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Amber Hunt (journalist)

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Amber Hunt
Born (1978-08-26) August 26, 1978 (age 46)[1][2]
NationalityAmerican
EducationWayne State University[1]
Occupation(s)Journalist, podcaster, author
Years active1996–present
EmployerThe Cincinnati Enquirer
Known forTrue crime reporting
Notable workAccused
SpouseElijah Van Benschoten 2012-2022[3]
Websitereporteramber.com

Amber Hunt (born August 26, 1978) is an American journalist, podcaster, and author known for reporting on true crime.

She is the host and co-creator of three true crime podcasts, Accused, Aftermath, and Crimes of the Centuries and has published four true crime books. As of February 2020, she works as an investigative reporter at The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Career

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After covering local news at small papers in Iowa and Michigan, Hunt was hired at the Detroit Free Press, where she covered crime for nearly eight years.[4] In 2005, she won the Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting from the University of Colorado at Boulder.[5] In 2007 and 2008, she appeared on NBC's Dateline program, first in an episode called "The Valentine's Day Mystery" [6] and then in "Disappearance at the Dairy Queen" (later renamed "The Case of the Girl Who Never Came Home.") [7]

Hunt's fourth book, released in December 2014, is The Kennedy Wives: Triumph and Tragedy in America's Most Public Family, co-written with longtime friend David Batcher.[8] The book was a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. As of December 11, 2014, it had a 4.5 rating on Goodreads.[9]

Hunt's first true crime book was Dead But Not Forgotten, released in August 2010, which examined the 1990 murder of Barbara George, a 32-year-old mother of two whose husband Michael was arrested in 2007 for the suburban Detroit shooting. Hunt's book, released prior to Michael George's second trial in the case, was accused of undermining the prosecution's key witness.[10] In Hunt's acknowledgments, she dedicated the book to her mother, who she wrote died of cancer when she was 12.

In 2011, Hunt was named a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan.[11] The same year, she was nominated as a Livingston Young Journalist for a series of stories written in 2010 about crime in the streets of Detroit.[12] In August 2011, Hunt's second true crime book All-American Murder was released. The book covered the alleged beating death of Yeardley Love, whose on-again, off-again boyfriend George Huguely V was charged in Love's May 2010 death.[13] She was set to have two non-fiction book releases in 2014: a true-crime account about the 2011 murders of Blake and Mary Jo Hadley, who were bludgeoned to death by their 17-year-old son, Tyler Hadley, in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and the book on the Kennedy family wives.[14] Hunt is also a photographer.[15] Referencing the question "Why are you drawn to crime?" during a talk for House of SpeakEasy's Seriously Entertaining program, Hunt said, "I'm not. I actually am repulsed by crime. It just so happens that I'm kind of good at covering crime. I think it's because I'm empathetic. And we all want to do something with our lives that we're good at, right?"[16]

In August 2011, the Associated Press announced its hiring of Hunt as news editor overseeing North and South Dakota.[1] In July 2013, she left the AP to become an investigative reporter with The Cincinnati Enquirer.[17] In June 2014, See How Much You Love Me: A Troubled Teen, His Devoted Parents, and a Cold-Blooded Killing was released by St. Martin's true crime imprint.[18] Hunt began teaching a journalism course at the University of Cincinnati in 2015.[19] In 2016, Hunt began a podcast called Accused, which was a critical and popular success that reached No. 1 on iTunes' list of podcasts.[20][21] In 2017, a second season of Accused was released. It focused on the 1987 murder of Retha Welch and the wrongful conviction of William Virgil. In 2018, she also reported and narrated a podcast called Aftermath about gun violence in America She returned to Accused for its third season, which ran from late December 2019 through January 2020. That season focused on the mysterious death of Dave Bocks in a uranium processing plant.

In April 2018, a photograph of Hunt depicted her celebrating with the Enquirer newsroom for its Pulitzer Prize win in the local reporting category.[22][23] Hunt was among more than 60 journalists whose work on a project titled "Seven Days of Heroin" won the award. The project had been spearheaded by Enquirer editor Peter Bhatia, who left that newsroom for the Detroit Free Press in August 2017.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Hunt named AP North and South Dakota news editor". Rapid City Journal. AP. August 23, 2011. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  2. ^ Hunt, Amber [@ReporterAmber] (August 26, 2019). "My birthday began with my husband having to physically haul my screaming, kicking, spitting 5yo into school this morning while other parents and kids stared at us. How's your day going?" (Tweet). Retrieved February 11, 2020 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "About Me". A + E Photography. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ "The Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting". CU Journalism & Mass Communication. University of Colorado at Boulder. January 1, 2011. Archived from the original on November 6, 2011. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
  6. ^ "Valentine's Day murder mystery". NBC News. February 29, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
  7. ^ "Disappearance at the Dairy Queen". NBC News. April 17, 2009. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
  8. ^ "Enquirer reporter's book examines Kennedy wives". The Cincinnati Enquirer. December 6, 2014.
  9. ^ "The Kennedy Wives: Triumph and Tragedy in America's Most Public Family by Amber Hunt". Goodreads. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  10. ^ "Book raises concerns about a key witness in Michael George trial". Robot 6. Comic Book Resources. November 2011. Archived from the original on November 17, 2011. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
  11. ^ "Past Fellows: 2010-2011". Knight-Wallace Fellows at Michigan. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
  12. ^ "Finalists". Livingston Awards. Archived from the original on November 6, 2011. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
  13. ^ Thompson, Teri (May 3, 2010). "Yeardley Love, Univ. of Virginia lacrosse player, found dead; George Huguely charged with murder". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
  14. ^ "Newsletter 56: January 2013". Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. January 2013. Archived from the original on February 16, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  15. ^ "Amber Hunt Photography". Archived from the original on August 26, 2011. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
  16. ^ Amber Hunt on "I Scream, You Scream," House of SpeakEasy's Seriously Entertaining at Joe's Pub in 2021, retrieved July 5, 2023
  17. ^ "Amber Hunt". Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  18. ^ "See How Much You Love Me". Macmillan. Archived from the original on May 14, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  19. ^ "Directories". University of Cincinnati. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  20. ^ "'Accused' podcast climbs iTunes chart". Cincinnati Enquirer. September 30, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  21. ^ "Smash-Hit Podcast 'Accused' Back for Season 2". USA Today. October 12, 2017.
  22. ^ "Pulitzer Prize Winners 2018". USA Today. April 16, 2018. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  23. ^ "Two years ago, the Cincinnati Enquirer started covering heroin as a beat. Today, it won a Pulitzer for it". Poynter. April 16, 2018. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  24. ^ "Peter Bhatia named new editor of the Detroit Free Press". Detroit Free Press. August 31, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
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