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'The Place Where News Happens' - My interview with Collaborative Services
While as a journalist I generally like to be the one asking the questions, I am finding as NPC President that, when people write about the Club, they look to me for answers. Recently I spoke with the good people at the Collaborative Services blog. Our discussion was a wide-ranging one covering the history of the Club, its mission and trends in journalism - even some advice for aspiring journalists. Read the whole thing here. How'd I do? Let me know what you think by emailing me at [email protected] or on Twitter (link below).
Type: News
Kicking Off 2013 With a Membership Push
Greetings Press Club members, I'm pleased to report that 2013 is off to a great start at the National Press Club. We're financially sound and our rooms are full of activity. I hope you're enjoying your Club membership so far this year. Both the Book and Author and Newsmakers Committees have been busy hosting events where news is made at the NPC. The Events Committee has some great events planned to both make the Club a fun place to be in the evening as well as to highlight the role of women in journalism today and historically here. This year, I'm asking all members what they can do for the…
Type: News
A message of thanks from NPC President Mark Hamrick
As we prepare to celebrate the beginning of our new president’s term, I wanted to take a moment to pass along my heartfelt thanks to everyone who made the past year so memorable. I’ll always treasure the special memories of having the honor to serve The National Press Club. We have more than a century of tradition behind us as a Club. That continuum has helped to ensure that our membership and our enterprise remain remarkably strong. Bright, young, energetic and capable leaders populate the Board of Governors. The NPC staff is the best anywhere, always taking special care with members and…
Type: News
A Look Back at The National Press Club in 2011
As we prepare to close the books on my NPC presidency and celebrate the inauguration of Theresa Werner, let's take a look at 2011 and some of the more interesting or amusing moments at our historic Club. In no particular order, here we go. 1) World Press Freedom Day is celebrated at The National Press Club. This was a remarkable event, held in the United States for the first time in the history of the event. Thanks to the hard work of Executive Director Bill McCarren and 103rd NPC President Alan Bjerga, we held the UNESCO Cano World Press Freedom Prize ceremony. It was an honor to preside…
Type: News
A quick note about our recent NPC election
As you know, we've just completed one of the more remarkable Club elections in some time. We had an unusual high level of participation, both in terms of the vote count and the number of candidates. So, if you had anything to do with any of that, whether as a voter, or a candidate, I thank you. This involvement is a positive sign regarding the energy among our membership. Whether you voted for the victorious candidates or not, I hope you will agree that it was a robust process. We had two debates, both of which were recorded on video, to ensure candidates had wider audiences, including…
Type: News
On objectivity, fairness and NPC Luncheon audiences
A note about journalistic objectivity, which I take quite very seriously. And I know it is an issue of concern to our Club members as well as the general public. On occasion, we will have an NPC Luncheon where the audience is partly comprised of guests of members, who are not journalists. While our Club constitution requires that a majority of our members are in the Journalist category, we have many wonderful members who are in the Communicator category. They are not bound by the same professional framework as journalists. The issue of composition our audience comes into play, when…
Type: News
Challenges for everyone managing the digital transition
Many people love their technology, including mobile phones, iPads and other tablets and their laptop computers. Does anyone love their desktop? Not sure about that. Having just spent a week in my native Kansas, speaking with groups and individuals around the University of Kansas, it became clear to me that the tremendous shifts in technology we’re all experiencing are also causing more than just a little stress. It reminds me of the book “Future Shock” written back in 1970 by futurist Alvin Toffler, who was credited for coining the term “information overload”. He saw a lot of this coming.…
Type: News
What “the most trusted man in America” found at the National Press Club
There are many ways for our members to derive tremendous value out of the National Press Club. And the reasons to be a member vary among individuals, depending on their needs and interests, of course. As we try to fulfill those interests, one of the biggest challenges for an NPC president is to work to ensure that each of our more than two dozen member-populated committees are vibrant. Beyond the committee activities, there's the wonderful service provided by our restaurants and bar, our library and our fitness center. I've come to appreciate that there's a learning curve for new members who…
Type: News
Tools change, the rules do not
People often ask me about change in the journalism industry. There’s no denying that change is a constant. Professionals and organizations are challenged to embrace it. Thinking about how things were at my first job at a radio station in Coffeyville, Kansas drives that point home. We had no computers, only manual typewriters, analog telephones with dials, reel-to-reel and cassette tape recorders and played 33 1/3 and 45 rpm records for music on-air. All machinery that is obsolete today. Good work was done there, but with different tools, adhering to core principles of news gathering, which…
Type: News
For Journalists, the Best of Times, the Worst of Times
I was having a 45-minute long conversation in the NPC president's office recently with a young man named Mukesh and one of his fellow countrymen, both journalists. Mukesh works in television news in Pakistan and had been on an academic fellowship in the U.S. He told me about having been detained in his country for four months just for practicing his craft. Another Pakistan-based peer was killed during this time, he told me. I had the opportunity to meet Mukesh after presiding over the final session of World Press Freedom Day. This phenomenal three-day event had its concluding prize-…
Type: News