Columnist beat his crack addiction
David Carr, a media columnist for The New York Times who overcame numerous battles with addiction to become one of the most respected U.S. journalists, died Thursday after collapsing in the newsroom, the Times says. He was 58.
“I am sorry to have to tell you that our wonderful, esteemed colleague David Carr died suddenly tonight after collapsing in the newsroom,” Times editor Dean Baquet wrote in a message to employees.
“He was the finest media reporter of his generation, a remarkable and funny man who was one of the leaders of our newsroom. He was our biggest champion, and his unending passion for journalism and for the truth will be missed by his family at The Times, by his readers around the world, and by people who love journalism.”
On Thursday evening, he had moderated a panel conversation that included NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, filmmaker Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald. Afterward, he collapsed at his office around 9 p.m.,
For more than two decades, Carr focused on media criticism, lacing his columns with incisive commentary and wit. For The New York Times, which he joined in 2002 as a business reporter writing on the magazine industry, he wrote the weekly Media Equation column.
Carr was never a man to put on airs. Born Sept. 8, 1956 in Hopkins, Minn., and raised in Minnesota, his authenticity and candour on everything from his clothing to his writing to his professional leadership forged an almost larger-thanlife personality that made him a recognizable figure in Washington.
“That’s what made him a really effective journalist,” said colleague Michael Schaffer.