Robert Miraldi is an award-winning journalist and author who has taught at the State University of New York's College at New Paltz for 23 years. He is a popular professor who teaches both advanced and introductory newswriting classes, along with classes on the history and law of the press. His specialty is “muckraking” or investigative journalism about which he has written two books.
Miraldi came to New Paltz in 1983 after nearly a decade as a reporter and two years teaching journalism at St. John's University in New York City. He has served as Chair of the Department of Communication and Media and overseen the Journalism Program for many years. In 1992 he was a Fulbright Scholar, lecturing on the American press in the Netherlands.
In the fall of 2003 his book, The Pen Is Mightier: the Muckraking Life of Charles Edward Russell, was published by Palgrave/St. Martin’s Press. The book was named the best book in the country in journalism and mass media by Kappa Tau Alpha, the national college honor society. The biography recreates the turbulent and controversial life of a forgotten but once-famous turn-of-the-century investigative reporter who wrote 31 books and hundreds of magazine articles. Russell (1860-1941) won the Pulitzer Prize in 1927.
PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION
Professor Miraldi’s most recent book is an anthology that collects 50 years of stories written by author Roger Kahn. Entitled Beyond the Boys of Summer: The Very Best of Roger Kahn, the book was published in the spring of 2005 by McGraw-Hill and received sterling reviews. ‘
Before coming to New Paltz, Miraldi was a reporter for the Staten Island Advance in New York City. Working at this 100,000-circulation daily newspaper, he wrote about the mentally disabled, institutional care of the aged, and the environment. His reporting earned numerous awards.
From 1992 to 2000 he wrote a column of commentary on freedom of speech for the Poughkeepsie Journal, a daily newspaper in New York's Hudson Valley. This monthly column has won numerous national and state awards.
Dr. Miraldi’s first book, Muckraking and Objectivity: Journalism's Colliding Traditions, was published by Greenwood Press in 1991. He then edited an anthology, The Muckrakers: Evangelical Crusaders, which was published in the fall of 2000.
CSB 48
75 South Manheim Blvd.
New Paltz, New York 12561
Phone: 845-257-3460 or 257-3450
Fax: 845-257-3461
miraldir@newpaltz.edu
53452 Mass Media Law
53464 Press in America
53313 Public Affairs Reporting
53393 Muckraking Journalism
53315 Public Relations
B.A., Political Science, SUNY Oneonta, 1972
M.S., Journalism, Boston University, 1974
Ph.D., American Studies, NYU, 1985
Reporter, Staten Island Advance, 1974-1980
Public Relations Counsel, New York State Assembly, 1980-1982
Columnist, Free speech column, Poughkeepsie Journal, 1992-present
