Joseph “Joe” Kahn (1913?-1997) was a New York City-based newspaper journalist who, after retiring from a three decade career at the New York Post, taught journalism courses at the New School for Social Research in its continuing education division. Kahn attended the City College of New York, and began working at the New York Post in 1942. He became an intrepid investigative reporter, conducting undercover investigations and exposing abuses of the public trust. Notable stories Kahn broke included the withholding of contraceptives by city hospitals in the 1950s, persecution of gay men by the New York City Police Department in the 1960s, and municipal loan fraud in the 1970s. In 1959, Kahn and fellow Post reporter William Haddad received the George Polk Award for Metropolitan Reporting from Long Island University after they exposed scandals in urban renewal projects, or “slum clearances.” According to Kahn, the New York Post in the mid-twentieth century was a bastion of “bleeding heart” journalism: “A poor, vulnerable person being subjected to abuse, be it in housing, hospital care, welfare or whatever, could go to the Post. There was nobody else to go to.”

Kahn retired from the New York Post in 1978, and the following year began teaching journalism, often offering one or two evening courses each semester. Kahn’s courses typically featured Kahn moderating discussions with guest speakers, who shared their perspectives on print, radio, and television journalism. Editors, interviewers, critics, reporters, commentators, and subject experts participated in Kahn’s classes, many as repeat visitors. The last semester that Kahn’s classes are listed in the New School's course catalogs is Fall 1992.

In addition to writing and moderating, Kahn studied painting at the National Academy of Design and served as a New York City Parks Department artist-in-residence.

Joseph Kahn died in December 1997. This Joseph Kahn should not be confused with another journalist named Joseph Kahn, who was born in 1964.

Sources

Berliner, Eve. “The Old Lion Remembered.” Eve’s Magazine. http://www.evesmag.com/wechsler.htm

Carter, David. Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2004.

Long Island University. George Polk Awards. Previous Award Winners: http://www.liu.edu/About/News/Polk/Previous

New York Times. December 5, 1997. “Joseph Kahn, 84, Reporter for Post.”