Alexander Heffner - Works Cited

BIO / ARTICLES / RADIO / TV

Email aheffner (at) fas.harvard.edu. Tweet @ heffnera.

ALEXANDER HEFFNER, a graduate of Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. and a senior studying history at Harvard, is a freelance journalist, political broadcaster and native New Yorker. Heffner founded and edited SCOOP08/44, the first-ever online national student newspapers covering the 2008 presidential election and the Obama administration. For two years, he directed a nonprofit civic education and journalism initiative, designing and teaching a summer enrichment course in two under-served New York City classrooms. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Boston Globe (and its Sunday Magazine), Philadelphia Inquirer, Newsday and RealClearPolitics, among other newspapers and magazines. He has also blogged media criticism for Columbia Journalism Review. He was political director and correspondent for WHRB 95.3 FM, Harvard's radio station, and host and managing editor of The Political Arena with Alexander Heffner, a Sunday afternoon public affairs broadcast. He has been interviewed about American politics, education and other stories in the news by The New York Times, Reuters, CNN, C-SPAN, FOX News and MSNBC.

Live reporting & analysis on BBC America, CBS, CNN (inaugurally and later), C-SPAN and Martha Stewart / Coverage of SCOOP08's birth in The New York Times, National Review and BBC; chronicles of its campaign impact in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, McClatchy Newspapers and PBS / Talks at Harvard and Bryn Mawr / Co-authored eighth edition of A Documentary History of the United States (New American Library, 2009)

The Political Arena, the erstwhile (for now) public affairs and politics broadcast, aired on WHRB and WPAA.

Coverage of Election Night 2008; Past Editions: 1, 2, 3, 4

"Heffner's questions were superb — professional and to the point."
- Jim Lehrer, Executive Editor & Anchor, PBS's "The NewsHour"

"The topic of conversation was my new book on the Middle East. The level of the discussion matched the most in-depth interviews I had conducted on the topic with leading media programs."
- Vali Nasr, Professor of International Politics, Tufts University

"Heffner is a rising star. Heffner is without a doubt one of the most thorough and thoughtful political hosts in the country — at any age. He is exceptionally well-prepared, talented and extremely resourceful. Heffner’s personal style brings the best elements of Edward R. Murrow, Jim Lehrer and Chris Matthews together to create his own unique brand of political journalism for the next generation."
- Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)

"Heffner is as well informed as any so-called professional talk show host and it was a pleasure chatting him up and trying like heck NOT to get stumped by him."
- Chuck Todd, Chief White House Correspondent & Political Director, NBC News