Summary:
I am an investigative journalist, covering mostly national security and intelligence. I am also an essayist and poet, as well as a fiction writer. The past few years, however, I have specifically focused on domestic political prosecutions and human rights abuses.
At present, I am working on a book with former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice, Oliver E. Diaz, Jr., about the US Attorney scandal of the Bush administration years.
I am currently the Managing Editor for Investigative News of Raw Story, Media; contributor to Alternet, The Huffington Post, and other publications. My work has been featured in many publications, including Hustler, The Sunday London Times Online, Rolling Stone, and many others. My work has also been cited and referenced in Congressional reports, most major news outlets online, in print, and on TV, and in various reference collections, as well as scholarly works and historical books.
I have guest blogged for celebrity friends, including actor John Cusack. I am also a published poet and essayist.
My work has been nominated by ONA and won one of the coveted slots in the Project Censored 2010 awards and book.
My most recent book contributions include Project Censored 2010: The Top Censored Stories of 2008-2009 and Loser Take All - Election Fraud and The Subversion of Democracy, 2000 - 2008.
Politics:
I am not politically left or politically right, because I don't see myself as defined by such a narrow spectrum and because I refuse to be categorized in an artificially constructed world view when many positions that are the focus of each political platform are complex and nuanced.
I believe first and foremost that without respect for human rights and civil liberties there can be no democracy. Every other political position I hold stems from that basic principle.
Background:
I am a Jewish immigrant from the former Soviet Union, specifically from Odessa, Ukraine. I spent part of my childhood behind the iron curtain and later, moving around various European countries as a refugee with my parents. Part of these travels included Austria and Italy.
Because of my overt criticism of President Putin, as well as my investigative work, I use my patronymic as my pen name instead of my given surname. This affords my family a measure of privacy and it also honors my father because a derivative of the father's first name, which is Alexander.
Although I am mainly known for my reporting work, I am also a poet and essayist and have worked as Poetry Editor for the Cleveland Review, as well as local beat reporter for the Russian language Cleveland newspaper. I have my degree in English and creative writing, with plans to finish my doctorate in Russian literature. I speak Russian and Hebrew fluently and can get by with my French.
Influences:
My influences across genres are chess theory and such stylistic geniuses as Vladamir Nabkov, Nikolai Gogol, and Emily Dickinson. In addition, the school of magical realism has been the most influential on my creative writing in particular, including authors such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Alejo Carpentier, Isabel Allende, and Toni Morrison.
As a journalist, I favor the type of reporting called investigative journalism, specifically covering the beat of national security and intelligence, although not exclusively. Because I also write in other genres, I tend to describe myself first and foremost as a writer. In this regard my influences have been Upton Sinclair and Sonia Shah, both of whom are known for cross-genre writing with journalism on one side and creative and/or commentary writing on the other. But with regard to my hardcore investigative work, without question my influences are Seymour Hersh, Greg Palast, Jim Risen, and Edward R. Murrow to name a few.
Articles and Commentary:
To view a selection of my articles and commentary, please click Here.
At-Largely Blog:
I started at-Largely as a blog by an investigative journalist for investigative reporters, opinion writers, citizen journalists, bloggers, and concerned readers to come together and discuss under-reported stories, issues facing the craft of journalism, bounce ideas off one another, and express their opinions on various topics. I mix in some of my own very strong opinions, but don't make the mistake of reading my opinion entries as news articles.
