Jonathan Kaufman (born April 18, 1956) is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, author, editor, Director of the Northeastern University School of Journalism, and professor of journalism.
Career in journalism Prior to joining Northeastern, Kaufman was an executive editor at Bloomberg News, where he oversaw more than 300 reporters and editors. During his tenure, Bloomberg journalists won several honors, including a 2015 Pulitzer Prize, multiple George Polk Awards, an Overseas Press Club Award, a Gerald Loeb Award, the Asia Society's Osborn Elliott Prize, and the Education Writers Association Grand Prize.
Kaufman previously served as a senior editor and Beijing bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, and as a reporter and Berlin bureau chief for The Boston Globe. At the Globe, he was part of the reporting team that won a Pulitzer Prize for a series examining racism and job discrimination in Boston.
His areas of expertise include the role of Jews in American politics and around the world; 21st-century media challenges during the presidency of Donald Trump; race relations and class in the United States; and Chinese politics, econimics, and relations with the United States.
Publications Broken Alliance: The Turbulent Times Between Blacks and Jews in America won the National Jewish Book Award. It was hailed by African-American and white reviewers as gripping, insightful and fair and is still used widely in college classrooms. A Hole in the Heart of the World: Being Jewish in Eastern Europe was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. Reviews called it “deeply engrossing,” and “beautifully written.” The Last Kings of Shanghai. Two Rival Dynasties and the Creation of Modern China (Little Brown, 2020, ). When America Roared: How the 1980s Saved, Then Broke, the Country-and Led Us to Today (Viking, 2026, )
Honors and awards Pulitzer Prize for Special Local Reporting, 1984, for a series in The Boston Globe on racism and job discrimination in Boston. Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Local Reporting, 1985, for a series in The Boston Globe on neighborhood activists in Boston. National Jewish Book Award for Broken Alliance, 1989. National Headliner Award, 1997, for a series in The Wall Street Journal on the changing nature of work and worker's lives. Unity in Media Award, 1999, for articles in the Wall Street Journal on the impact of incarceration on black families. American Jewish Committee Present Tense Award for Best Book on Current Affairs for Broken Alliance, 1989. Finalist, National Jewish Book Award for A Hole in the Heart of the World, 1997. Columbia University School of Journalism School Award for Coverage of Race and Ethnicity, 2008, for a portfolio of stories on how race and gender have impacted the presidential primary races. Columbia University School of Journalism School Award for Coverage of Race and Ethnicity, 1999, for articles in the Wall Street Journal on the impact of incarceration on black families. Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism, 2015, for a Bloomberg News series on corporate tax dodging. Asia Society/Osborn Elliott Award for Coverage of Asia, 2015, for a Bloomberg series on companies in India killing villagers and others through pollution and environmental abuse. Gerald Loeb Award, George Polk Award, and Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Public Service, 2011, for a Bloomberg series on financial abuses by for-profit colleges. Overseas Press Club Award, 2011, for a Bloomberg Businessweek story on Chinese students gaming the SATs to gain admittance to American colleges. George Polk Award, 2012, for a Bloomberg series on abuses in the student loan industry.
References
External links Official website Biography at Northeastern University