Brendan Miniter is an assistant features editor for The Wall Street Journal. He edits the Journal's Cross Country column as well as op-eds. He previously wrote a column for the editorial's Web site, "The Western Front," and he often writes for the editorial page's premier newsletter Political Diary. In 2002, he was the William Randolph Hearst Professional in Residence at the University of Texas, Austin. Before joining the Journal in September 2000, he was the editor of the Sunday Forum page in addition to editing opinion pieces for the Commentary pages of the Washington Times. While at the Times he also wrote editorials and started a weekly feature on the editorial page, "Nobles and Knaves," which spotlighted often-unknown individuals behind major events. Earlier, he was a reporter for the Northern Virginia Daily in Front Royal and has edited publications for the U.S. Marine Corps.