Adam Penenberg

Adam L. Penenberg

Associate Professor | Director, Online Master’s in Journalism Program

B.A., Economics, Reed College

In a wide-ranging career as a writer, editor, columnist, and film producer, Professor Penenberg has written for Fast Company, Forbes, the New York Times, Washington Post, Wired, Slate, Playboy, and the Economist. A former senior editor at Forbes and a reporter for Forbes.com, Penenberg garnered national attention in 1998 for unmasking serial fabricator Stephen Glass of the New Republic. Penenberg’s story was a watershed for online investigative journalism and portrayed in the film Shattered Glass (Steve Zahn plays Penenberg). He wrote the popular “Media Hack” column for Wired News, was a columnist for Slate, and a contributing writer to Fast Company magazine.

Penenberg has published several books that have been optioned for film and serialized in the New York Times Magazine, Wired UK, USA Today, Fast Company and the Financial Times, and he recently produced his first feature film, BEATBOX. His cover story on privacy for Forbes magazine was read into the Congressional Record during hearings on privacy and he won a Deadline Club Award for feature reporting for his Fast Company story “Revenge of the Nerds,” which looked at the future of movie-making. Penenberg has appeared on NBC’s The Today Show as well as on CNN and all the major news networks, and has been quoted about media and technology in the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, New York Times, Wired News, Ad Age, Marketwatch, Politico, and many others.

 
 

Published Articles & Essays

Fast Company
January 20th, 2017
How This CEO Got Caught Up In the Clinton Email Scandal
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Sky Rivals: Two Men. Two Planes. An Epic Race Around the World
January 28th, 2016
Sky Rivals: Two Men. Two Planes. An Epic Race Around the World
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Fast Company
October 30th, 2015
How Making A Movie Is Like Launching A Startup
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Medium
January 5th, 2015
The Troll’s Lawyer
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Pando Daily
October 18th, 2014
GM’s hit and run: How a lawyer, mechanic, and engineer blew open the worst auto scandal in history
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Pando Daily
February 23rd, 2014
Follow the blood money: Exposing the secret US banking operations that help fund suicide bombers
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Pando Daily
October 26th, 2013
I challenged hackers to investigate me and what they found out is chilling
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
The Washington Post
January 28th, 2011
WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange: ‘Anarchist,’ ‘agitator,’ ‘arrogant’ and a journalist
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Fast Company
September 3rd, 2010
The $131M Ford Rollover Death Verdict That Twitter Broke
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Fast Company
July 1st, 2010
Social Networking Affects Brains Like Falling in Love
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Viral Loops
September 1st, 2009
Viral Loops
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Fast Company
May 1st, 2008
Ning’s Infinite Ambition
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Fast Company
February 1st, 2007
Can’t Touch This
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Mother Jones
October 10th, 2006
Is Google Evil?
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Fast Company
July 1st, 2006
Revenge of the Nerds
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Fast Company
March 6th, 2006
Technology: Boom, Bust, and Beyond
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Slate Publication Logo
December 15th, 2005
Apple’s Next Move
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor
Wired
May 1st, 2005
Media Hack
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor