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Illinois Governor Promotes Federal Military Relief Fund
Declaring that there is no more important cause for Americans than protecting democracy, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn spoke at a National Press Club Newsmaker Nov. 4 about the establishment of a relief fund for military families. A bill (H.R. 1175) introduced in Congress in April by Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., would create the National Military Family Relief Fund to be administered by the Defense Department and be available to the families of active-duty members of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. These families often experience a substantial salary cut during these deployments, Quinn said. This…
Type: News
Zimbabwe Population in Peril, Rights Advocates Say
Zimbabwe today has the stark echos of malnourished Ethiopian population during famine in that country, Magodonga Mahlangu, a leader of Women of Zimbabwe Arise and a co-recipient of the 2009 RFK Human Rights Award, said at a Newsmaker Nov. 9.The other award recipient, Jenni Williams lambasted the Zimbabwe regime for its failure to provide for its citizens. Williams recalled the dream of Zimbabwe as it got independence from Britain in 1980 and noted the degenerating situation as the country moves from “bread basket (of Africa) to basket case.” Briggs Bomba, director of campaigns at Africa…
Type: News
NPC Hires Susan Delbert as Executive Chef
Susan Delbert, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America with wide restaurant experience, has been appointed executive chef and will oversee the Club's two restaurants. Before coming to the Press Club, she served as a sous chef at the Old Ebbitt Grill, the nation’s sixth highest-grossing restaurant. Prior to her career in food service, Delbert was a tax attorney and a partner in a law firm. In addition, she served in Alaska as an assistant district attorney and an assistant state attorney general. Delbert describes her cooking style as incorporating the freshest local ingredients,…
Type: News
Amnesty Int'l Official Urges Action on Human Rights
Amnesty International's Asia expert challenged journalists to pose human rights questions to President Obama at his press conference with Chinese President Hu on Nov. 17 in Beijing. At a Newsmaker Nov. 12, T. Kumar warned Obama to be ready to face protests if he fails to address the issue of human rights publicly in China. Kumar threatened to hold protests in front of the White House, petition members of Congress and conduct demonstrations during future visits of Chinese officials, including Hu. Kumar asked: “Why Obama is reluctant to speak publicly?" “Human rights is not an American issue…
Type: News
Chick-fil-A Founder Tells Down-Home Success Story
The 88-year-old founder of Chick-fil-A told a Nov. 13 Club luncheon audience about his company’s tale of continued growth through recent hard times enabled by low-debt, customer service, family ownership and religious faith. Truett Cathy, who borrowed money in 1946 to start his first restaurant in suburban Atlanta, remains chairman of the privately held company that announced its 42nd straight year of record sales and an expected record of $3 billion in total revenue by year-end. “I had the privilege of growing up in poverty,” he said. “The blessing is you have to work for a living.”…
Type: News
Courage in Student Journalism Honorees Tour NPC
Club Vice President Alan Bjerga met over brunch Saturday at the Fourth Estate restaurant with the three winners of Courage in Student Journalism Awards, who were in Washington to receive their honors. Seth Zweifler, editor in chief of The Spoke at Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Pa., and Henry Rome, his predecessor who is now a first-year student at Princeton, were honored for their opposition to a school policy to review newspaper content in advance imposed after their student paper reported that a janitor in the local middle school maintained his position despite a bank robber arrest and…
Type: News
Friedman Receives NPC's Top Honor
Thomas L. Friedman offered an optimistic take on the future of journalism Friday -- while his friends told us things about the three-time Pulitzer winner that we never knew -- as the Club presented him with its 37th annual Fourth Estate Award for career achievement. Speaking at a dinner in his honor, Friedman called journalism "the most fun you can have legally" and said he is convinced that the profession has a strong future even though its current delivery system seems broken. "Journalism -- good journalism -- is not about delivery systems," Friedman said. "It's about old-fashioned values:…
Type: News
Hard News Key to '60 Minutes' Success
“60 Minutes” has attracted a greater audience because it is emphasizing hard news at the same time that most news programs are going soft, Jeffrey Fager, the show’s executive producer, told host Marvin Kalb at the Nov. 16 Kalb Report. “Our audience has increased as we have gotten harder,” Fager said. “There’s an appetite out there for hard news, and everyone else is going softer.” That means the show is doing fewer personality profiles than it has in the past, he said, and more investigative pieces and more analysis of the big breaking news events. “60 Minutes” has been one of television’s…
Type: News
NTSB Chairman Warns 'First Impressions Can Be Wrong'
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Debbie Hersman criticized the way some members of the press cover the aviation and transportation accidents at a Luncheon Nov. 16. “We understand the need to solve the puzzle in the early hours of an accident, and we know your editors and producers want you to be the first to get the ‘cause’ of the accident, but what is the cost to your credibility if you are the first to get the cause wrong? We have learned from experience that first impressions can be wrong,” she said. Hersman pointed to some of the less-than-savvy questions NTSB officials have…
Type: News
German, US Unions Form Alliance to Organize US Telecom Firm
For decades, globalization has involved buying and selling goods and services and making financial transactions across borders, creating a seamless worldwide market place. Now German and U.S. unions want to secure collective bargaining rights on a global scale. The Communications Workers of America and ver.di, the German union at Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobile, announced at a Nov. 18 Newsmaker that they are joining forces to try to organize workers at T-Mobile USA, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. Larry Cohen, president of the communications workers union, said that Deutsche Telekom treats its…
Type: News