Stephen G. Bloom (born August 19, 1951) is an American journalist and professor of journalism at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City.
Born in New Jersey, [1] Bloom attended the University of California, Berkeley, and received a B.A. in 1973. [2]
Bloom has written for the Los Angeles Times , the San Jose Mercury News , the Sacramento Bee and the Dallas Morning News . He also served as the national news editor at the Latin America Daily Post . He was press secretary and speechwriter for San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan during 1992. In 1993, he joined the journalism faculty of the University of Iowa, where he serves as professor[ citation needed ] and Bessie Dutton Murray Professional Scholar. [3] Bloom has been a visiting scholar at Columbia University's Center for the Study of Society and Medicine and, during the 2011–2012 academic year, he served as the Howard R. Marsh Visiting professor of journalism in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Michigan.[ citation needed ]
Bloom has also written a number of short stories, and co-written a play called Shoedog. He wrote the book Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America , a look at a Chabad hasidic community that moved into a small Midwestern town. His book was heavily criticized in Jewish religious circles as having an anti-religious bias.[ citation needed ]
He has published The Oxford Project with photographer Peter Feldstein. The book consists of a series portraits of residents of Oxford, Iowa, taken 21 years apart with first-person text from the subjects.[ citation needed ]
Tears of the Mermaid, his book about the history of pearls and the people who collect, trade, sell, and obsess over them, was published by St. Martin's Press in 2009.[ citation needed ]
In December 2011, Bloom wrote an essay entitled "Observations From 20 Years of Iowa Life" for The Atlantic , characterizing Iowans in terms of his assessment of economic and social challenges facing the state, and questioning whether Iowa's status as the first-in-the-nation caucus is justified. [4] In an e-mail to a fellow faculty member, Bloom said that he submitted the column to more than 40 publications before The Atlantic Online accepted it; among those that rejected it were Politico. [5] He also hoped to appear on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report and John King's show on CNN, appearances that never materialized. In an e-mail of Dec. 11, Bloom said that he was scheduled to appear on Colbert on January 3, the night of the Iowa Caucuses, but the appearance did not materialize. [6]
The article provoked outrage from many Iowans, who took offense at Bloom's negative tone, broad stereotypes, and factual errors. [7] [8] [9] The Atlantic ran several corrections, which is "unusual," according to the senior editor who accepted Bloom's submitted article, Garance Franke-Ruta. [10] Bloom's article prompted a rebuttal by University of Iowa president Sally Mason (who said "he does not speak for the university," described the article as "riddled with inaccuracies and factual errors," and said, "the Iowa I see is one of strong, hard-working, and creative people"), [11] an op-ed by four of Bloom's colleagues in the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication detailing their "profound and professional disagreement with Professor Bloom concerning the practice of 'good journalism'.'" [12] Peter Feldstein, the photographer with whom Bloom collaborated on the book The Oxford Project, wrote an article in the Cedar Rapids Gazette that concluded, "I wish Stephen Bloom's name was not on The Oxford Project.". [13] Bloom also received almost 250 mails responding to the article on his University of Iowa account; these were made available online to the public after a Freedom of Information Act request by the Iowa City Press-Citizen. [14]
After the controversy erupted, Bloom declined interview requests from Iowa Public Radio, the Des Moines Register , and other Iowa press. [5] He did appear on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams on January 2, 2012, telling interviewer Willie Geist, "...this is the way I do it. This is called satire. This is called parody." [15]
Stephen Bloom is married, has one son, and lives in Iowa City, Iowa.
Postville is a village in Allamakee and Clayton counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. It lies near the junction of four counties and at the intersection of U.S. Routes 18 and 52 and Iowa Highway 51, with airport facilities in the neighboring communities of Waukon, Decorah, Monona and Prairie du Chien. The population was 2,503 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 2,273 in 2000. The village is in Allamakee County's southwestern corner and Clayton County's northwestern corner in a quad county, or four-corner region, where four counties intersect. Winneshiek County is just to the west and Fayette County is just to the southwest of Postville.
Russell S. Doughten Jr. was an American filmmaker and producer of numerous short and feature-length films. His film work is credited under numerous variations of his name: with or without the "Jr." suffix or middle initial, and sometimes using the informal "Russ" instead of "Russell".
