Search
Displaying results 481 - 490 of 2062
Protecting freelance foreign correspondents in a new era of volatility
The risks are increasing for freelance journalists reporting in conflict zones around the world. A panel of journalists and experts brought together by the National Press Club’s Freelance and Press Freedom Committees Nov. 9 sized up those risks and offered advice on how to handle them. “I think we are at a turning point,” said Charles M. Sennott, GlobalPost co-founder, the GroundTruth Project founder and executive director. Speaking of risk, Sennott added: “For me personally, profound deeply personal turning point was the murder of James Foley,” who was a friend and colleague. “In this…
Type: News
VA Secretary McDonald touts reforms he's implemented during Press Club Luncheon
In the aftermath of a scandal involving long waiting lines at veterans hospitals and falsified records, progress is being made, but there is still lots of work to done, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald repeatedly said during a Nov. 6 National Press Club Luncheon. The former CEO of Proctor & Gamble and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point was chosen last year by President Barack Obama to lead the tarnished agency’s turnaround effort, dubbed the MyVA Transformation Plan. The agency has expanded its capabilities to assist veterans by adding more than 15,000 staff to…
Type: News
NPC podcast explores efforts to reverse sexism in the world of science journalism
Sexism is a major concern among science journalists. In the latest edition of the National Press Club's podcast, Update-1, Broadcast Committee member Candace Smith interviews Deborah Blum, director of the Knight Science Journalism program at MIT, about gender bias and the challenges facing science writers who are women. Blum points out that although the majority of science journalists are women, the majority of the published articles are written by men and the majority of writers who are recognized for their work are men. She talks about the efforts under way to level the playing field and…
Type: News
National Press Club member Sam Holt recalls founding of Broadcast Committee
National Press Club member Sam Holt was a founding member in 2006 of the NPC's Broadcast Task Force, which has since become an official committee of the Club. At this month's committee meeting Holt cataloged his other "founding" credentials. In 1964, Holt founded the all-news format for a Birmingham radio station, the first with the format in the South. He later hooked up with WGBH in Boston and became a founding head of programming for television's Public Broadcasting Service. Holt hired chef Julia Childs to "make cooking a public discourse." That worked. He hired Mr. Rogers. That worked.…
Type: News
President Obama congratulates Beyer, winner of the National Press Club Spelling Bee
Virginia Democrat Don Beyer took home the trophy at the National Press Club “Politicians vs. Press” Spelling Bee Oct. 21 that pitted seven members of Congress against eight members of the fourth estate. Nearly 400 people packed into the Press Club ballroom for the event, which was sponsored by Discovery Communications. Attendees mumbled letters under their breath, gasped at fumbles and cheered at successes as contestants tackled words like “avuncular,” “acquiesce,” and “Plantagenet.” Beyer, who scored perfect on his SATs in high school, ultimately clinched his victory by correctly…
Type: News
Former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy calls for mental health parity
Former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy called for action to treat addiction and mental illness as legitimate diseases at a National Press Club Newsmakers event Nov. 5 in the Fourth Estate Restaurant. “We’re living in a watershed time for the movement to ensure that mental illness and addiction are covered as the diseases they are ... and are no longer discriminated against because of age-old prejudices based on unfounded inaccuracies,” Kennedy said. The stigma surrounding such illnesses is an overarching theme in his new book, A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future…
Type: News
This Week in NPC History: Truman reminisces during National Press Club appearance
This Week In National Press Club History: Nov. 2, 1961: Former President Harry S. Truman reminisces about his White House years before a capacity National Press Club luncheon crowd. He criticizes the economic policies of the Eisenhower administration, and reviews the priorities of the new Kennedy administration favorably. Nov. 4, 1982: Simeon Booker, of Johnson Publications, is the tenth recipient of the Press Club’s Fourth Estate Award. Nov. 6, 1990: Mstislav Rostropovich, music director of the National Symphony Orchestra and one of the world’s great cellists, speaks as a Soviet émigré…
Type: News
Soccer's Abby Wambach says inequity remains in women's sports despite big gains
U.S. Women's Soccer star Abby Wambach, in her first public remarks since announcing she'll retire from the sport next month, praised the media Wednesday at a National Press Club speakers luncheon for shining a spotlight on women's sports. “My sincere thanks to those who pushed to cover the Women’s World Cup,” Wambach said."The media helped change not just my life but also many young lives, sending the message that they can do whatever they want in life.” Media attention helped bolster support for Women's World Cup soccer over her 14-year career, Wambach said. “I would look in the crowd and…
Type: News
Newsmaker: Affirmative Action under Supreme Court scrutiny again
The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 9 will take another look at the Fisher v. University of Texas affirmative action case that has ping-ponged between the high court and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since 2012. That the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case this time "is bad news for the University of Texas," said attorney Andrew Grossman of BakerHostetler, who represents the Cato Institute and who has filed a Supreme Court brief on UT applicant Abigail Fisher's side in the case. During a Newsmaker news conference at the National Press Club Tuesday, he reasoned that the Supreme Court only…
Type: News
Panel of railroad experts urges Congress to address transportation infrastructure needs
Joe Boardman, president and CEO of Amtrak, accompanied by members of the Amtrak Chicago Gateway Blue Ribbon Panel, outlined railroad infrastructure needs in Chicago to urge Federal policy and funding for transportation infrastructure at an October 26 Newsmaker event. Jack Quinn, former chairman of the Railroads Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and current president of Erie Community College, noted, “The nation’s transportation policy will expire in just a couple of days, and the two houses of Congress have begun the first cautious steps toward a real…
Type: News