studied print and broadcast journalism; specialized in magazine writing. Authored cover story for school’s annual Streets Magazine, feature stories also published in the New York Observer. Master’s thesis on the psychological backlash from alternative cancer treatments.


Bachelor of Arts, Economics
Un
iversity of Colorado, Boulder
Graduated: May, 1983
Cum laud honors in Economics. Honor's thesis evaluated viability of coal slurry pipelines to alleviate energy shortages.   
                                                                    

Additional Information

 
  • Fluent in Spanish; graduate of Cabrillo College Spanish Intensive Language program. Extensive travel and reporting experience in Latin America, including dateline stories from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Honduras and Peru.
  • Founded Radio Free Minturn, KLNX-LP FM, first community radio station in Eagle County, Colorado; initiated and oversaw FCC licensing process, developed fundraising programs and operating budgets, trained and managed volunteers. 
  • Avid guitarist, banjo picker and fledgling charanguista.