{{Short description|American former journalist}} {{about other people|the American journalist|James Meek}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox writer | name = James Gordon Meek | birth_date = {{birth date|1969|8|24}} | birth_place = | citizenship = American | image = | occupation = Journalist | spouse = Divorced{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}<!--sources indicate marriage, but not divorce--><ref>James Gordon Meek, ''Gridlock Magazine'', September 11, 2002. [https://web.archive.org/web/20040827050459/http://gridlockmag.com/911anniversary/pg3.html 9/11 First Anniversary], archive.org. Accessed July 30, 2023.</ref> | children = two daughters<ref>{{cite web|last1=Flood|first1=Brian|last2=Hays|first2=Gabriel|title=Ex-ABC News journalist James Gordon Meek sentenced to six years in prison for 'sadistic' child porn|url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/ex-abc-news-journalist-james-gordon-meek-sentenced-six-years-prison-sadistic-child-porn|website=Fox News|date=September 29, 2023}}</ref> }}
'''James Gordon Meek''' (born August 24, 1969) is an American former ABC News senior producer and senior counter-terrorism advisor to the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ford |first=David |title=ABC News Expands its Award-Winning Investigative Unit |url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/04/abc-news-expands-its-award-winning-investigative-unit |work=ABC News |date=April 29, 2013 }}</ref><ref name=SS /> During his time as a journalist, Meek held prominent positions covering the justice system, military, and foreign intelligence desks.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hays|first=Gabriel|title=Feds recommend 15-year prison sentence for ex ABC News journalist guilty of sadistic' child porn|url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/feds-recommend-15-year-prison-sentence-ex-abc-news-reporter-guilty-sadistic-child-porn|website=Fox News|date=September 26, 2023}}</ref><ref>News Media Yellow Book. (2008). United States: Monitor Leadership Directories, Incorporated.</ref>
In 2022, his home was raided by the FBI, in what was later revealed to be an investigation into child pornography.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cartwright|first=Lachlan|title=FBI Raid on ABC News Bigshot Producer Wasn't Tied to His Work|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/fbi-raid-on-abc-news-producer-james-gordon-meek-wasnt-tied-to-his-work|website=Daily Beast|date=October 24, 2022}}</ref> In 2023, Meek was arrested on charges of transportation and possession of child pornography.<ref name=RizzoCharged>{{cite news |last1=Rizzo |first1=Salvador |title=Former ABC News journalist charged in child pornography case |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/02/01/james-gordon-meek-journalist-child-pornopgraphy/ |access-date=5 March 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=1 February 2023}}</ref><ref name=Shanfeld/> Later that year, he pleaded guilty to those charges<ref>{{cite web|last=Battaglio|first=Stephen|title=Former ABC News producer pleads guilty in child pornography case|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-07-21/former-abc-news-producer-pleads-guilty-in-child-pornography-case|website=Los Angeles Times|date=July 21, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Barakat|first=Matthew|title=Ex-ABC News reporter pleads guilty in Virginia court to child porn charges|url=https://richmond.com/news/state-regional/crime-courts/ex-abc-news-reporter-pleads-guilty-in-virginia-court-to-child-porn-charges/article_c1bf7d60-27ed-11ee-8ca5-f7744a166409.html|website=Richmond Times-Dispatch|date=July 22, 2023}}</ref> and was sentenced to six years in prison.<ref name=RizzoSentence>{{cite news|last=Rizzo|first=Salvador|title=Former ABC News journalist gets 6-year sentence in child pornography case|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/09/29/child-porn-meek-journalist-sentenced/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 29, 2023}}</ref><ref name=APSep29>{{cite web|title=An ex-investigative journalist is sentenced to 6 years in a child sexual abuse materials case|url=https://apnews.com/article/abc-journalist-child-pornography-meek-sentence-2c6d2b23b6f0d66644d8c26fe75f0f85|website=Associated Press|date=September 29, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Wheeler|first=Marcy|title=James Gordon Meek and Merrick Garland's "Suspect Exception"|url=https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/04/25/james-gordon-meek-and-merrick-garlands-suspect-exception/|website=emptywheel|date=April 25, 2023}}</ref>
==Career== His father, John Martin Meek, had been a lobbyist and speechwriter for John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Bobby Kennedy.<ref name="odwyerPR">{{Cite web|url=https://www.odwyerpr.com/story/public/6514/2016-03-14/meek-former-edelman-executive-washington-speechwriter-dies-at-86.html|title=PR News | Meek, Former Edelman Executive, Washington Speechwriter, Dies at 86|date=March 14, 2016|website=odwyerpr.com}}</ref>
