J.H. Snider, spring 2008 fellow, discusses problems with government transparency, and the feasibility of potential solutions in two papers. Paper #1: The Dismal Politics of Legislative Transparency The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prevents legislators from infringing on the freedom of the press. However, legislators have been granted monopoly control of legislative information systems, […]
A paper by Philip J. Hilts, spring 2008 fellow, explores the growth and future of global health news coverage. Hilts found that although newspapers have suffered an overall decline in reporting, global health coverage of topics such as new diseases, the safety of imported food, and health-related poverty interventions have received increased coverage, not only at
Journalism and Global Health Read More »
A paper by Richard Davis, spring 2008 fellow, analyzes how political bloggers are affecting traditional journalism. How is a community with long-held traditions and professional norms being affected by a community that seemingly plays by its own rules? What is the nature of the relationship between these two players? The thesis of this paper is
A Symbiotic Relationship between Journalists and Bloggers Read More »
A paper by Elizabeth Becker, spring 2008 fellow, explores why the business side of travel is so seldom covered by journalists – and the implications. Despite being a fast-growing, $7 trillion international industry that impacts cities and wilderness, sometimes quite negatively, the effects of tourism get “a pass from the media,” according to Becker. She describes
Lost in the Travel Pages: The Global Industry Hiding Inside the Sunday Newspaper Read More »
A paper by Geoffrey Cowan, fall 2007 fellow, argues that although many of the major news organizations that dominated the landscape a generation ago have lost ground during the disruption of the news industry, leadership is key to a path forward. The motives of a publication’s owners – profits, influence, or personal prestige – each present
A paper by Robin Sproul, fall 2007 fellow, details the growing problems with exit polls. Sproul writes that “the six news organizations that jointly conduct exit polls, ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, NBC, and the Associated Press have been on a roller coaster ride since Election Day 2000, with a great many successes, some spectacular failures,
Exit Polls: Better or Worse Since the 2000 Election? Read More »
A paper by Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, fall 2007 fellow, tells the story VietNamNet, Vietnam’s most popular online media outlet and one of the country’s most respected news publications. Although private news outlets are not yet legal—all newspapers are controlled by state organizations—the Vietnamese press has become increasingly vibrant and politically influential. VietNamNet has been reporting
From VietNet to VietNam Net: Ten Years of Electronic Media in Vietnam Read More »
A paper by Tom Fiedler, fall 2007 fellow, considers whether the structure of the presidential primary – which includes special treatment of Iowa, New Hampshire and, lately, Nevada and South Carolina, is in decline. Fiedler argues that this change also coincides with the loss of control that political parties have experienced in recent elections, and the
A report by the Shorenstein Center and the Project for Excellence in Journalism analyzes positive and negative press coverage of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain. The study first examines the dominant personal narratives about the candidates in the media during the heat of the primary season. The most prominent negative theme
A paper by Michael Maier, spring 2007 fellow, examines various forms of citizen journalism taking place at traditional media outlets. The paper includes projects by The Los Angeles Times in 2005; a model developed by Bill Kovach, the former Washington bureau chief of The New York Times, that was tested in the newsrooms of the
Journalism without Journalists: Vision or Caricature? Read More »
The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy is a Harvard Kennedy School research center dedicated to exploring and illuminating the intersection of press, politics and public policy in theory and practice. The Center strives to bridge the gap between journalists and scholars, and between them and the public.
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