PERSON: Erik Wemple

Media Critic, Writer

Erik Wemple (born August 18, 1964) is a media critic at The Washington Post. He was formerly the editor of the alternative weekly Washington City Paper.

In 2004, Wemple was the co-recipient with Josh Levin of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies for their article “Off Target” published in Washington City Paper. From January 1999 to November 2000, Wemple wrote the paper’s political column, Loose Lips, after having contributed articles to the paper for a few years. Before becoming editor of Washington City Paper, he was Washington correspondent for Inside.com and CableWorld magazine.

In June 2006, Wemple accepted the Editor-in-Chief position at The Village Voice. A month later, he announced he would not assume the position. He refused to answer reporters’ questions as to the reasons behind his change of heart.
In Feb. 2010, Wemple informed the staff of the staff of the Washington City Paper that he was leaving to be the new editor of TBD.com.

In 2013, J. K. Trotter of Gawker Media declared Wemple a “hero,” and that “like a deeply embedded anthropologist, Wemple scours Washington media (and, not infrequently, their New York counterparts) for hypocrisy, excess, and corruption. He’s the anti-Mike Allen, frequently piercing the Politico’s madman’s self-inflating bubble of hype at the moment it threatens to blot out the sun.”