The last several months have shown us what journalism is made of.
It’s committed. It’s strong. It’s creative. It serves. It suffers. It reflects.
Journalism finds a way.
The Journalism Institute has reported dozens of stories of how resilient journalism is being practiced in newsrooms across the country in its
Covering Coronavirus newsletter
, which in two short months has grown an audience spanning 41 states and 15 countries. We’ll publish our 50th edition next Wednesday — and
we hope you’ll subscribe
to what readers are calling a necessary daily resource:
“The approach makes clear this information is intended for me. It also feels like a connection to a community that is of extreme value to me. Especially in these times.”
We’ve loved connecting with new and returning supporters along the way. The Writing Through writers’ group meets daily; book lovers voted along in our
inaugural Book Bracket
; we’ve moved traditional library support services online. Our efforts to address press freedom issues haven’t wavered (see below for details).
We’ve found a way and are serving more people every day than ever before. The Journalism Institute team is committed to being there for journalists as they work to serve in the public interest.
We don’t know how this pandemic will end. What we do know is that we will be here (working from home, of course) to help this community navigate what may lie ahead. Let us know how we are doing, and
how we can help
.
Stay well.
Senior Director
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PROGRAMS AND EVENTS
The National Press Club Journalism Institute is offering all of its web-based programs at no cost to participants during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you've enjoyed our programs, please consider
making a donation
to support this work.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
May 19, 2020
Learn how to consistently collect and select compelling details that evoke emotion and help convey impact
.
May 27, 2020
Learn how to find your focus and develop tools to write in short bursts on tight deadlines.
June 5, 2020
Learn how photography, trauma and healing intersect in showing the impact and humanity of the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 10, 2020
Get
tips on how to use the federal court records system to find and tell important stories
.
June 17, 2020
Get
tips on how to use the federal court records system to find and tell important stories
.
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PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
How to be antiracist while covering
the coronavirus pandemic
Why has COVID-19 hit communities of color hardest across the U.S.? And how should journalists explain that fact?
The National Press Club Journalism Institute hosted a virtual conversation on May 4 with Dr.
Ibram X. Kendi
, a New York Times-bestselling author and the founding director of The Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University and
Robert Samuels
, Washington Post national reporter, moderated by
Shannon Young
, POLITICO reporter. They discussed key lessons from Dr. Kendi’s book, “
How to be an antiracist
,” and how to apply them to coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
What participants said:
Because of this program, I ...
"
want to do more within the sphere of my influence to get information into the hands of people who need it as important for their very survival and in order for them to thrive."
"am more interested in identifying journalists who are doing it right and sharing these pieces with my network as good examples."
"feel more confident looking into underlying causes of racial disparities."
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You can find videos of previous programs on the
Institute’s website
or by following the links below:
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'She Said' takes top honor in Institute's inaugural Book Bracket
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“She Said,” by New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, is the 2020 Book Bracket champion.
The title narrowly bested journalism classic “All The President’s Men,” by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, in the final round of the
Journalism Institute
’s inaugural Book Bracket. Throughout April, voters narrowed the original pool of 64 titles submitted as readers’ favorite journalism books.
In their book, Kantor and Twohey chronicle the investigative reporting behind their New York Times coverage, breaking the Harvey Weinstein story that ended his career and catalyzed the #MeToo sexual abuse and sexual harassment movement. The reporters received a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage.
All of the top titles submitted are winners: They’ll be featured in the Eric Friedheim National Journalism Library later this year.
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A Night In for Austin Tice
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In April, the National Press Club organized the first “Night IN For Austin Tice” to draw awareness and support for the award-winning journalist who has been detained in Syria since 2012. Tice is the only U.S. journalist being held abroad today.
During the “Night IN for Austin Tice” on April 29, the Club encouraged press-freedom supporters to visit participating restaurants to pick up dinner to enjoy at home. The night in was both a way to support Tice and restaurant partners, who donated a portion of their proceeds that night to a reward fund related to Tice’s case, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We asked our restaurant partners to step up and help us with a program to raise awareness about the case of Austin Tice, the award-winning journalist being detained in Syria,” said Bill McCarren, Executive Director of the National Press Club, in a press release. “They were there for us last year and will be again later this year. But now restaurants are in trouble, so we want to help them.”
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Emilio Gutierrez Soto and FOIA Records Review
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For more than a year, the Journalism Institute has received documents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement about
Emilio Gutierrez Soto’s asylum request
, a result of a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Kathy Kiely when she was the Institute’s press freedom fellow.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Institute this month identified problems with ICE’s search, particularly questions about the extent of the records search. Attorneys at RCFP, working with Journalism Institute board member Chuck Tobin and his colleagues at Ballard Spahr, are submitting proposals to ICE on how to resolve those issues.
Gutierrez fled Mexico in 2008 amid death threats from the military. His asylum claims have twice been rejected by an immigration judge; deportation would mean returning to
the deadliest country for journalists
.
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Acknowledging World Press Freedom Day
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In observance of World Press Freedom Day, Journalism Institute Press Freedom Fellow Jim Kuhnhenn participated in a
panel discussion May 4
. The discussion — “Freedom of the Press in the U.S. in Times of COVID-19” — was sponsored by
Fundamedios
, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting and protecting press freedoms in Latin America and for Hispanic journalists in the U.S.
Frank LaRue
,
former UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection for the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, moderated the panel. Joining Kuhnhenn were Michael Camilleri, director of the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program at Inter-American Dialogue; Kristen Hare, Poynter Institute investigative journalist covering the transformation of local news; and Katie Townsend, Legal Director at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
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National Press Club Journalism Institute
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