Michael Balter

Michael Balter is an American science journalist. His writings primarily cover anthropology, archaeology, mental health and sexual harassment in science.

Balter was a correspondent for Science magazine for over 25 years, before being controversially dismissed in 2016. He has also written for Scientific American, Audubon, The Verge, and taught journalism at New York University, Boston University and City College of New York.

Education and early career Born on the Alaskan Aleutian Islands, Balter grew up in Los Angeles and studied at the University of California, Los Angeles and San Jose State University. He was conscripted into the US Army and stationed at Fort Ord, where he and other members of the radical Progressive Labor Party, which aimed to "subvert and destroy [the military] from within", attempted to organize resistance to the war amongst soldiers.

Balter began his journalism career writing for newspapers based in Los Angeles, including LA Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, and Los Angeles magazine. It received positive reviews in both popular magazines and academic journals.

Science magazine

Balter wrote for Science for over 25 years, He also highlighted previous conflicts with the magazine, including a leave of absence he took in protest of its firing of four women, and a blog post he wrote that was critical of Marcia McNutt, its then editor-in-chief.

Reports on sexual harassment Since leaving Science, Balter has worked as a freelance journalist. He has also written for Scientific American, In 2020, he was sued for defamation by UC Santa Barbara anthropologist Danielle Kurin, after Balter reported allegations of sexual harassment against her and her partner, Enmanuel Gomez Choque. from the conference venue. Balter had traveled to the meeting to appear on a panel on the Me Too movement in archaeology.

Resignation from the National Association of Science Writers Balter resigned from the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) in April 2021, following a misconduct complaint submitted against him by eleven other members of the organization. He had been a member of the NASW since 1986. Following his resignation, he claimed that the due process of the NASW's investigation had been compromised and denied the misconduct charges against him.

Selected publications