Program Review

The fellowship program of the World Press Institute encompasses briefings, interviews, field trips, cultural experiences and additional assignments. Below are examples of experiences of previous program participants.

Journalism

Four-day journalism seminar. Topics include history of 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; hands-on training in transparency/investigative reporting, computer-assisted reporting and advanced Web searching; ethics; sourcing and interviewing; and the role of alternative and specialized news media.

Star Tribune, Minneapolis, Minn. Briefings on current newspaper design and the separation of news and opinion in U.S. newspapers.

Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul. Briefing on the role of noncommercial or “public” broadcasting in the U.S. and public insight journalism, a new initiative at MPR.

The Wall Street Journal, New York. Briefing on newsroom emergency preparedness.

The New York Times, New York. Discussion on 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. Discussion of current trends in media consumption.

American Press Institute, Washington, D.C. An overview of the institute and seminar for city and metro editors on smarter coverage of immigration issues.

International Reporting Project Fellows at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C. Informal roundtable discussion of serious challenges the journalists have faced in their respective careers.

The Washington Post, Washington, D.C. Briefing on the 2006 midterm elections; on Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff that exposed Congressional corruption and led to reform efforts; and meeting with veteran journalist and author Bob Woodward.

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Washington, D.C. Briefing on current press issues in the U.S. including source protection and government secrecy.

National Public Radio, Washington. Briefing on NPR’s mission and how it approaches storytelling.

Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, Washington. Briefing on how the department works and how journalists can obtain information from it for stories they are doing in their home countries.

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Miami, Fla. Roundtable discussion of press freedom issues around the world and in the U.S.

The Miami Herald, Miami. Briefings on market demographics, hurricane preparedness and the multimedia newsroom.

The Telegraph, Macon, Ga. Observe interviews of three candidates for judgeships, part of the paper’s process for deciding which candidates to endorse for the November elections.

CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. Met with evening news anchor who shared impressions of working conditions in Baghdad and the extensive security measures taken by CNN to insure the safety of journalists covering the war.

Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Ill. Attended the afternoon front page meeting and met associate managing editors and department heads for business, metro, foreign and national, and visited the editorial offices of the paper’s afternoon RedEye edition.

Los Angeles Times in Los Angeles, Calif. Met with award-winning investigative reporting team that exposed corruption in care of the elderly by court-appointed professional conservators.

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

Health Care

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

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.

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.

Pfizer, Inc., New York. 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 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.

Community University Health Care Center, Minneapolis. Site visit to a clinic providing primary care and mental health services to children and low income families.

Education

Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. Briefing on Chicago’s public schools and the problems they face.

Catalyst Chicago, an independent news magazine launched in 1990 to document, analyze and support school-improvement efforts in the city’s public schools with authoritative reporting and analysis.

Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation, Chicago. Briefing on the foundation's efforts to improve early childhood education.

General

United Nations, New York. Computer lab workshop on U.N. information resources available to journalists online.

Federal Reserve Bank, New York. Briefing 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.

Pentagon in Arlington, Va., for a tour and background briefing 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.

Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, Atlanta. Briefing 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. Briefings by top commanders and lunch with new recruits in the base mess hall and tour of training resources.

Chicago (911) Emergency Communications Center and participated in ride-alongs with the Chicago Police Department.

Visited museums and historic sites, attended theater performances, concerts, church services and sports events throughout the country such as: Minneapolis Institute of Arts and Walker Art Center … Soudan Mine, Tower, Minn. … Outward Bound Wilderness base camp in Ely, Minn. … Minnesota Twins baseball game… Wacipi (pow wow) at the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Prior Lake, Minn. … Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, Onamia, Minn.… Detroit International Jazz Festival… Henry Ford Museum and Islamic Center of America, Dearborn, Mich … “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. … Minnesota Wild hockey game, St. Paul