Nilagia McCoy

The Internet and the 2000 Republican Convention: An Appraisal

The Shorenstein Center asked Michael Cornfield, an expert on the Internet and politics, to give a quick appraisal of the performance of online media at the 2000 Republican National Convention. Cornfield prepared the following paper for a panel discussion held on August 13, 2000. The paper looks at a key moment in the campaign to […]

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Doing Well and Doing Good: How Soft News and Critical Journalism Are Shrinking the News Audience and Weakening Democracy – and What News Outlets Can Do About It

This report by Thomas Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press at the Shorenstein Center, asks if the news media do well and also do good? Can they meet their need to attract audiences and also fulfill their responsibility to inform the public? The news has changed greatly during the past two decades. In

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Strategic Public Relations, Sweatshops, and the Making of a Global Movement

A paper by B.J. Bullert, fall 1999 fellow, examines communication tactics used by activists against multinational corporations. The 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle succeeded in linking labor, environmental concerns and human rights to the WTO, resulting in a march of an estimated 40,000 people. The environmental, human rights, labor rights and sweatshop issues

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Speechwriting, Speechmaking, and the Press: The Kennedy Administration and the Bay of Pigs

A paper by Thomas W. Benson, spring 1999 fellow, follows the construction of presidential leadership through public rhetoric, including the authorship of that rhetoric, and its mediation through the press. As a master example, Benson analyzes the case of John F. Kennedy’s speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors on April 20, 1961. President

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The Reporter’s Privilege, Then and Now

A paper by Stephen Bates, fall 1999 fellow, explores how prosecutors and journalists see the issue of press subpoenas. Bates first looks at how the issue has been framed and fought over the years. Next, he tracks a subpoena issued to ABC, the litigation over it, and the subsequent commentary. The paper concludes with brief

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A Voyage Never Ended

A paper by Alexis Sinduhije, fall 1997 fellow, explores the distance between African-Americans and Africans. Sinduhije asks: what do African-Americans know about Africa, and vice versa? What follows are the results of his search for that answer – and its implications for Africans and African-Americans alike. Sinduhije argues that both groups have a common ground

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The Decline, But Not Yet Total Fall, of Foreign News in the U.S. Media

A paper by Jonathan Randal, fall 1998 fellow, argues that the decline in international affairs news can be attributed to a combination of factors, including audience disinterest and changes in the media business. With an increasingly fragmented audience, Randal worries that even if news becomes more accessible online, if there is no appetite for international

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State into Public: The Failed Reform of State TV in East Central Europe

A paper by Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, spring 1999 fellow, examines Eastern European state television and its difficult or sometimes failed transition from ownership by the state to public and private models. Mungiu-Pippidi looks at television in the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, from the onset of democratic regimes in 1989 and 1990 until 2000.

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Rainbow’s End: Public Support for Democracy in the New South Africa

A paper by Richard Morin, fall 1999 fellow, considers South Africans’ sense of optimism and uncertainty regarding future democratic progress. Do they expect the transformation brought about by Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu to continue, or to pass into blood and chaos? Do the factors that encourage optimism among blacks provoke uncertainty among whites?

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The New York Times Rule on the Net or in the World “…without uncertainty, compromise and fear,” or Should the New York Times Rule Be Introduced in Hungary?

A paper by Peter Molnar, spring 2000 fellow, examines Hungary’s lack of press freedom and possible paths forward. Freedom of speech was less valued in Hungary’s fledgling democracy than it was before the fall of the Berlin Wall, argues Molnar. Such a contradiction is characteristic of the ongoing transformation in Hungarian society. An emerging democracy

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