Download issue (PDF) - Nieman Foundation - Harvard University

Curator’s Corner
Clear Direction in Tough Economic Times
Economic volatility brings ‘new meaning to the program’s transformative nature.’
BY BOB GILES
As the Nieman Foundation’s Advisory Board met
in early November on the eve of the convocation
celebrating 70 years of Nieman Fellowships, two
questions dominated the discussions:
• Should the foundation reconsider its mission of midcareer
education in response to the dramatic and disruptive technological
and economic changes affecting journalism?
• How can the foundation give the fellows a more transformational
experience to help them think through and
prepare for their roles in the new world of journalism?
The press is less institutional than it was when the first
Nieman Fellows came to Harvard in the fall of 1938. While
most fellows still come from mainstream news organizations,
especially newspapers, an increasing number of fellows
arrive as freelancers, and many of them blog. Even those
from established newsrooms bring with them a sense that
their careers will head them in new directions.
The central design of a year of study in Harvard classrooms
has remained steady through the years. Each fellow
shapes a program designed to serve a specific need:
filling gaps in education, exploring new fields of learning,
preparing for a different assignment at year’s end. Nieman
Fellows have always been in transition in thinking deeply
about what they want to do as journalists. For years, this
meant enriching their minds as preparation for their return
to their newspaper or broadcast news organization.
Today, Nieman Fellows explore unfamiliar paths and use
the knowledge and skills gained along the way as the keys
to unlocking fresh opportunity.
These days fellows face buyout offers or circumstances
that force them to consider taking alternative paths in
journalism. This unsettling reality brings new meaning to
the program’s transformative nature, and we are addressing
this challenge by supplementing the core program with
seminars and workshops that acquaint fellows with the
new tools necessary for storytelling in the digital age.
Fellows also benefit from Nieman initiatives serving
audiences beyond Harvard.
• The Nieman Journalism Lab is finding a place in ongoing
discussions about journalism in a digital world and
the search for economic models that can sustain quality
journalism. The lab, through its Web site, www.niemanlab.
org, is providing daily posts about issues of the journalistic
craft and business models.
• Nieman Reports is enlarging its capacity in the digital
arena, aided by the foundation’s redesigned Web site. With
its own URL, www.niemanreports.org, offering readers
a separate link to each story, its online audience will be
able to share articles with friends, leave comments, and
publish links to stories related to various topics.
• By year’s end, we plan to launch on our Web site, www.
nieman.harvard.edu, an online community for alumni
that will create a place for fellows to interact and share
ideas about the program with the foundation staff.
The advisory board members reflected on these developments
and talked about other fellowship programs
that are introducing significant changes. At the John S.
Knight Fellowships at Stanford, for example, applicants
now propose a project—to be worked on during their
fellowship year—that addresses a journalistic challenge
with an emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship
resulting in a business proposal, a progress report, or a
public conference.
Our discussions about the continuing role of the Nieman
Fellowship program took place under the shadow
of volatility in the financial markets and uncertainty that
persists as a new economic reality. Some advisory board
members wondered whether the changes in journalism
and the downsizing of mainstream news organizations
would influence the composition of future Nieman classes.
Will the number of applicants increase or shrink? Would
journalists be attracted to the program at earlier points
in their careers as they look to buttress their journalistic
values and acquire knowledge to influence their work in
the years ahead?
Board members encouraged the Nieman Foundation to
stay the course and preserve the original purpose of a year
for fellows to learn and reflect, whether they are in transit
or anticipate a return to their newsrooms.
Here at Harvard, President Drew Faust has told the
university community that even though universities have
for centuries shown remarkable resilience and creative
power in the face of unpredictability and change, the present
downturn will have an impact on even well diversified
portfolios such as Harvard’s. What the impact will be is
influenced by the university’s prudent policies over the
years in distributing endowment payouts.
Harvard’s management practices are designed to weather
this kind of downturn and enable endowed units, such as
the Nieman Foundation, to avoid making sharp cuts in
its educational programs. In this time of uncertainty, the
foundation is weighing options and discussing strategic
steps that will enable us to continue a strong fellowship
program for the class of 2010 and beyond. �
Nieman Reports | Winter 2008 3