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Displaying results 651 - 660 of 2062
Contractor's Cuba imprisonment has harmed health, family, his wife says
“I cannot and will not allow my husband to die in a Cuban prison,” Judy Gross, wife of jailed American contractor Alan Gross, told a National Press Club Newsmaker on November 30. Alan Gross, 63, was arrested without public explanation in 2009 on one of the several trips he made to Cuba working as a U.S. government contractor to bring the Internet to disparate Jewish communities on the island. Judy Gross spoke of the toll her husband’s incarceration has taken on their family as the third anniversary of his arrest approaches. “December 3, 2009 was the day my family fell apart,” she said. In the…
Type: News
Life of Nelson Mandela is subject of Press Club program
Nelson Mandela emerged from nearly 30 years in prison willing to make peace with his enemies in the white-controlled South African government, and that has made all of the difference in the history of his country, South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool told a Club gathering Nov. 26. “The man had the greatest cause to be angry, but he transcended it,” Rasool said. “He turned his back on victimhood because he knew it would take hold of his emotions. He said the one thing they could not take away from him was his heart and soul. If he gave in to vengeance, he would have given away his…
Type: News
Ted Koppel: Networks must invest in serious journalism to save democracy
Technological changes, viewer tastes and demands for profit have undercut the quality of television news, but the pendulum should begin to swing back, legendary ABC News anchor Ted Koppel told host Marvin Kalb at “The Kalb Report” on Nov. 19. “When Americans finally realize how bad things are and what political straits our system is in, they will turn back to good journalism,” Koppel predicted at the National Press Club forum. Information is spread so quickly that the system will collapse if reliable sources don't provide accurate information, he said. Yet many reporters have little time to…
Type: News
Scandals leave military with 'introspective' feeling, says Navy chief
The scandals that have embroiled retired Army General David Petraeus and General John Allen have left the upper echelons of the U.S. military feeling "introspective," Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert told a luncheon at the National Press Club Nov. 16. Greenert explained that the feeling applied particularly to the Navy, which saw more than 20 commanding officers expelled from the service this year, the majority of whom were found to have conducted themselves inappropriately. "I don't understand why they're misbehaving, but I'm concerned about that," Greenert said. "What we'…
Type: News
The Who legends Daltrey and Townshend launch “Teen Cancer America” charity at NPC luncheon
Rock legends Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, lead singer and guitarist, respectively, of the iconic British band The Who, announced the launch of their charity Teen Cancer America at a National Press Club luncheon on Nov. 12. Daltrey gave the keynote remarks and The Who front man was by turns jovial and somber in an eloquent appeal for a more concentrated effort to fight teen cancer in the United States. “What we’re trying to do here is make you aware of the situation,” Daltrey told a sold-out crowd of NPC members and their guests. “You should build a community within your hospital at the…
Type: News
Over 300 people -- some glad, some sad -- watch returns at Election Night gala
Even though the party was non-partisan, as the election returns poured in there still was much whooping, yelling, cheering and groaning among the more than 300 attendees at the National Press Club's first-ever Election Night Watch in the Club Ballroom on Tuesday, Nov. 6. The energetic and diverse crowd of members and non-members from the D.C. area carried on throughout the evening as it watched the results broadcast live from several news networks. Guests also were able to follow their preferred news coverage on each of three large television screens. Two other TV screens enabled attendees to…
Type: News
Penn State to implement 119 reforms after Sandusky scandal, its president pledges
Speaking at a National Press Club luncheon Nov. 2, a day after his predecessor was charged with being part of a "conspiracy of silence" in the Jerry Sandusky child abuse case, Pennsylvania State University President Rodney Erickson vowed to implement 119 reform recommendations by the end of next year to insure that nothing like that scandal can happen again. Erickson, who will retire in June 2014 after 37 years at Penn State, said the university has already adopted more than a third of the 119 reforms recommended in July by former FBI director Louis Freeh after his independent university-…
Type: News
Women’s health group to blanket Congress with landmark book
Our Bodies Ourselves, a women’s health organization named for the book, “Our Bodies, Ourselves,” announced an initiative to place a copy of the 40th anniversary edition of the book in every congressional office at a Newsmaker event Oct. 22. The original book, a seminal study of women’s health and sexual issues that was published in 1971, is one of 88 books included in the 2012 Library of Congress exhibit, “Books that Shaped America.” According to Amazon, more than four million copies of previous editions have been sold. Debra Silimeo, the Newsmaker committee member who organized the event,…
Type: News
Newsmaker: GPS Tracking of Suspected Criminals Raises Fourth Amendment Concerns
As technology matures, privacy issues are being subjected to legal tests that could force a Supreme Court Fourth Amendment review, according to Virginia attorneys Christopher Leibig and Steve Shannon who addressed their concerns during a National Press Club Newsmaker event Thursday. Global Positioning Systems in particular are being used more frequently by law enforcement officials seeking to track the movements of suspected criminals. Although law related to GPS tracking has matured in recent years, many issues surrounding the technology remain unsettled and are being argued in courtrooms…
Type: News
Eisenhower Scholars Examine Ike’s Role with the Media
Did Ike like the media? Or did he consider them a necessary nuisance? Did he use their reach and credibility to telegraph messages to other world leaders? On the evening of Oct. 11, members of the National Press Club, joined by guests from the Kansas State Society, members of the Eisenhower Administration and Eisenhower buffs gathered to discuss how Dwight D. Eisenhower interacted with the media. The 1950s were a time of growth and change for the news media –- with television joining radio in bringing unprecedented immediacy to press coverage and with the White House press corps expanding…
Type: News