Walt Mossberg

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Walt Mossberg bigraphy, stories - American journalist

Walt Mossberg : biography

27 March 1947 –

Walter S. Mossberg (born March 27, 1947) is an American journalist who is the principal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal.

Career

Mossberg has been a reporter and editor at the Wall Street Journal since 1970. He is based in the Journal’s Washington, D.C., office, where he spent 18 years covering national and international affairs before turning his attention to technology. His Personal Technology column has appeared every Thursday since 1991. He also edits the Digital Solution column each Wednesday (authored by his colleague, Katherine Boehret), and writes the Mossberg’s Mailbox column on Thursdays. He appears weekly on the Fox Business Network, and in web video reports, and formerly provided commentary in a segment on PC World’s Digital Duo, a computer program airing on PBS stations.

In 1999, Mossberg became the only technology writer to receive the Loeb award for Commentary. In 2001, he won the World Technology Award for Media and Journalism and received an honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Rhode Island. Mossberg is widely regarded as one of the most influential writers on information technology. In 2004, in a lengthy profile, Wired called him "The Kingmaker", saying "[f]ew reviewers have held so much power to shape an industry’s successes and failures." He is also reported to be the highest paid journalist at the Journal, with "his annual compensation approaching a million dollars."

In partnership with his fellow Journal columnist Kara Swisher, Mossberg created, produces and hosts the Journal’s annual D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, CA, in which top technology leaders, such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk,

appear on stage without prepared remarks, or slides, and are interviewed by the two columnists. Mossberg and Swisher also co-edit the All Things Digital web site, which includes his columns, her blog and other posts. 

Early life

He is a native of Warwick, Rhode Island and a graduate of Brandeis University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.