Niemans in the News

Iran's Winds of Change - February 14

Iason Athanasiadis, Class of 2008, comments on the new generation of Iranians: the children of the Revolution. "The domestic social situation is more dire than at almost any other time since the Revolution," he writes. "But many Iranians have moved on from the submissive first days of the Islamic Republic ... The new generation mounts actions of social insubordination that their parents only dreamed of."
ProPublica Appoints Journalism Advisory Board - February 11

Paul E. Steiger, editor-in-chief of ProPublica, a non-profit newsroom producing journalism in the public interest, today announced the appointment of a journalism Advisory Board. Of the 12 board members, three are Nieman Fellows — Bob Caro, Class of '66; John Carroll, Class of '72; and Cynthia Tucker, Class of '89. Additionally, two of the new members — Greg Moore and Carroll — also serve on the Nieman Advisory Board.
Romney's Immigration Hypocrisy - February 5

Former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s inconsistency on tough issues is widely recognized: He was pro-choice and then pro-life; he supported gun control and then he rejected it; he backed same sex marriage and then he opposed it. Yet, on the issue of immigration, he has not only been inconsistent, but revealed himself to be a hypocrite — and not just because he hired migrants without work permits to mow his lawn.

Read the entire op-ed — authored by Raul Penaranda, Class of 2008 — on The Harvard Crimson Web site
Ellen Goodman is 2008 Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree - February 1

Ellen Goodman, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist from the Boston Globe and member of the Class of 1974, is the 2008 recipient of the Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. The award is given yearly to honor a columnist who exemplifies outstanding achievement in the tradition of Ernie Pyle, a beloved journalist and military correspondent during World War II.
Journalism and Public Information in Brazil - January 22

Fernando Rodrigues, Class of 2008, assembled a database with some 25,000 records of Brazilian politicians showing electoral information and personal data — including the list of personal assets of each politician who run for office in the three past general elections in Brazil.
Cynthia Tucker to Present Keynote Address - January 20

Cynthia Tucker, a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writer and member of the Class of 1989, will serve as one of two featured speakers for the Seventh Annual Leadership Conference Celebrating Black History Month presented by Troy University and the City of Troy. Tucker is an editorial page editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a syndicated opinion columnist.
Causey New Member of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Editorial Board - January 19

James Causey, Class of 2008, is one of two writers to recently join the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board. He will write on urban affairs once he finishes his year as a Nieman Fellow.

O. Ricardo Pimentel writes: "Causey brings an intimate knowledge of the community and the region that comes from being born, raised and educated in Milwaukee. He also brings a passion for addressing and solving some of the city's most nagging problems."
Josh Benton's Investigations Into Cheating Receives Top Honors in Meyer Awards - January 9

Three major investigative reports that used social science research methods as key parts of their probes were named today as winners of the 2007 Philip Meyer Journalism Award.

Among them, The Dallas Morning News' Josh Benton — Class of 2008 — took top honors for “Faking the Grade” investigation.
Pakistan's Trusted Voice Muzzled by Musharraf - January 8

In early November, President Pervez Musharraf's government pulled the plug on Pakistan's most popular television news channel, independent Geo-TV. Bill Schiller, Class of 2006, talks to Pakistani Geo television reporter Absar Alam, Class of 2005, about what the TV channel did to incur the wrath of the Musharraf government.
From Gaza to Harvard - January 8

BBC Producer Simon Wilson, Class of 2008, blogs from Cambridge about the crisis in the American newspaper industry, and the BBC's role in national and international news reporting.