Mark Trahant

Mark Trahant is a writer, teacher and a “Twitter poet.” He is a 2009-2010 Kaiser Media Fellow and will be writing about health care reform with the focus of learning from programs the government already operates, such as the Indian Health Service. Mark writes daily “news poems” on Twitter, four line rhymes based on current news events under the handle, “NewsRimes4lines.” He is the former editor of the editorial page for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer where he chaired the daily editorial board, directed a staff of writers, editors and a cartoonist. He has been chairman and chief executive officer at the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. The Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit is the country's premier institute for providing advanced training and services nationally to help news media reflect diversity in content, staffing and business operations. Trahant is a member of Idaho's Shoshone-Bannock Tribe and former president of the Native American Journalists Association. He also serves as a trustee of The Freedom Forum, a foundation that promotes free press, free speech and free spirit based in Arlington, Virginia. He is also a Trustee of the Diversity Institute, an affiliate of the Freedom Forum. Trahant was a juror for the Pulitzer Prize in 2004 and 2005.