Photo: twitter
Eric Boehlert, celebrated journalist who foundedPress Run Media, has died. He was 57.
Fellow journalistSoledad O’Brienconfirmed Wednesday that Boehlert died in a bike accident.
“He was an amazing guy. I can’t believe it,” O’Brien, 55, tells PEOPLE. Adding that Boehlert initially reached out to her to look at Press Run ahead of its launch, saying, “I thought it was genius” and going on to call it a “very viable and successful” site that championed truthful and unbiased media.
On Wednesday morning, O’Brien tweeted, “Just got crushing news from Tracy Breslin, wife of @EricBoehlert Has died in a bike accident, age 57.”
“He fought to rescue journalism and democracy, which need saving. Worked at Rolling Stone, Billboard, founded Media Matters and Salon, Pressrun on Substack,” she wrote in a subsequenttweet. “Brutal to bad media on twitter, sweetest guy in real life”.
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In addition to being a frequent commentator on politics and the media on CNN and CNBC, Boehlert was a founding editor of Salon, a fellow with Media Matters, and had written forRolling StoneandBillboardmagazines, among others.
BothSalonandMedia Mattersreleased statements on Boehlert’s death, with Salon writing, “His passing is a huge loss to media criticism and progressive journalism.”
Boehlert also wrote two books,Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush, published in 2006, andBloggers on the Bus, from 2009.
Hillary Clintontweetedabout Boehlert’s death, writing on Wednesday, “@EricBoehlert’s death is terrible news. I’m devastated for his family and friends and will miss his critical work to counteract misinformation and media bias. What a loss.”
Boehlert was a longtime resident of Montclair, and was married to wife Breslin for 29 years, northjersey.com reports.
source: people.com
