summer-2003-Part 2-live - Nieman Foundation - Harvard University

Nieman Notesown business also makes it easier to bea single parent to Miranda who, at 12,requires a near-constant chauffeur.”—1998—Joe Rodriguez writes: “After nearlyfive years and 500 metro columns forthe San Jose Mercury News, I’ll startwriting my op-ed column in late May orearly June. It will run on the KnightRidder wire service.“I’m going to try something unusualfor the opinion side of newspapers: anational column based on the streets.My turf will be the Bay Area and anywhereI can get to quickly for a columnon deadline. I’ll be writing twice aweek. My themes won’t change much—Latino issues, the politics of race andethnicity, immigration, the plight ofthe working poor and working class,violence and criminal justice. I’ll addsome new ones—war, health care reform,urban environmentalism, LatinAmerican affairs. I hope to write with adistinct Latino voice rooted in East LosAngeles, my hometown.“As for my metal sculpture, well,buying and fixing up a century-old neoclassicbungalow in downtown San Josehas put my art on hold for the past twoyears. The damn thing was soaking upevery extra penny and ounce of creativityI had. However, the house is finallyunder control. I have a new friend whoowns a bronze foundry! Like me, he’san amateur sculptor, and we’ll be collaboratingon a few large metal sculptureslater this year.”—1999—Chris Marquis has written a novel:“‘A Hole in the Heart’ is coming out thisAugust, published by St. Martin’s Press.It’s the story of a young schoolteacherin Alaska who must rebuild her lifeafter losing her adventurer husband. Ibegan the novel during my Niemanyear; Anne Bernays’s fiction class was agreat help. Book Magazine named meone of ‘10 writers to watch in 2003.’”—2000—David Molpus moved from his positionas a correspondent for NationalPublic Radio to become executive directorof World Vision Radio in Tampa,Florida. He writes: “It’s a wild ride forsure, moving from NPR to a Christianorganization that has never produceda news product before. Lots of educatingand stretching going on for bothsides as we figure out what it means tobe journalistically independent andconnected to the aims and values of anorganization. One thing we are clearon is that those of us at World Visionand at World Vision Radio want toserve the poor and connect with Americans,especially the American church,so there is more awareness of worldpoverty and injustices. We also want toprovoke thought about American obligationsto respond and what we, thenon-poor, can learn from the poor.Finally, we want to explore faith as itrelates to poverty and injustices.“We hope to raise the bar as well forthe quality of journalism in Christianbroadcasting with more balance, moreseparation of fact from opinion. We arerelying heavily on ‘The Elements ofJournalism’ [by Bill Kovach and TomRosenstiel] as a guide in wrestling withquestions of journalistic boundariesand integrity. The project is still evolving,but we have high hopes amidst therisks. We expect to hit air by the fall. Inthe meantime, I’m off to Peru, Ugandaand other parts of Africa.“We can use help finding stringersfor radio pieces just about anywhere inthe world. So we welcome inquiries,especially from Niemans.”Molpus can be reached atdmolpus@worldvision.org.—2003—Kevin Cullen, a projects reporter atThe Boston Globe, is on the Globe’steam of reporters who won the PulitzerPrize for meritorious public service.The Pulitzer citation praised the Globefor “its courageous, comprehensivecoverage of sexual abuse by priests, aneffort that pierced secrecy, stirred local,national and international reaction,and produced changes in theRoman Catholic Church.” ■The Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers AnnouncedAt a dinner at the Harvard Faculty Club on April 17,The Boston Globe Spotlight Team received thesecond annual Taylor Family Award for Fairnessin Newspapers for its coverage of the sexual-abusescandal in the Catholic Church and its outstandingeffort to examine charges and accusations fromall sides and sources.As one Taylor Award judge commented, “Dayafter day after day, the Globe met the standards offairness in examining a sensitive subject and amuch-revered institution that news organizationsoften tiptoe around.”One nominator said that the Globe representedthe essence of fairness in the media: “TheGlobe’s Spotlight Team uncovered one of theworst scandals of modern times: the sexual abuseof children by members of the clergy. A fewmonths later, after the scandal has spread aroundthe world, [the Globe] launches another investigationto clear two priests who appear to havebeen falsely accused of that crime.”The judges also recognized two finalists:• The Cleveland Plain-Dealer, for a series thatexamined the life of Michael Green, who wasreleased from prison after serving 13 years fora rape he did not commit.• The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, for its coverageof chronic wasting disease in deer, the riskto the deer population, its impact on hunting,and its potential effect on Wisconsin’s dairycows.The Taylor Award, administered by the NiemanFoundation, was established through gifts for anendowment by the Taylor family, which publishedThe Boston Globe from 1872 to 1999. The awardcarries a $10,000 prize. The purpose of the awardis to encourage fairness in news coverage by dailynewspapers in America. ■122 Nieman Reports / Summer 2003