2006 PROGRAM REVIEW

The program completed by the 2006 Fellows of the World Press Institute encompassed nearly 150 briefings, interviews, field trips, cultural experiences and additional assignments. Special emphasis was given to health care, education and investigative reporting. Events are listed in chronological order within categories.

Journalism

Four-day journalism seminar led by WPI Executive Director John Ullmann at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. Topics included a history of the U.S. news media with particular focus on the 20th and 21st centuries and the role and responsibilities of a free press in a democracy; restraints on the media including libel, privacy and source protection under the U.S. legal system; training in transparency/investigative reporting; an overview of computer-assisted reporting and advanced Web searching; ethics; sourcing and interviewing; alternative and specialized news media.

Star Tribune, Minneapolis, Minn. Met with Susan Albright, editor of the editorial pages (and WPI board member), Monica Moses, executive director of product innovation, and Jean Hopfensperger, reporter, for briefings on current newspaper design and the separation of news and opinion in U.S. newspapers.

Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul. Met with Bill Buzenberg, senior vice president, News, for a briefing on the role of noncommercial or “public” broadcasting in the U.S. and public insight journalism, a new initiative at MPR.

Participated in individual Community Media Assignments hosted by journalists in Minnesota at The Paynesville Press in Paynesville, Starbuck Times in Starbuck,
Rochester Post-Bulletin in Rochester, Mille Lacs Messenger in Isle, Hutchinson Leader in Hutchinson, Republican Eagle in Red Wing, the Echo-Press in Alexandria and The Free Press in Mankato, and in Wisconsin at the Chippewa Herald in Chippewa Falls and the Leader-Telegram in Eau Claire.

The Wall Street Journal, New York. Met with Jim Pensiero, vice president, News Operations, for a briefing on newsroom emergency preparedness.

The New York Times, New York. Met with Bill Keller, executive editor, and Susan Chira, foreign editor. Discussion included media efforts to expose government wrongdoing and the emphasis given to national and international news in U.S. newspapers.

Reader’s Digest, Pleasantville, N.Y. Met with Conrad Keichel, editorial director, International (and WPI board member), and others for a broad discussion of current trends in media consumption.

Learned about the work of the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York in conversations with Executive Director Joel Simon and CPJ regional coordinators.

American Press Institute, Washington, D.C. Met with API President and Executive Director Drew Davis for an overview of the institute and attended a seminar for city and metro editors on smarter coverage of immigration issues conducted by Victor Merina, a senior fellow at the Institute for Justice and Journalism at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Met with investigative reporter Tom Hamburger in the Washington Bureau of the Los Angeles Times to discuss the importance of money in U.S. politics and how to follow the money trail even from outside the U.S.

Met with the 2006 International Reporting Project Fellows at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, for an informal roundtable discussion of serious challenges the journalists have faced in their respective careers.

The Washington Post, Washington. Met with Dan Balz, national political correspondent, for a briefing on the 2006 midterm elections; investigations editor Jeff Leen and investigative reporters Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi on their 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff that exposed Congressional corruption and led to reform efforts; and veteran journalist and author Bob Woodward.

National Geographic Society, Washington. Visit included briefings by a staff photographer and the editor of a new music-centered Web offering aimed at young people, an overview of NGS operations and tour.

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Washington. Met with Executive Director Lucy Dalglish for a briefing on current vexing press issues in the U.S. including source protection and government secrecy.

National Public Radio, Washington. Met Bill Marimow, managing editor, for a briefing on NPR’s mission and how it approaches storytelling.

Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, Washington. Met with several State Department officials including Robert Holden, director, East Asia-Pacific Information Programs, and Todd Leventhal, Office of Strategic Communication (misinformation), for a briefing on how the department works and how journalists can obtain information from it for stories they are doing in their home countries.

WTOP Radio, Washington. Met with News Director Mike McMearty to learn how Washington’s only all-news radio station is set up to cover news on the air and online.

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Miami, Fla. Met with Eric Newton, director of journalism initiatives, for a roundtable discussion of press freedom issues around the world and in the U.S.

The Miami Herald, Miami. Met with Managing Editor (and WPI board member) Liza Gross and several other journalists for briefings on market demographics, hurricane preparedness and the multimedia newsroom.

Traveled to Macon, Ga., to meet with Sherrie Marshall, executive editor of The (Macon) Telegraph (and WPI board member), and to observe three candidates for judgeships interviewed by the paper’s editorial page editor, Charles Richardson, and chief political reporter, Phil Dobson. The interviews were part of the paper’s process for deciding which candidates to endorse for the November elections.

Visited the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in Atlanta to meet with civil rights reporter Ernie Suggs, international editor Raman Narayanan, and reporter Kay Powell to learn about recent news initiatives they’ve led.

CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. Met with Kathryn McManus, director, CNNj (Japan), and Michael Holmes, evening news anchor, CNN International. Holmes shared his impressions of working conditions in Baghdad and described the extensive security measures taken by CNN to insure the safety of journalists covering the war.

Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Ill. Met with Tim McNulty, public editor (and WPI board member), James O'Shea, managing editor, George de Lama, deputy managing editor, George Papajohn, associate managing editor/projects and investigations, Flynn McRoberts, reporter, Charles Madigan, editor for (Internet) continuous news and columnist, and Margaret Holt, senior editor for standards and development. Also attended the afternoon front page meeting and met numerous associate managing editors and department heads for business, metro, foreign and national, and visited the editorial offices of the paper’s afternoon RedEye edition.

Visited the Los Angeles Times in Los Angeles, Calif., to meet with Managing Editor Douglas Franz and members of the paper’s award-winning investigative reporting team that exposed corruption in care of the elderly by court-appointed professional conservators.

Met with staffers at KMEX-TV Channel 34 in Los Angeles, the flagship station of the Univision Television Group, Inc.

Minnesota News Council. Met Gary Gilson, executive director, to learn about the council’s efforts to mediate disputes between the people and the press.

Met with students in Howard Sinker’s News Reporting & Writing class at Macalester College in St. Paul.

Met Jim Dolan, chairman, president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Dolan Media (and WPI board member), to learn about the business-to-business media market in the United States.

University of Minnesota School of Journalism, Minneapolis. Participated in briefings by faculty members Kathy Hansen on journalism education, and Nora Paul on new media issues and trends (both WPI board members), and Jane Kirtley on media law issues and trends.

At a public forum — What’s News? — hosted by the World Press Institute at Macalester College, discussed impressions of the United States and the U.S. news media gained as 2006 fellows.

Computer-assisted reporting. Star Tribune investigative reporter Dan Browning gave a day-long seminar on how to download data from the Web and use software to produce insightful stories.

Health Care

(* denotes briefing by faculty at Macalester College unless otherwise indicated)

Overview of U.S. health care presented by James Toscano, president, Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, Minneapolis.

“The Human Body” and “Bodyworlds,” Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul.

* Met with Steven Miles, professor, Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and author, “Oath Betrayed,” for a discussion of medical ethics.

* Gary Schwitzer, director, Health Journalism graduate program, University of Minnesota School of Journalism & Mass Communication, Minneapolis, and publisher, HealthNewsReview.org. Briefing on improving health reporting by focusing on accuracy, balance and completeness.

* John R. Finnegan Jr., professor and dean, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Overview of public health — the science and art of promoting health and preventing disease by addressing the collective rather than the individual.

Kip Sullivan, activist and author of “The Health Care Mess: How We Got Into It and How We’ll Get Out of It,” St. Paul. Discussion of efforts to address and correct inequities in access to health care in the U.S.

* Jeffrey Kahn, director and chair, Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Overview of current bioethical issues of concern and their impact on scientific research, the practice of medicine and politics.

Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis. Site visit to a comprehensive academic medical center and public teaching hospital, ranked one of “American’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report.

General Mills, Inc. Minneapolis. Site visit to a leading global manufacturer and marketer of consumer food products. General Mills is known for providing a variety of programs and benefits to help employees balance the demands of work and life outside work.

Pfizer, Inc., New York. Met with officials of the world’s largest pharmaceutical company for briefings on research and development, marketing, the globalization of disease and health care, disparities in access to medicines, and philanthropy.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta. Presentations by four top officials, all physicians, on anthrax detection, obesity worldwide, the threat of an Avian flu pandemic and a recent E. coli outbreak traced to fresh spinach produced in California.

Participated in a half-day Mini-mini Medical School hosted by the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center, Minneapolis. Designed to help educate journalists about new and emerging health-related issues. Seminar included briefings, lab visits and other opportunities to experience medical science in action and to learn how research and discoveries at the AHC are translated into innovations and treatments.

Community University Health Care Center, Minneapolis. Site visit to a clinic providing primary care and mental health services to children and low income families. Serving perhaps the most diverse patient population of any clinic in the Upper Midwest, CUHCC’s mission is to advance the well-being of people experiencing health care disparities.

Education

Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. Briefing by John Easton, executive director of CCSR, and Penny Sebring, founding co-director, on Chicago’s public schools and the problems they face.

Catalyst Chicago. Met with Linda Lenz, creator, publisher and editor in chief of the independent news magazine. Lenz launched Catalyst in 1990 to document, analyze and support school-improvement efforts in the city’s public schools with authoritative reporting and analysis.

Met with Barbara Eason-Watkins, chief education officer, Chicago Public Schools, and other CPS officials plus Peggy Mueller, senior program officer, The Chicago Community Trust, and Donna Ogle, professor of reading and language, National-Louis University, for briefings on coordinated efforts by CPS, civic leaders and the not-for-profit sector to improve the city’s public schools.

