Alexander Heffner, a graduate of Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. and an undergraduate at Harvard University, is president of Scoop Media and editor-in-chief of ScoopDaily. Heffner was editor-in-chief of Scoop08, the first-ever online national student newspaper covering the 2008 presidential election. He is political director 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. In 2007, Heffner served as an online writer for Columbia Journalism Review. He has been interviewed about President Obama, generational issues, and American youth by CNN, CBS, C-SPAN, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and Reuters, among other outlets.

Blog Entries by Alexander Heffner

It's A Marriage -- Journalists and Citizen Journalists

Posted October 1, 2009 | 07:00 AM (EST)


A new series of Newseum-sponsored panels is featuring mostly old-guard media luminaries, those quickly trying to acclimate -- and in some cases, struggling to adapt (at least profitably or intelligently) -- to the brave new world of journalism circa 2009.

The next generation of online journalists and news consumers are...

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Obama: The Gun Industry's Best Friend?

3 Comments | Posted June 22, 2009 | 04:10 PM (EST)


Cross-posted at Scoop44 by political contributor Diane Kahng.

A solidly reported story on a vastly under-reported issue, where the Fourth Estate has been derelict of duty and not kept the Obama White House honest.

President Obama has accomplished the amazing: his administration has seized gun owners by...
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Change (And Action) They Still Believe In

1 Comments | Posted June 21, 2009 | 12:11 PM (EST)


Over 70 percent of young voters between ages 18 and 24 believe that President Barack Obama's message of change has matched his actions in office, according to those polled in a recent Zogby/Scoop44 survey (6/12-15).

In the expanded under-30 demographic, nearly two-thirds of young voters say that Obama's policies as...

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HUD Secretary Demands 'Right Kind of Ownership'

1 Comments | Posted June 16, 2009 | 12:20 PM (EST)


With the prospect of sunnier days ahead, Shaun Donovan, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said failure could breed a nation of cynics in an exclusive interview with Scoop44.

In a change of tone from the Bush years, Donovan wants Americans to "get back to the basics," in terms of...

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Obama's Law: The Future of the Supreme Court

1 Comments | Posted May 1, 2009 | 01:09 AM (EST)


Obama's Law: The Future of The Supreme Court -- here's the full story on Scoop44.

The President's Supreme Court Short List: Merrick Garland, Elena Kagan, Pamela Karlan, Harold Koh, Deval Patrick, Sonia Sotomayor, Kathleen Sullivan, Cass Sunstein, David Tatel, Kim Wardlaw, Diane Wood -- Woman Nominee A Near...

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Giving Change a Grade - April Edition

Posted April 2, 2009 | 06:08 PM (EST)


An ongoing monthly feature on Scoop44 grading change in the Obama Administration -- also accessible here. This month gives Obama an averaged 6.9 ... or 7 out of 10 in our conversation's with leading writers, politicians, and newsmakers.

Bob Kerrey, fmr. U.S. Senator (NE-D): 10
"On...

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Turning to a New Generation to Solve the News Crisis

Posted March 25, 2009 | 11:46 AM (EST)


Arne Duncan, President Obama's secretary of education, recently testified to Congress that the administration is poised to "lay the foundation for a generation of reform."

As Mr. Duncan tries to lead these changes inside the government, our challenge as journalists is equally formidable: transforming our practice on the Internet, as...

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Obama's Generational Investment in Education

Posted March 11, 2009 | 12:56 PM (EST)


In a story that deserves a Huff Post big news page itself, President Obama unveiled yesterday his proposal to reinvest in America's crumbling education infrastructure. It was a speech that should have been covered top-of-the-fold in the Times, Post, and Globe.

If the President's hyperbolic language on the economic...

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The State of the Nation, Facebook, and How Technology Has Made Politics Fun

Posted March 3, 2009 | 09:30 AM (EST)


One of our political correspondents at Scoop44, Liz Cermak, wrote up a terrific review of the recent CNN/Facebook collaboration during President Obama's quasi-State of the Union. She recounts the history of past transformative new media and their impact on American political life, analyzing the future of Internet-based communication...

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Why Scoop44? A New Generation / A New Politics

Posted February 18, 2009 | 04:55 AM (EST)


Today, young people across America launched Scoop44.

President Barack Obama made generational change and young people, together, the very centerpiece of his campaign. Now his Administration must find ways to continue to engage those millions of young Americans who participated at unprecedented levels this election cycle. No substantive...

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The Rhetoric Men

Posted January 29, 2009 | 06:30 PM (EST)


Two veteran political speechwriters, JFK's prominent aide and Obama mentor Theodore Sorensen and LBJ press secretary Bill Moyers, felt loud vibrations of the 1960 presidential campaign as Barack Obama campaigned for the presidency.

As Sorensen noted in an interview, "The primary campaign political climate of 2008 [was] much like that...

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A Year After Iowa

Posted January 3, 2009 | 01:45 AM (EST)


The improbable, the unimaginable, the unthinkable...and today, the reality. Already, memories of, if anything, an unprecedented 2008 campaign.

One year ago across the Hawkeye State on that frigid January 3rd, Barack Obama's long-shot presidential bid grew a political heartbeat. "Obama wins Iowa as candidate for change," read CNN.com....

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A Vision for Obama's WhiteHouse.Gov

Posted December 21, 2008 | 04:53 PM (EST)


Take a moment and visit our current Chief Executive's virtual office at WhiteHouse.Gov.

Now turn to President-Elect Obama's transition Website at Change.Gov, also an official government site.

Does the difference rock you like this weekend's Northeastern blizzard? The current White House site welcomes visitors to the Oval with...

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A McCain Court: Likely Less Than Maverick

Posted April 9, 2008 | 03:28 PM (EST)


Unlike Sens. Clinton and Obama, John McCain is not a lawyer. However, his years in lawmaking as an Arizona Congressman and Senator surpass those of his two prospective opponents combined.

Over his two decades in Congress, McCain has been called a maverick, one whose views do not always take...

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