Top History Journalists in USA (2025)

For over 15 years, Bryan Marquard has served as The Boston Globe’s obituary editor, transforming the genre into a mirror reflecting New England’s social conscience. His profiles prioritize unsung individuals whose lives shaped the region’s civil rights, media, and academic landscapes.

Pitching Insights

• Focus Areas:
  • Civil Rights History: Seeks stories connecting personal activism to institutional change
  • Journalism Legacy: Profiles of reporters who redefined local accountability
  • Academic Leadership: Educators whose reforms impacted community access
• Avoid: Celebrity tributes, corporate executives without community ties, partisan political figures

Career Highlights

• Authored 2,000+ obituaries since 2008
• Key contributor to The Boston Globe’s 2014 Pulitzer-winning team
• Recipient of the 2022 Narrative Journalism Innovator Award

Feliks Banel is KIRO Newsradio’s resident historian and a leading voice in Pacific Northwest cultural preservation. With three decades of experience across museums, radio, and digital media, he specializes in:

Core Coverage Areas

• Regional History: Deep dives into Washington’s social, industrial, and environmental past
• Media Innovation: Preservation and evolution of radio as a storytelling medium
• Cultural Preservation: Documenting endangered traditions and landmarks

Pitching Preferences

Banel prioritizes stories that:

• Connect current events to historical patterns (e.g., tech boom comparisons to 1890s gold rushes)
• Incorporate multimedia elements like archival audio/visual materials
• Highlight underrepresented communities’ historical contributions

“History isn’t just about dates - it’s the breathing connection between who we were and who we’re becoming.”

Recent recognitions include a 2016 Northwest Regional Emmy and the 2019 Charles Payton Award for historical communication. His work continues to shape how Northwesterners understand their shared heritage.

John J. Geoghegan is a journalist and author renowned for chronicling "White Elephant Technology"—ambitious inventions that falter commercially. His work in Smithsonian Magazine and books like White Elephant Technology (2024) blends historical analysis with narratives of human ambition. Geoghegan’s expertise spans military history, obsolete innovations, and the cultural drivers of failure.

Pitching Guidance

• Seek: Pre-1980s prototypes, patent archives, inventor memoirs.
• Avoid: Silicon Valley success stories or incremental tech updates.

Achievements

• Featured in PBS/Smithsonian documentaries for his work on WWII-era technology.
• Recurring commentator on innovation ethics in academic circles.

Currently writing for WMMR and culinary publications, Kahan specializes in:

• Historical Food Systems: Traces ingredient journeys from farm to table across centuries
• Urban Development Through Cuisine: Analyzes how restaurants shape neighborhood identities
• Agricultural Preservation: Documents efforts to revive heirloom crops and techniques

Pitching Insights

Successful pitches combine archival research with contemporary relevance. Recent award-winning work includes:

• Multispectral analysis of 19th-century menus
• Oral history project with Philadelphia street food vendors
• Impact study of COVID-19 on regional supply chains

Avoid pitches focused on celebrity chefs or viral food trends. Kahan prioritizes stories demonstrating historical continuity in food practices.

For 30 years, Richard Ruelas has shaped The Arizona Republic’s coverage of cultural evolution and civic accountability. His reporting blends investigative rigor with narrative flair, particularly when examining:

• Historical Continuity: Tracing modern policy decisions to their roots in Arizona’s territorial days
• Immigration Realities: Documenting both enforcement strategies and human impacts
• Agricultural Innovation: Profiling industries adapting to climate challenges

Pitching Priorities

• Provide access to primary sources (court documents, historical records)
• Suggest local angles to national trends with verifiable data
• Highlight multimedia components for cross-platform storytelling

Recent Impact: His 2025 investigation into immigration enforcement practices prompted legislative reviews of ICE tip-line protocols, demonstrating how local journalism drives systemic accountability.