Jerry Hagstrom is a columnist for National Journal Group.  Prior to his role as a columnist, Hagstrom covered agriculture and politics for National Journal. In the 1980s he pioneered the magazine's coverage of the political consulting industry. He is the author of Beyond Reagan: The New Landscape of American Politics; To Be, Not To Be Seen: The Mystery of Swedish Business; and, with Neal R. Peirce, of The Book of America: Inside 50 States Today.

Hagstrom grew up on a North Dakota farm homesteaded by his grandparents. He is a graduate of the University of Denver and has been a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University and a research fellow at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University. He lectures frequently in the United States and abroad. The American Journalism Review has named Hagstrom one of its "unsung heroes" for "sterling work in the shadows" covering agriculture.