Met with high school students, faculty and staff, including President Ron Manderschied, at Noble Street Charter School in Chicago.

Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation, Chicago. Met Sara Slaughter, education program director, to learn about foundation efforts to improve early childhood education.

Met with principal Lionel E. Allen Jr., faculty members and students at Sherman School of Excellence in Chicago to learn about efforts to radically improve outcomes at the chronically underperforming elementary school.

General

* “Debt, Deficits, and Disaster: A Lighthearted Look at the U.S. Economy,” Raymond Robertson, associate professor, Economics.

* “Neo-Liberalism and the Restructuring of the U.S. Working Class: A New Chapter in History,” Peter Rachleff, professor, History.

* “Immigrants and the redevelopment of inner-city neighborhoods and shopping districts,” David Lanegran, professor, Geography & Urban Studies.

* “Interest Groups, Think Tanks, and Public Policy,” Chuck Green, professor, Political Science.

* “Political Geography: Voting and Elections in the United States,” Julie Dolan, associate professor, Political Science.

Participated in a community forum on news and international affairs hosted by The Ely Echo in Ely, Minn.

* “U.S. Foreign Policy and Homeland Security,” Andrew Latham, associate professor, Political Science, and associate dean, Center for Global Citizenship.

* “Science Illiteracy: A Global Problem?” Truman Schwartz, emeritus professor, Chemistry.

Minnesota Sen. John Marty, St. Paul. Discussed the role of religion in U.S. politics.

Lived for several days as the guests of farm families in Minnesota near the towns of Isle, Hutchinson, Goodhue, Villard, Cyrus, Farwell, and Tracy, and in Wisconsin near the towns of Fall Creek and Strum.

United Nations, New York. Computer lab workshop on U.N. information resources available to journalists online; noon press briefing; private discussion with chief spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.

Federal Reserve Bank, New York. Briefing by Rae Rosen, assistant vice president and senior economist, on the role of the bank, how it affects the economies of the U.S. and other countries, communications policies of the Federal Reserve and how transparency affects public and market perceptions.

World Bank, Washington. Presentations by bank executives on a range of issues including how the bank operates, its efforts to tackle HIV/AIDS and how journalists can tap into bank reports and publications.

Visited the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., for a tour and background briefing by a Pentagon press officer on how to cover U.S. military news from outside the U.S. and how to apply for and participate in the Pentagon’s embedded media program.

Visited the Washington office of Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., for briefings on how his research analysts cover their topics and inform the senator.

* Briefing on Constitutional law by Harold Krent, dean and professor of law, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago.

Visited the world headquarters of 3M Company in St. Paul to learn about the diversified technology company’s commitment to innovation.

Visited Give Kids the World, a retreat in Kissimmee, Fla., for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

* “The role of the South from its beginnings as a plantation economy through the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement to the present,” Douglas Flamming, associate professor, History, and director, Center for Society and Industry in the Modern South, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.

Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, Atlanta. Briefing by Judy Forte, park superintendent, on the history of the site and its mission. Tour of King’s birth home and the nearby Ebenezer Baptist Church where he became co-pastor with his father in 1960.

Fort Benning, Georgia. Day-long visit to this large U.S. Army base included briefings by Col. David Ling, chief of staff, and Deputy Commanding General Michael Linnington, recently returned from Iraq, lunch with new recruits in the base mess hall and tour of training resources.

Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise. Learned about Chicago’s importance as a center of modern architecture.

National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago. Briefing by Tom Smith, director, NORC General Social Survey.

Met with information technology and call center staff for briefings at the Chicago (911) Emergency Communications Center and participated in ride-alongs with the Chicago Police Department.

* “American Contradictions: An Immigrant’s Perspective,” Ahmed Samatar, James Wallace Professor and Dean, International Studies and Programming.

Spent a day in Red Wing, Minn., to learn about community volunteerism. Site visits included a food bank, senior center, Toys For Tots collection and distribution center, and a correctional facility for juvenile offenders.

Visited numerous museums and historic sites and attended theater performances, concerts, church services and sports events throughout the country including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, Minneapolis … Soudan Mine, Tower, Minn. … Outward Bound Wilderness base camp in Ely, Minn. … Minnesota State Capitol, St. Paul … Minnesota Twins vs. Chicago White Sox, Minneapolis … Wacipi (pow wow) at the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Prior Lake, Minn. … Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, Onamia, Minn. … “The Great Gatsby,” Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis … Detroit International Jazz Festival, Detroit … Henry Ford Museum and Islamic Center of America, Dearborn, Mich. … J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles … “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” Burbank, Calif. … U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. … “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” New York … Walt Disney World, Orlando, Fla. … Kennedy Space Center, Fla. … McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, Chicago … “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” Penumbra Theatre, and Minnesota Wild vs. Vancouver Canucks, St. Paul … Walker Art Center and Plymouth Congregational Church, Minneapolis.