Nina Bernstein is an American journalist, best known for her New York Times reporting on social and legal issues, including coverage of immigration, child welfare and health care. In 21 years at the Times, from which she retired at the end of 2016, she was a metro reporter, a national correspondent and an investigative reporter.[1][2]

Nina Bernstein
Bornc. 1949 (age 74–75)
Alma materHarvard University
Occupationjournalist
Years active1986–2016
Employer(s)New York Times,
New York Newsday
Known forreporting on social and legal issues: immigration, child welfare, health care
SpouseAndreas Huyssen
Childrentwo
AwardsGeorge Polk Award

In 1995, with three colleagues, she won the George Polk Award for distinguished metropolitan coverage. Immediately after the September 11 attacks she did in-street interviews at locations around Manhattan.

Her reporting on deaths in immigration detention received numerous awards, including the 2010 Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award for courage in journalism awarded by the Columbia School of Journalism,[3] and a 2009 Sidney J. Hillman Award.[4] She was part of a Metro team that won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News for coverage of the scandal that led to the resignation of the governor of New York.[5]

Life edit

Bernstein graduated from Harvard in 1970 with a B.A. in European history and literature. She worked for newspapers in Milwaukee and Iowa, then was a reporter for New York Newsday for 9 years, including time as a foreign correspondent in Berlin and Bosnia. She joined the Times in 1995.

Bernstein was a Nieman fellow at Harvard in 1983–1984, and in 2002-2003 was a journalism fellow at the American Academy in Berlin. She is the author of The Lost Children of Wilder: The Epic Struggle to Change Foster Care (Pantheon, 2001), which won the Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism given by the New York Public Library,[6] and a 2002 PEN America First Nonfiction award.[7] It was also a finalist for the National Book Award [8] and the National Book Critics Award.[9] She has contributed lead chapters to two academic books, "Writing Immigration: Scholars and Journalists in Dialogue (University of California Press, 2011),[10] and "Challenging Immigration Detention: Academics, Activists and Policy-Makers (Edward Elgar Publishing 2017).[11] She is also the author of a children's book of fiction, Magic by the Book (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2005).

Bernstein is married to Columbia University professor Andreas Huyssen. They have two children.

References edit

  1. ^ "The Learning Network". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Nina Bernstein". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  3. ^ "The New York Times' Bernstein Wins Tobenkin Award for Courageous Reporting". Adweek.com. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  4. ^ "2009 Hillman Awards Ceremony". Hillmanfoundation.org. 16 June 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Nina Bernstein". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Past Winners of The New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism". The New York Public Library. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  7. ^ "2002 Literary Awards Winners". Pen.org. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  8. ^ "National Book Awards 2001". Nationalbook.org. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  9. ^ "National Book Critics Circle: Awards". Archived from the original on 2015-10-18. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  10. ^ Writing Immigration. Retrieved 22 November 2021. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  11. ^ "Challenging Immigration Detention". E-elgar.com. Retrieved 22 November 2021.