Kinnick Stadium is a stadium located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the home stadium of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes football team. First opened in 1929 as Iowa Stadium to replace Iowa Field, it currently holds up to 69,250 people, making it the 7th largest stadium in the Big Ten, and one of the 20 largest university owned stadiums in the nation. Primarily used for college football, the stadium is named for Nile Kinnick, the Iowa player who won the 1939 Heisman Trophy and died in service during World War II. Kinnick Stadium is the only college football stadium named after a Heisman Trophy winner.
Stephen H. Webb was a theologian and philosopher of religion.
The Daily Iowan is an independent, 6,500-circulation student newspaper serving Iowa City and the University of Iowa community. During the 2020–2021 academic year The Daily Iowan transitioned from printing daily to producing a print edition of the paper twice a week and publishing stories online daily. It has consistently won a number of collegiate journalism awards, including six National Pacemaker Awards in 2000, 2001, 2006, 2008, 2013, and 2020. The Daily Iowan was named Newspaper of the Year by the Iowa Newspaper Association four times, including in 2020 and 2021.
Paul Hamilton Engle, was an American poet, editor, teacher, literary critic, novelist, and playwright. He is remembered as the long-time director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and as co-founder of the International Writing Program (IWP), both at the University of Iowa.
Washington High School is a public high school in Cedar Rapids, in the U.S. state of Iowa. Built in 1956, it is named in honor of the oldest high school in Cedar Rapids.
The Iowa City Press-Citizen is a daily newspaper published in Iowa City, Iowa, United States that serves most of Johnson County and portions of surrounding counties. Its primary competitors are The Gazette of Cedar Rapids, which has a news bureau in Iowa City, and The Daily Iowan, the University of Iowa's student newspaper.
Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin is the former CEO of Agriprocessors, a now-bankrupt kosher slaughterhouse and meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa, formerly owned by his father, Aaron Rubashkin. During his time as CEO of the plant, Agriprocessors grew into one of the nation's largest kosher meat producers, but was also cited for issues involving animal cruelty, food safety, environmental safety, child labor, and hiring undocumented immigrants.
Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America (ISBN 0156013363) is a 2000 book by journalist Stephen G. Bloom. The book documents the struggle between the small town of Postville, Iowa, and a group of new arrivals: Lubavitcher Hasidim from New York City who came to the town to run Agriprocessors, the largest kosher meat plant in the United States.
Agriprocessors was the corporate identity of a slaughterhouse and meat-packaging factory based in Postville, Iowa, best known as a facility for the glatt kosher processing of cattle, as well as chicken, turkey, duck, and lamb. Agriprocessors' meat and poultry products were marketed under the brand Iowa Best Beef. Its kosher products were marketed under various labels, including Aaron’s Best, Shor Habor, Supreme Kosher, and Rubashkins.
The Iowa Department of Education sets the standards for all public institutions of education in Iowa and accredits private as well as public schools. It is headquartered in Des Moines.
The environment of Iowa has been heavily affected by agricultural production since it became a U.S. state in 1846. However, there remain natural areas in Iowa that reflect a wide varieties of environmental niches.
John M. Ely, Jr. was an American Democratic politician, purchasing agent, and civil rights activist who served two terms in the Iowa House of Representatives and Iowa State Senate from 1961 to 1969. Ely was instrumental in abolishing capital punishment in Iowa.
The Iowa Masonic Library and Museum, located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States, is one of the largest Masonic libraries in the world and incorporates at least three museum collections. The library was the first, worldwide, to have its own building, which was constructed in 1884. Its current building, constructed in 1955, also houses the administrative offices for the Grand Lodge of Iowa, one of the governing bodies for Freemasonry in Iowa.
The Northern Iowan is a student newspaper at the University of Northern Iowa. It is published weekly, on Wednesday and distributed around campus, College Hill, and downtown Cedar Falls free of charge. The paper publishes articles on campus news and events, the university's sports programs, and student opinion pieces. The name of the paper has changed over the years. It was called the Students Offering from 1888–1889, the Normal Eye from 1892–1911, the College Eye from 1911–1967, and the Northern Iowan from 1967–present.
Stephanie Marie Rose is the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. She is the first female judge to serve in the Southern District.
Daniel Lundby is an American politician from Linn County, Iowa. He represented the 68th district in the Iowa House of Representatives for a single term from 2013 to 2015 as a Democrat.
Nathan Hill is an American fiction writer and former news reporter. He won the 2016 Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for his novel The Nix.