Dennis McDougal

In 2007, the controversy surrounding his book Privileged Son: Otis Chandler And The Rise And Fall Of The Los Angeles Times Dynasty—the newspaper McDougal once worked for—was discussed in an interview with McDougal on NPR's Morning Edition. The New York Times in a review called McDougal's book "illuminating reading for anyone interested in 20th-century Los Angeles or modern-day newspapering."

Before turning his attention full-time to writing books in 1993, McDougal reported on the glitzy and occasionally corrupt aspects of Hollywood as a staff writer for ten years at the Los Angeles Times, while previously working as a staff writer for The Riverside Press-Enterprise (1973–77) and The Long Beach Press-Telegram (1977–1981). From 2002 to 2006, he worked as a contributor for The New York Times.

He has earned more than 50 honors, including a 1984 National Headliner Award and several Associated Press awards.

In 1982, McDougal was awarded a John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University and spent a year teaching and studying in Japan and Canada, as well as at the Palo Alto campus.

From 1967 to 1969, McDougal was on active duty with the Naval Reserves. He served aboard the U.S.S. Annapolis in the South China Sea. In an interview with blogger Luke Ford, McDougal recalls his experience, much of which formed the basis for his first fiction novel The Candlestickmaker, published in 2011:

Dennis McDougal (born November 25, 1947) is an American author and newspaper journalist. He has been called "L.A.'s No. 1 muckraker." His book, Privileged Son, was described as "illuminating reading for anyone interested in 20th-century Los Angeles or modern-day newspapering" by The New York Times. A native of Southern California, he lives near Memphis, Tennessee.