Karen DeYoung


Karen DeYoung is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, and is the associate editor for The Washington Post.
DeYoung was born in Florida and she grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. She received bachelor's degrees in journalism and communications from the University of Florida.
After graduation, DeYoung worked as a non-staff stringer in West Africa. In 1975 she joined the Post. From 1977 through 1988, she worked for the foreign news operation, as bureau chief for Latin America, foreign editor, and bureau chief in London. In 1989, DeYoung was promoted to the position of national editor. From 2001 to 2003 she covered U.S. foreign policy for the Post. In the days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, DeYoung and fellow Post reporter Dana Priest filed a story with their editors that the CIA had significant doubts about documents alleging an attempted uranium purchase, but The Post did not publish the story until March 22, 2003, after the invasion had begun. Speaking about The Post's pre-war coverage, DeYoung was quoted as saying, "We are inevitably the mouthpiece for whatever administration is in power.“
DeYoung is also a member of Washington D.C. based think tank the Inter-American Dialogue.
She is the author of the biography "Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell," having been given six in-depth and on-the-record interviews by the book's subject.
DeYoung was married to the late Henry Champ, a Canadian journalist based in Washington DC.