Search
Displaying results 531 - 540 of 2062
Press Club explores transparency in the District
The National Press Club’s Freedom of the Press Committee joined the D.C. Open Government Coalition March 15 to present the 2016 D.C. Open Government Summit, highlighting government transparency in the District. The event coincided with Sunshine Week, a national celebration of public access to government data. Following an introduction by D.C. OGC President Kevin Goldberg, the event opened with a conversation between D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. OGC founder Tom Susman. Bowser discussed her experiences as both a council member and mayor in promoting transparency, such as advocating for…
Type: News
Trump supporters are scared, Gates tells Press Club Luncheon
Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is speaking to a “deep set of fear within a large segment of the American community,” but Trump opponents shouldn’t mock his supporters, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. told a sold-out National Press Club Luncheon on March 14. “We have all been frightened,” Gates said. “You can’t mock the people who are frightened.” In an unusual luncheon format, Gates participated in a conversation about race with documentary-filmmaker and NPC member Ken Burns. The discussion was moderated by NPC member Michael Fletcher, a reporter for ESPN’s Undefeated – a digital site launching…
Type: News
Club welcomes Jason Rezaian home from Iranian captivity
National Press Club members, journalism colleagues, diplomats and family members welcomed Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian home from captivity in Iran at a Club celebration on March 14. More than 300 people gathered in the Club ballroom for an event that doubled as a tribute to Rezaian’s freedom and his 40th birthday. Rezaian spent 545 days isolated in an Iranian prison, after being arrested by the government and unjustly convicted. He was prosecuted essentially for acting as a journalist in covering the country for The Washington Post. He was released in January. Rezaian’s detention…
Type: News
Former Cuban political prison Alan Gross says Obama visit timely, could aid private sector communication
President Obama's visit next week to Cuba and the newly improved relations with the U.S. have the potential bring more open communication and full internet access, which could help shift Cuba’s embargo-hamstrung economy from 11% private sector to 90%, former Cuban political prisoner Alan Gross told a packed Newsmaker on Tuesday. “Information is food for the brain,” and would allow learning and better product development, including poultry feeding and agriculture land improvement, areas of potential Cuban economic strength, Gross said. U.S. businesses, such as Maryland’s poultry industry,…
Type: News
New Metro manager says train system "much worse" than he expected
Paul Wiedefeld, the new general manager of the Washington Metro, told a National Press Club luncheon Monday that he found things when he took office three months ago as "much worse than I expected" and would deal first with nuts and bolts issues before tackling a long-term strategy. In a prepared statement later, Wiedefeld said there was no single action that would turn Metro around but concerted efforts "to grind out critical changes at all levels... from the Metro cars to using employees efficiently." He said he was committed to being transparent "about what needs to be fixed, how we are…
Type: News
Digital media expert affirms importance of cultivating valuable audiences
Building relationships is critical for organizations that want to mobilize their followers to take action on social media, Shana Glickfield said at the Get It Online: Social Media for Advocacy event March 8. Organizations should be active members of an online community, she said. Glickfield, a founder and partner at Beekeeper Group, has more than a decade of experience in social media. Online tools have enormous value as advocacy tools, she said, but using them properly requires an investment of time and strategic thinking. Glickfield is a proponent of the “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook”…
Type: News
ClearPath announces effort to make clean energy a priority for the GOP
To spur fresh ideas and stimulate thoughtful debate about the merits of clean energy, conservative philanthropist Jay Faison, founder and CEO of ClearPath, a private foundation, announced today at the National Press Club the launch of a seven-figure digital campaign targeting GOP policymakers and energy policy advocates. Faison, who is based in Charlotte, N.C., said there is now opportunity for Republicans to lead with a conservative clean energy agenda. Such a move would cast the GOP as a more forward-looking party and help the GOP win voters, he said. ClearPath’s research, he said,…
Type: News
Aid groups call for full ceasefire in Syria
With the next round of talks on Syria's future due to officially begin in Geneva on Mar. 14 - five days later than originally planned - some of the largest responders to the humanitarian emergency there told a National Press Club Newsmaker March 3 that only an all-encompassing, long-term ceasefire can bring relief. “Humanitarian assistance saves and sustains life, but it is not the solution to the Syria crisis," Neal Keny-Guyer, the CEO of Mercy Corps, which serves 570,000 people a month in Syria, said. "Ultimately, the solution is political. We now have a rare opening to potentially end this…
Type: News
Candidates elected in 2016 must understand value of space exploration, industry says
Not many organizations arrange a National Press Club Newsmaker event with the hope of not getting their issue widely discussed. But, a coalition of 13 organizations in the $330 billion a year space industry, with an interest in ensuring continued U.S. leadership in space, did that Friday at a Newsmaker recorded by C-SPAN. Unveiling a four-page white paper on the value to the economy of space exploration which they are distributing to federal and state election candidates, Space Foundation CEO Elliot Pulham said "I would be perfectly happy if no one on the campaign trail said anything stupid…
Type: News
Education Secretary Duncan advocates shifting money from prisons to teacher salaries
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged states and local communities to break the “school-to-prison pipeline” by cutting in half the number of non-violent offenders sent to prison. The estimated $15 billion in annual savings should be used to give 50 percent salary increases to teachers in high-poverty schools, Duncan said at a National Press Club luncheon on Sept. 30. Duncan joined President Barack Obama and other administration officials in deploring the nation’s large prison population, which is disproportionately comprised of African Americans. He said his proposal to shift funds…
Type: News