Meek initially wrote political articles for the CD-ROM magazine ''Blender'', leading to 1995 accreditation with the Periodical Press Galleries.<ref>Inheriting the Meek. (1996). Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.</ref><ref name="spj">Society of Professional Journalists, [https://www.spj.org/pdf/pkr2000.pdf Credentialing for Online Journalists], October 2000</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kurtz |first1=Howard |title=Talk That's Anything But Cheap |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/12/18/talk-thats-anything-but-cheap/62f3a283-9895-4903-a389-d5034d1cf1c0/ |access-date=6 March 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=18 December 1995}}</ref> Meek and his partner Mike Rosenberg formed the "irreverent" ''Gridlock'' webzine to apply for accreditation to the Senate Periodical Press Gallery but were denied as the webzine could not be the pair's primary source of income.<ref name="spj" /><ref>eBay Magazine, Issue 1, Premiere, "2000 Election", 1999</ref> In August 1996, both men were "shown the door" by ''Blender'' for a "poor attitude".<ref>{{cite web |date=2000-05-25 |title=UPI's Gridlock & Load {{!}} 2nd ANNIVERSARY BUZZ |url=http://gridlockmag.com/yeartwo/bestof.html |access-date=2023-04-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000525100731/http://gridlockmag.com/yeartwo/bestof.html |archive-date=May 25, 2000 }}</ref> Meek was the last person to interview William Colby, for a story on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, as the former CIA director was found dead days later.<ref>[https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,984655,00.html Colby's Video Goodbye], TIME.com. Accessed July 30, 2023.</ref>
Meek and Rosenberg then founded "Digital Culture Interactive News", which wrote stories about their ''Gridlock'' webzine, and sent submissions to ''Reader's Digest''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gridlockmag.com/miker.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030419121514/http://www.gridlockmag.com/miker.html | archive-date=April 19, 2003 | title=DCi Newshound Mike Rosenberg }}</ref><ref>Rogers, Jim. "Facing Terror: The Government's Response to Contemporary Extremists in America", pg. 104</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://ajrarchive.org/Article.asp?id=1193 | title=American Journalism Review - Archives }}</ref> Meek was thanked in the EPA director's 2000 book on the subject of Public relations.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rene A. Henry |date=2000 |title=You'd better have a hose if you want to put out the fire |url=https://archive.org/details/youdbetterhaveho0000henr |publication-place=Windsor, CA |publisher=Gollywobbler Productions |isbn=096745350X |lccn=99095476 |ol=61434M}}</ref>
Meek wrote extensively on the death of Dave Sharrett II, whose father had taught Meek at Langley High School.<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert M. Poole |date=2014 |title=Section 60 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |url=https://archive.org/details/section60arlingt0000pool |isbn=9781620402931 |lccn=2014017528 |oclc=860754995 |ol=27168136M}}</ref><ref name="jackson">{{cite news |last1=Jackman |first1=Tom |title=A closer look at those in the Dave Sharrett case |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-state-of-nova/post/a-closer-look-at-those-in-the-dave-sharrett-case/2012/02/24/gIQAOQbSaR_blog.html |access-date=5 March 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=February 26, 2012}}</ref><ref name=SS>{{cite book |title=Operation Pineapple Express |date=August 30, 2022 |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Operation-Pineapple-Express/Scott-Mann/9781668003534 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=9781668003534 |access-date=October 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117101323/https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Operation-Pineapple-Express/Scott-Mann/9781668003534 |archive-date=17 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Meek wrote of his "deep friendship" with the family of Caitlan Coleman, and is a personal friend of constitutional lawyer Mark Zaid.<ref name="obit">{{cite web |title=Jim Coleman, father of ex-Taliban hostage, was a man of honor: Reporter's Notebook |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/jim-coleman-father-taliban-hostage-man-honor-reporters/story?id=78998031 |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref><ref name="npr.org">{{cite web |first=David |last=Folkenflik |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/03/21/1164360143/rolling-stone-fbi-raid-journalist-james-gordon-meek |title=The FBI raided a notable journalist's home. Rolling Stone didn't tell readers why |publisher=NPR |date=March 21, 2023}}</ref> [[File:James Gordon Meek homeland security.png|thumb|left|In addition to his duties as a senior advisor, Meek was also the senior investigator for the House Committee on Homeland Security, and in May 2011 was sent to tour the ADX Florence supermax prison, and "cementing ties with Navy SEAL, Special Operations Command, Pentagon lead on front lines".<ref>{{Cite web| title=Letter to Chairman Daniel E. Lungren | url=https://cha.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/cha.house.gov/files/11_05_homeland_security.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114020649/https://cha.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/cha.house.gov/files/11_05_homeland_security.pdf | archive-date=2022-11-14}}</ref>]] From 2005 to 2006, Meek helped Peter Bergen and Bergen's wife, Tresha Mabile, release the best-selling book ''The Osama bin Laden I Know''.<ref>Peter L. Bergen, The Osama bin Laden I know: an oral history of al-Qaeda's leader (New York, Free Press, 2006), ( {{ISBN|0743278917}}/ {{ISBN|9780743278911}}), pg. xxxiii.</ref> Legal author Stuart Taylor Jr. accused Meek of "classist" coverage falsely suggesting guilt of the wrongly-accused defendants in the 2006 Duke lacrosse case.<ref>''Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case'' (2010), United Kingdom: St. Martin's Press.</ref>
