JOE STRUPP

I'm an award-winning, 35-year news veteran who's worked in newspapers, magazines, television, radio and the Internet, covering news ranging from politics to sports to media, local govenment and investigations. That includes decades on a variety of crime beats and criminal cases on both coasts. I've served two stints in New Jersey, where I remain on the staff of the Asbury Park Press. My writing has appeared in MediaWeek, San Francisco magazine, NJ Biz, New Jersey Monthly, Salon.com, The Star-Ledger, and Poynter.org. I've interviewed the likes of Rupert Murdoch, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, Ben Bradlee, and O.J. Simpson, and spoken on Fox News, MSNBC, NPR, PBS, Voice of America, ABC News, and Sirius XM Radio. I'm also the author of four books: Death on St. Charles Street (Amarna Books and Media, 2024); Killing Journalism: How Greed, Laziness (and Donald Trump) Are Destroying News and How We Can Save It (Willow Street Press, 2018); The Crookedest Street (Amarna Books and Media, 2020); and A Long Walk Home (Amarna Books and Media, 2021).
My latest bo0k, Death on St. Charles Street, was recently published by Amarna Books and Media of Philadelphia and examines a quadruple murder-suicide in my mother's family back in 1962. My great uncle, John Bowman, killed his wife and two of their children in their Rapid City, S.D., home, then turned the gun on himself. He left no note or clear motive for this crime. I researched the case and its impact for more than a decade and found friends, relatives and others related to the crime to get their perspective on what happened, why and the impact that continues today. See coverage in the Rapid City media at, Mitchell Republic, Rapid City Journal, KNBN-TV, and KOTA-TV. The book can be orderd at Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com.

FEATURED NEWS WORK

lakewood, n.j.

My recent work for the Asbury Park Press has focued on the growing township of Lakewood, which is unique for its population explosion in recent years. (It is now the fourth most-populated municipality in the state) and its large Orthodox Jewish population. My work has included one of the first insider views of the practice of Orthodox Jewish matchmaking, in which couples do not touch, hug or even shake hands until they are married. I have also uncovered issues in the Lakewood Public Schools, including the school board attorney making more than $1 million per year and the cash-strapped district forced to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars in state loans, far more than any other N.J. school district.

EDUCATION

I've covered numerous educational issues over my 35 years in news, including much of the past five years at the Asbury Park Press. My reporting has included insight into high school cyberbullying that led to a New Jersey student's suicide; growing issues regarding transgender students rights (and the rights of their parents); and the often taboo subject of female students menstrual rights and access to related products on campus. I've also broken investigative stories on improper teacher behavior, the impact of COVID-19 shutdowns on student success, and implementation of controversial statewide sex education classes, and LGBTQ history curriculum.

MEDIA COVERAGE

During my 18 years at Editor & Publisher (E&P) magazine and Media Matters for America, I covered all aspects of media issues in print, online and broadcast. Coverage included reporting at 8 Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conferences, and 10 American Society of News Editors conventions. I also covered the Pulitzer Prizes for 10 years at E&P and became the first reporter to disclose the secret list of Pulitzer finalists in 2002, a practice I maintained for five years. Politico even dubbed me the "Professional Pulitzer Handicapper" My media reporting profiled three E&P Editors of the Year, broke the story of a pending blockbuster Detroit newspaper sale, offered backroom details of a New York Times ethics scandal, and numerous stories focusing on the White House Correpondents Association, including their annual dinner.

Maplewood, N.J.

For 8 years between 2010 and 2018 I edited and published Maplewoodian,com, a website the covered Maplewood, N.J., a 24,000-population suburb of New York City that boasted a variety of news from gay rights to smalltown politics and school district power battles. My coverage of a high school baseball coach bullying scandal and a school superintendent's questionable background won two Society of Professional Journalists awards. I also broke news on the cost of a new downtown development to taxpayers; political infighting on the township committee, and extensive details about a high school teacher arrested for having sex with several underaged students. During a stint as a columnist for the local TapInto website, I posted the first story of a school board member harassing a police officer, which prompted a state ethics investigation and a formal rebuke from a neigboring township official.

MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

During the 2021 minor league baseball season I wrote a weekly column for the Asbury Park Press, dubbed "Down on The Farm." The column delved in to all areas of the lower leagues, including the rise of female general managers, the impact of COVID on minor league realignment, as well as player housing, the rise of LGBTQ Pride Nights but a continued closeting of gay players, and major league stars' best and worst memories of the minors. My stories included a profile of the unique Wachona Park in Massachusetts, the only park that stops play for a sunset each night and whose past players ranged from Casey Stengal to Greg Maddox. There was also my sit-down interview with Yankees star Sparky Lyle, now a Somerset Patriots ambassador. More stories cited unique and unusual promotional days.

investigations and features

My reporting has spanned other areas of news, from features to profiles to investigations of a variety of organizations, issues and people. Among them: an in-depth probe of a New Jersey mayor who won re-election seven years after being convicted and forced out of office; a profile of a progressive version of the Catholic Church that allows female priests, gay marriage and other liberal approaches; an investigation into Scientology and the media; as well as New Jersey's club and travel baseball teams that charge tens of thousands annually and are depleting traditional leagues. Also profiles of the first transgender person elected to a New Jersey school board seat; a family whose son was born to a Mexican surrogate and faced immigration issues; and the youngest war correspondent (25) covering the Iraq War in 2003. I also exposed the $1 million annual salary paid to Lakewood (N.J). School Board Attorney Michael Inzelbuch.

crime and courts

I've covered a wide array of criminal and legal proceedings, from New Jersey to California and Washington, D.C., during my career. Among the most notable are the 1989 trial of mass murderer John List of Westfield, N.J., who killed his wife, mother and three children in cold blood in 1971 and stayed on the run for 18 years before being found through America's Most Wanted. Anothe grisly slaying was the heinous murder of Tristan Jensen, 14, of Redlands, Ca., killed by a classmate who chopped up his body and threw it in a sewer. I conducted the only interview with his parents who were also arrested on related charges. Then there's Howard Streeter, the San Bernardino County, Ca. man who set his girlfriend on fire in a Chuck E. Cheese parking lot and received the death penalty despite pleading for his life on the witness stand. Lawsuits I've covered, meanwhile, have ranged from the State of New Jersey being sued for school segregation problems to a News Corp. shareholder lawsuit claiming bias damaged the network's image.

ON THE AIR

My career has included many stints behind the mic and/or in front of the camera. From 1993 to 1997, I co-anchored the weekly Saturday night news on Pacifica Radio in California, which broadcasts statewide. I reported details of international, national and statewide stories, including coverage of Mexican elections and violence in Rwanda. During much of that same period I was a regular panelist on "City Desk" at Viacom Cablevision in San Francisco, offering weekly insights on city issues. Later, as I covered national media issues, Fox News Channel put me on the weekly Fox News Watch show 10 times during 2004. I also appeared on The O'Reilly Factor five times in those years. In 2019, I hosted and produced two podcasts: Joe's Media Corner, on media issues, and The Retro Room, which looked at vintage TV, movie and other entertainment and journalism of the past. Among those I spoke with for the episodes were actors Alison Arngram, Burt Ward, Gavin McLeod, Richard Thomas and Pamelyn Ferdin. I've also appeared on MSNBC, NPR, Voice of America, ABC News, PBS and Sirius XM Radio.
AWARDS
New Jersey Press Association: Spot News Award, 1989 and 1990; Responsible Journalism Award, 1990, 2022, 2023, Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards: Best Series of Articles, 2004, 2005; Best News Coverage, 2004, 2005, 2006.New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists Awards: Second Prize, Magazine/Investigative Reporting, 2003; First Prize, Best Local News, 2015; Third Prize, Best Local News, 2016. Syracuse University S.I. Newhouse School of Communications: Mirror Awards: Finalist, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2014. Folio: Gold Medal, Regional Magazine Article, 2009.
REPORTING SUCCESS
Significant reporting over 35 years that revealed major stories, including; an undercover probe of a New Jersey bar known for prostitution and drugs that was shutdown by police; the surprise departure of a schools superintendent in Newark, Ca.; revealing past mismanagment by a Missouri college administrator that caused him to lose a pending appointment to a California community college; an altercation between police and a New Jersey school board member that prompted a formal rebuke; and the unsolved murder of a New Jersey woman that revealed DNA from the case had not been sought, prompting further investigation that eventually led to DNA testing and a conviction.
JOURNALISM ADVOCATE
I have advocated for journalism and press rights for three decades, most recently testifying before the New Jersey State Legislature to protect the state's Open Public Records Act (OPRA), which is New Jersey's version of the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). I have also been an adjunct journalism professor since 2017, teaching media ethics at Fairleigh Dickinson University and Writing for Media at Rutgers University. My first book, Killing Journalism, is a detailed critique of the failures of today's media, due in large part to limited reporting efforts by many news outlets, much of it the result of industry cutbacks and loss of true news focus.