Greg Bluestein

Last updated
Greg Bluestein
DSF8440.jpg
Born (1982-05-25) May 25, 1982 (age 42)
Sandy Springs, Georgia, U.S.
Education University of Georgia
OccupationJournalist
EmployerThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Greg Bluestein (born May 25, 1982) is an American journalist, author and TV analyst who covers Georgia politics for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . He has also written about former President Jimmy Carter and covered regional and national news as an Atlanta-based journalist for The Associated Press. He contributes to the Political Insider blog, [1] is an MSNBC and NBC News contributor, and is host of the Politically Georgia podcast. [2]

Contents

Career

Bluestein was born in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from North Springs High School and the University of Georgia (political science and journalism), where he was editor of The Red & Black campus newspaper. [3]

Bluestein spent seven years with the Associated Press, between 2005 and 2012, where he covered breaking news, politics and legal affairs. He reported on the execution of Troy Davis, [4] the post-presidency of Jimmy Carter [5] and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, [6] the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion [7] and the major tornado outbreak of 2011 in Alabama and Georgia. [8]

He joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2012 to write about the political trends that shaped the region. [9] He covered the 2014 race for governor between Nathan Deal and Jason Carter and the 2016 [10] and 2020 [11] presidential elections. He has examined how Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020 [12] and documented the political ascent of Stacey Abrams, [13] Brian Kemp, [14] Jon Ossoff, [15] Raphael Warnock [16] and David Perdue. [17]

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Bluestein contributed to a series of articles examining political change in the "Shifting South." [18] He also has reported Georgia-related news from the Panama Canal Zone [19] and Israel. [20]

Bluestein was dubbed Georgia's "chief political reporter" in an article in Atlanta Magazine [21] and the state's "ace" politics journalist by Chris Cillizza. [22] He speaks often to audiences about state politics and journalism. He has served as a Visiting Practitioner for the Applied Politics Program at UGA and the Public Affairs Communication Program. His willingness to mentor students and share his expertise are well known.

He was named to UGA's 40 Under 40 Honorees in 2021. He delivered the convocation address at UGA's Grady College in 2021. [23] Axios named him the “most dedicated” Georgia fan at the 2023 college football national championship when he attended the Los Angeles game shortly after being hospitalized in San Diego with a kidney stone.

On stage at a Donald Trump rally in 2022, he was dubbed "Buttstein" by former State Representative Vernon Jones. [24]

He is an MSNBC and NBC News political contributor [25] and author of Flipped, published in 2022, [26] on Georgia's transformation into a swing state. He has won numerous awards, including a 2021 Toner Prize for Local Political Reporting for a project on the campaign to undermine Georgia's 2020 election [27] and won first-place for political reporting in the South in 2024 by the Society for Professional Journalists. [28]

Books

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References

  1. ↑ "AJC Political Insider blog". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  2. ↑ "AJC Politically Georgia Podcast". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  3. ↑ "Red & Black Appoints Eight Board Members". The Red and Black.
  4. ↑ "Troy Davis executed after final appeals are denied". www.gainesvilletimes.com.
  5. ↑ Greg Bluestein. "30 years later, still serving". www.inquirer.com.
  6. ↑ Greg Bluestein; Harry R. Weber. "Mud plugs well; feds say much of Gulf oil is gone". Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
  7. ↑ Bluestein, Greg. "W.Va. miner talks about underground explosion". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  8. ↑ Reeves, Jay; Bluestein, Greg. "South staggering in tornadoes' ruins". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  9. ↑ "40 Under 40 honoree profile: Greg Bluestein". August 27, 2021.
  10. ↑ Bluestein, Greg. "Why the South is anything but solid for either Clinton or Trump". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  11. ↑ Bluestein, Greg. "A Georgian's guide to the Iowa caucus". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  12. ↑ Bluestein, Greg; Hallmerman, Tamar. "How Biden ended Georgia's 24-year Republican streak". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  13. ↑ Bluestein, Greg. "Updates: Stacey Abrams launches national expansion of voting rights group". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  14. ↑ Bluestein, Greg. "Governor's race revives a familiar feud between Kemp, Abrams". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution– via AJC.com.
  15. ↑ Cillizza, Chris, ed. (April 17, 2017). "How a Georgia House race could rock the national political landscape | CNN Politics". CNN.
  16. ↑ Bluestein, Greg. "Raphael Warnock, pastor of famed church, enters Georgia Senate race". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution– via AJC.com.
  17. ↑ Bluestein, Greg. "AJC Interview: Inside Perdue's plan to defeat Kemp in 2022".
  18. ↑ "The Shifting South". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  19. ↑ Bluestein, Greg. "Georgia's port push starts in Panama". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  20. ↑ Bluestein, Greg (27 June 2014). "Nathan Deal makes a play for Jewish voters in Georgia governor race". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  21. ↑ Wheatley, Thomas (April 27, 2021). "60 Voices: Jim Galloway and Greg Bluestein on covering Georgia politics".
  22. ↑ Cillizza, Chris. "Inside the Georgia governor's hugely high-stakes coronavirus gamble". CNN.
  23. ↑ Reporter, Sydney Dangremond | Breaking News. "Greg Bluestein to deliver Grady convocation address". The Red and Black. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  24. ↑ Jones, Vernon [@VernonForGA] (30 March 2022). "@gregneverlies Another big dummy! Why waste a vote? I was still a democrat. Trump was unopposed in the Republican presidential primary. I voted for Trump over @JoeBiden in Nov. 2020 General election. Changed parties in 2021. The bigot Greg Buttstein got you looking stupid! @ajc @bluestein" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022– via Twitter.
  25. ↑ MSNBC Public Relations [@MSNBCPR] (27 January 2022). "Join us in welcoming @ajc's Greg @bluestein to @MSNBC as a Political Contributor. https://t.co/CtVIwu5eZ5" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022– via Twitter.
  26. ↑ "Flipped by Greg Bluestein: 9780593489154 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com.
  27. ↑ Newhouse School [@NewhouseSU] (28 March 2022). "Congratulations to @ajc, winners of the Toner Prize for Local Political Reporting. @dwickert @markniesse @bluestein @MayaTPrabhu @ajconwashington @isaacsabetai @JimJournalist #TonerPrizes https://t.co/NyEnO1RuKU" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022– via Twitter.
  28. ↑ by the Society of Professional Journalists. https://www.greeneyeshade.org/2024-winners/
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