In 2011, Meek was hired as a senior counter-terrorism investigator for the House Committee on Homeland Security, although he was unsure why Congressman Peter King had spontaneously offered him the position as he had not sought any such employment—though Meek noted he'd written widely on terrorism and his third cousin's wife had been killed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.<ref>Meek, James Gordon. "What Is War", p.202, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047425816_016</ref><ref name="jackson" /><ref name=RizzoCharged/><ref name="observer.com">{{cite web |date=2011-02-17 |title=Daily News' Terror Scribe Joins Peter King's Court; 'It's Kind of Like Working In a Think Tank' |url=https://observer.com/2011/02/idaily-newsi-terror-scribe-joins-peter-kings-court-its-kind-of-like-working-in-a-think-tank/ |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=Observer |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2013, Meek was hired as a senior investigative producer for ABC News' ''20/20'', ''Good Morning America'', ''ABC World News Tonight'' and ''Nightline'' programming from 2013 to 2022.<ref name=Shanfeld>{{cite web |last=Shanfeld |first=Ethan |date=2023-02-01 |title=Former ABC News Producer Arrested on Child Pornography Charge |url=https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/former-abc-news-producer-arrested-child-pornography-james-gordon-meek-1235509508/ |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=James Gordon Meek News Stories and Articles |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Author/James_Gordon_Meek |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref><ref name=RizzoCharged/><ref>{{cite web |title=ABC News Expands its Award-Winning Investigative Unit |url=http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/04/abc-news-expands-its-award-winning-investigative-unit |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref> In 2017 Meek wrote an article about Russian disinformation in the Syrian war wherein he referred to "the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory", which drew viral attention with exaggerated suggestions Meek had said much more,{{Clarify|date=December 2024}} after his guilty plea to judge Claude Hilton.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.arlnow.com/2023/07/21/former-journalist-who-lived-on-columbia-pike-pleads-guilty-to-child-sexual-abuse-material-possession/|title=Former journalist who lived on Columbia Pike pleads guilty to child sexual abuse material possession | ARLnow.com|date=July 21, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/analysts-identify-syriahoax-russian-fueled-propaganda/story?id=46787674|title='Behind #SyriaHoax and the Russian propaganda onslaught'|first1=Brian|last1=Ross|first2=Megan|last2=Christie|first3=James|last3=Meek|work=ABC News|date=April 13, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-abc-pizzagate/fact-check-fabricated-new-york-post-headline-on-ex-abc-journalist-idUSL1N39W381 | title=Fact Check-Fabricated New York Post headline on ex-ABC journalist | newspaper=Reuters | date=August 15, 2023 }}</ref>
Meek appeared as a panelist, together with Ewen and Coleman, at the 2021 Double Exposure Film Festival.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/11/movies/3212-un-redacted-review.html|title='3212 Un-Redacted' Review: Trying to Solve a Mission's Mysteries|first=Ben|last=Kenigsberg|work=The New York Times |date=November 11, 2021}}</ref> According to ''Fox News'', although he never served in the military, he chose to dress in "typical military-style getup" .<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/abc-news-reporter-james-gordon-meek-resigned-very-abruptly-following-alleged-fbi-raid-of-home | title=ABC News reporter James Gordon Meek 'resigned very abruptly' following alleged FBI raid of home | website=Fox News | date=October 19, 2022 }}</ref>
==Child pornography prosecution== In 2021, Meek was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for crimes related to child pornography.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Graziosi |first=Graig |date=2023-02-01 |title=Ex-ABC News producer arrested and charged with transporting child abuse materials |url=https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/abc-producer-james-gordon-meek-charged-b2273917.html |access-date=2023-10-01 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> He was charged with transporting child pornography in February of the following year. In July 2023, he pleaded guilty to one count of distribution and another of possessing child pornography.<ref name=APSep29 /> He was sentenced to six years in prison in September.<ref name=RizzoSentence/>
==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==External links== {{Commons category|James Gordon Meek}} *[https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67125601/united-states-v-meek/ United States v. Meek] on PACER/RECAP *{{Cite Pacer |plaintiff= United States |defendant= Meek|title= United States v. Meek |year= 2023 |case-division= |case-year=2023 |case-type= |case-sequence= |case-state=VA |case-district=ed |doc-number= |att-number= |pacer-number=536076 |access-date= |use-pacer= |use-recap=y |case-title= |recap-number=67125601 }} * {{IMDb name|8229289}} * {{C-SPAN|1009914}} *[https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1566416/download FBI Affidavit], circumstances surrounding arrest
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Meek, James Gordon}} Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:ABC News people Category:20th-century American male journalists Category:American people convicted of child pornography offenses Category:American sex offenders Category:New York Daily News people Category:20th-century American journalists Category:20th-century American male writers Category:21st-century American journalists Category:21st-century American male writers Category:21st-century American male journalists