| Erik Wemple | |
| Alma Mater: | Hamilton College |
| Occupation: | Media critic |
Erik Wemple is an American journalist who works as a columnist and media critic at The Washington Post. He was formerly the editor of the alternative weekly Washington City Paper.
One of three sons of longtime Schenectady, New York-based Republican-Conservative New York State Assemblyman Clark C. Wemple,[1] he was raised in nearby Niskayuna, New York[2] and attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, graduating in 1986.[3]
Wemple began contributing articles to the Washington City Paper in the late 1990s. From January 1999 to November 2000, Wemple wrote the paper's political column, "Loose Lips", before becoming editor.[4] Previously, he was Washington correspondent for Inside.com and CableWorld magazine.[4]
In 2004, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies awarded Wemple and Josh Levin an Alternative Newsweekly Award for their article "Off Target", published in Washington City Paper.[5]
In June 2006, Wemple accepted the editor-in-chief position at The Village Voice. A month later, he announced he would not assume the position, stating that "the paper's ownership and I have failed to come to terms in our many discussions about moving forward, particularly with respect to newsroom management."[6]
In February 2010, Wemple informed the staff of the Washington City Paper that he was leaving to be the new editor of TBD.com.[7]
In 2013, J. K. Trotter of Gawker Media declared Wemple a "hero", and that "like a deeply embedded anthropologist, Wemple scours Washington media (and, not infrequently, their New York counterparts) for hypocrisy, excess, and corruption. He's the anti-Mike Allen, frequently piercing the Politico's madman's self-inflating bubble of hype at the moment it threatens to blot out the sun."[8]
In February 2017, Wemple appeared on Tucker Carlsons show to discuss media bias. In the interview Carlson criticized Wemple for not covering mistakes made by The Washington Post where Wemple worked.[9] [10] In 2021, Carlson criticized Wemple for contacting several of his college classmates and attempting to find "naughty" things he had done when he was 19. Carlson compared Wemple's investigation into him to that of investigations politicians subject their political opponents to.[11] In 2022, after Wemple wrote a opinion column about the allegations of nepotism against Carlson son Buckley Carlson. He reportedly reached out to Carlson for comment regarding the allegations against his son and responded "normal people understand it’s wrong to go after a man’s family, but you don’t because you’re a soulless ghoul who literally works for Jeff Bezos. Go fuck yourself".[12] [13]
Wemple is married to Stephanie Mencimer, who, as of 2018, worked as a staff reporter in the Washington office of Mother Jones.[14]