David Wallis

Who is David Wallis?

David Wallis, born January 18, 1967, is an American journalist and an advocate for writers. He is the deputy editor of The New York Observer and the founder of Featurewell.com, an online syndication company.

Wallis, who has contributed to The New Yorker, Slate, The Washington Post and The New York Times, is known for interviewing world leaders. In 1997, Wallis became the only reporter to interview Manuel Noriega in prison. The story first appeared in London's Observer, and Wallis subsequently sold the article to magazines and newspapers in more than 20 countries, prompting him in 2000 to launch the online syndication company Featurewell.com. The syndication agency now markets articles by more than 1000 top journalists, including Clive Thompson, Ted Rall, Susan Cheever and Robert Reich. Unlike many syndication companies, Featurewell pays its writers the majority of sales receipts.

In 2007, after the N.Y.P.D. rejected Wallis's bid to renew his official press credentials, he sued New York City and the Police Department in a federal court. Civil rights attorney Norman Siegel represented Wallis and two other journalists who had also been denied press credentials.