Congratulations to the 2009 winners of the OPC Foundation Scholarships. Nearly 200 applications from more than 50 different colleges were received in the most competitive year the Foundation has seen since its inception. The awards will be presented at the annual Scholarship Luncheon on February 13, 2009.
Author: OPC of America
Journalists in Russia in the 1950s
Whitman Bassow was Newsweek‘s Moscow correspondent in the 1950’s in the height of the Cold War until Khrushchev threw him out. We are enlisting help from former Moscow correspondents and others who were reporting in this timeframe to identify the reporters at the bottom of the photo; please click the headline to view the photo.
Krisher Takes on Burma
Retired foreign correspondent Bernie Krisher now is planning to help the poor in Burma as he is doing for the have-nots in Cambodia. In a December holiday letter to friends and supporters, Krisher wrote, “I established another nonprofit, World Assistance for Burma, after the riots in Burma against the junta… . I hope to replicate in Burma much of what I am doing in Cambodia in the areas of health, education, anti-drug trafficking and information.”
Jill Carroll to Be a Firefighter
After reporting from Cairo, Jill Carroll, 31, dropped out of war reporting
and last August started training as a firefighter in Virginia.
Obama’s Foreign Policy Challenges
The Council on Foreign Relation’s Foreign Affairs magazine has compiled a collection of articles that offer policy prescriptions to some of the world’s most pressing problems.
Koppel Leaves Discovery Channel
The renowned anchorman Ted Koppel is walking away from the Discovery Channel six months before his contract was due to expire. A statement by the two parties suggested that Discovery’s shift away from news content created a split between Mr. Koppel and the new management of the cable channel.
IWMF: Guide to Train Journalists
The International Women’s Media Foundation has launched a new online publication designed to help media trainers and journalists implement in-house training.
CJR: Journalism’s Battle for Relevance
In the November/December 2008 issue, Columbia Journalism Review writes about the tragedy of the news media in the information age and the
struggle to find a financial foothold. The article asserts that media companies have neglected to look hard
enough at the larger implications of the new information landscape — and
more generally, of modern life.
OPC Demands Action to Defend Philippine Journalists
We write to urge immediate action to defend and protect journalists working in the Philippines. On November 17, an outspoken radio presenter, Aristeo Padrigao, of Radyo Natin, was gunned down in Misamis Oriental province.
Tribune Company Files for Bankruptcy
The New York Times reported on Monday that The Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy protection hoping to restructure $13 billion in debt that threatens to cripple it in the face of a sinking economy and a collapse in advertising.