Michael Shawn Malone (born January 21, 1954) is an American author, columnist, editor, investor, businessman, television producer, and has been the host of several shows on PBS.

[1][4][5] For his work breaking stories on toxic waste, drugs, sweatshops, and espionage, he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize twice,[2] but he quickly left The Mercury News in 1981 and became a freelancer.

[2] He has also written for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, is a former editor of Forbes ASAP, and has contributed to Upside and Fast Company magazines.

Of his work for ABC, Malone has written that "Over the near-decade I've had this job, I've probably written five columns that drew major national attention: calling for Dan Rather's firing, declaring the decline of Microsoft, predicting the death of newspapers, naming Matt Drudge the most influential journalist in America[6] and" (alleging liberal) "media bias in the recent" (2008) "presidential election.

[8] He also has written about his support of contemporary bands such as Wilco, The Shins, Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, Dashboard Confessional, Bright Eyes, White Stripes, and Lupe Fiasco, calling them "as good—and often better—as the music of ... Rock's so-called golden age.