Ken Silverstein (business journalist)

Ken Silverstein is an American business journalist who cofuses on global energy issues, climate and environmental issues, and international economics. He is a senior contributor to the Forbes website^[1] and his work appears on other sites.^[2] Hr has written for The Christian Science Monitor.^[3]

Silverstein received a BA and an MBA from Tulane University, and an MA in print journalism from American University. His first job in journalism was working in New York City as an intern for PBS's The McNeil/Lehrer Report in 1983, shortly before it expanded to The McNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.^[4]

From the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, he covered the financial sector. He then shifted to the energy beat during the Enron Era. He became one of the first online energy columnists, analyses known as IssueAlert and EnergyBiz Insider. The column was picked up and reproduced by multiple news organizations.

He has been cited in the New York Times.^[5]

He has provided energy, environmental, and trade coverage from Africa, China, Japan, Thailand, the Middle East, South America, and Europe. Silverstein has appeared on PBS' White House Chronicles with Llewellyn King to discuss his coverage of China. ^[6]

He has been a panelist at the United States Energy Association's virtual press events, discussing current events.^[7] He has also been a guest on National Public Radio to discuss the shale gas boom occurring in the Marsellus Basin. ^[8] He has also appeared on CSPAN as part of the US Energy Association's virtual press briefings and for his coverage in the 1990s. ^[9]

In recent years, Silverstein has focused on the intersection of energy policy, geopolitics, and climate change. ^[10] He is a Senior Contributor to the Forbes website, where he regularly covers global energy issues, including oil, gas, nuclear energy, and the development of renewables.^[11] His reporting often bridges business, diplomacy, and environmental impacts, such^[12] as in his piece analyzing the Abraham Accords and their implications for regional energy cooperation, green technology, and Middle East stability.^[13]

Silverstein has reported from across the Global South, including from Fiji, Colombia, and Belize.^[14]

He has also spent time in the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Ukraine. He has contributed to regional and national outlets, including the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Marin Independent Journal, Orlando Sentinel, Charleston Gazette-Mail, and MSN.^[15]

Silverstein was part of a team that produced editorial projects for Primedia magazines during the early 2000s. That work focused on regulatory issues in California. As a columnist for IssueAlert, Silverstein focused on ethics, corporate culture, crisis mitigation, and Enron. At the time he placed part of the blame for the Enron crisis on the media. Enron and its impact on corporate conduct is a theme which Silverstein revisited on the Forbes website in May 2013 and EnergyBiz July 2013.^[16]

In 2012 and 2013, Silverstein wrote a series of stories about Southern California Edison's nuclear operations in Southern California. Sources inside the company had told him confidentially that the utility had known of defects with its new steam generators several years before those same issues had caused small radiation leaks in 2012.^[17]

Silverstein’s reporting has explored the geopolitical dimensions of climate action, including how international diplomacy intersects with energy markets.^[18] He has closely followed figures such as French President Emmanuel Macron, whom he has described as a rising leader of the Free World, particularly in the context of U.S. isolationism and the redefinition of NATO’s role.^[19]

In addition to high-level diplomacy, Silverstein has covered how economic pressures including the COVID-19 pandemic and falling oil prices have influenced energy transitions in places like the UAE. ^[12]

Media Industry News (MIN) listed Silverstein as one of 2012's "Most Intriguing People in Media."^[20]

Silverstein was presented the Gold for Original Web Commentary by the American Society of Business Press Editors in 2012. ASBPE Award.^[21]

Silverstein's column "Will the Nuclear Sector Rise Again?" for EnergyBiz Insider won a Media Industry News's 2011 Editorial & Design Awards for Best Online Column (b2b division).^[22] In 2011 he was named a top economic and financial journalist by the nonprofit Wall Street Economists Institute project.^[23]

Silverstein's article "Venezuela’s Power Grab" for EnergyBiz Insider was awarded the bronze for Original Web Commentary at the 2008 American Society of Business Publication Editors National Digital Awards.^[24]

• Official website