The NPF Newsbag

Oil Spill on Capitol Hill: Free June 25 Briefing

As the black cloud of crude oil continues to spread in the gulf, President Obama and many in Congress are using the moment to push for comprehensive energy and climate legislation. Our balanced panel of experts will help journalists and others understand what may be coming. A regulatory remake? A price on carbon? More aid for alternative fuels? Hear from experts and ask your questions, during this important on-the-record issues briefing. Click here to RSVP. Space is limited. 

The panel:

David Goldston, Natural Resources Defense Council
David Bernhardt, Brownstein/Hyatt/Farber/Schreck
Mike Soraghan, Energy reporter, Greenwire

Many NPF Alums on RRA Board

The newly elected board of the Regional Reporters Association has a strong representation of NPF alums—nine to be exact. All eight selectees have graduated from NPF’s Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship in the past six years.

NPF Award Winner Discusses Release of Kagan Documents on C-SPAN

Julie Hirschfeld Davis, winner of NPF’s 2009 Everett McKinley Dirksen Awards for Distinguished Reporting of Congress, was featured on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal earlier this week.  Davis is currently a reporter for the Associated Press and has covered Congress and the White House for over ten years.

While on Washington Journal, Davis talked about the Library of Congress’ and the Clinton Presidential Library’s recent release of documents written by Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.  She also gave analysis on what the release of these documents will mean for in Kagan’s upcoming confirmation hearings.  Watch the whole segment below:

Helen Thomas’ Contributions to Journalism

Helen Thomas, former “unofficial dean" of the White House Press Corps, has retired after disavowing controversial remarks she made about the state of Israel. View a video tribute for Helen’s lifetime of achievement from the 2001 NPF Annual Awards Dinner.  She received that year’s Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism award. Read a full transcript of her remarks from the 2001 NPF Dinner. For a full list of past Kiplinger Awards honorees, click here.

NPF Award Winner Featured on C-SPAN’s Q&A

Brody Mullins, investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal, will be the guest on C-SPANS Q&A this weekend.  NPF honored Brody at the 24^thAnnual Awards Dinner with the Everett McKinley Dirksen Awards for Distinguished Reporting of Congress.

The NPF Annual Awards Dinner recognizing journalistic achievement brings together more than 1,000 journalists, media, public relations and corporate executives, policy makers, and trade groups each year. See photos from the 2010 Awards Dinner here.

Harvard Selects Journalist-2-Journalist Alumna for Nieman Fellowship

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard has selected 25 journalists from the U.S. and abroad for the prestigious Nieman Fellowship. Among the selected is a familiar name to NPF: Antigone Barton. Antigone was a Journalist-2-Journalist (J2J) fellow during our HIV/AIDS Media Trainings in Sydney, Australia (2007) and Mexico City, Mexico (2008). Click links to access full resources from the trainings.

As part of the 73^rd class of Nieman Fellows, Antigone will “study global health policy and research ways to build collaborative reporting and accessible resources in developing world news settings,” according to the Nieman Foundation press release. A full list of the Nieman Fellows and their areas of interest is available here.

From NPF Fellow to Author: The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security

Now in its 6^th year, NPF’s program on retirement issues has provided training to nearly 100 journalists from around the US. Since 2005, selected fellows have traveled to Washington for an intense 4-day seminar led by experts on retirement.   

Mark Miller, a journalist, editor and now an author, was a 2008 Retirement Issues fellow. His book, The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security: Practical Strategies for Money, Work and Living, will be published in early June by Bloomberg Press. Mark wrote, “Participation in the NPF program provided critical background that helped me conceptualize the book!”

Investigative Journalism: Why It Matters

A conviction for lying under oath and most recently, for violating the terms of his probation, has kept ex-Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in the spotlight. According to yesterday’s Washington Post, he was sentenced for up to five years in prison for failing to meet terms of his probation.

A 2008 investigation of the then-mayor was led by Paul Anger of The Detroit Free Press and winner of NPF’s 2009 Editor of the Year Award. Kilpatrick was indicted and eventually convicted on an obstruction of justice charge. He was ordered to pay the city of Detroit one million dollars.

The Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year Award is the oldest and most prestigious award for U.S. newspaper editors. See Paul Anger’s remarks from the 2010 NPF Annual Awards Dinner here.

Ban For U.K. Doctor Who Set-Off Autism Vaccine Scare

 The doctor whose false claims that childhood vaccines cause autism has been banned from practicing medicine in Britain. According to yesterday’s article published in The New York Times, Andrew Wakefield was sanctioned by Britain’s Medical Council after the longest investigation in its history.

Over a decade ago, Dr. Wakefield made claims that a childhood vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella causes autism. His claims were published in The Lancet, which retracted the study after lengthy investigations made by the medical council in London. According to the NYT article, the medical council concluded that Dr. Wakefield “had been dishonest” and violated ethical rules.

Teaching the New Cohort: Media Literacy & Citizen Journalists

New technology and massive platforms for communication have brought out the journalist in everyone. The ability to report on stories when they happen, as they happen, has created a global cohort of ‘citizen journalists.’

Here’s a problem: With little to no formal journalism training, some ‘citizen journalists’ may not always be the ideal source for accurate reporting. “We face the ‘Balloon Boy’ stories of today,” as our 2010 Journalism Matters Essay Contest winner, Liz Medhin, WHAM (Rochester, NY) wrote. The “Balloon Boy” story was a tale made up by a man seeking publicity: he falsely said his young son was adrift in a hot-air balloon and the media covered it like crazy.

Media training was the subject of a recent report published by the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA), “Media Literacy: Citizen Journalists.” In the report, author and expert on media literacy, Susan Moeller, makes recommendations for media development projects aimed at citizen journalists. Download a copy of the report here.

(Ana Zovko)

Photo courtesy of whiteafrican.