Julie Smyth Zach Cohen Juliet Beverly
Emma Kinery Anjalee Khemlani 2020 Annual Report Sophie Tatum
Tyler Bridges Willie James Inman Corrie Pikul
Tia Mitchell Sarah Klein David Lim
WE MAKE GOOD JOURNALISTS BETTER.
Mark Greenblatt Umair-Irfan
THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION IS A 501(C)(3) ORGANIZATION
Rhea Mahbubani Kamal Johnny Edwards LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT AND COO
Sonni Efron
The National Press Foundation was honored Paris and elsewhere. They helped journalists to serve journalists throughout the chaos seed a troubled information ecosystem with of 2020. As news organizations rallied to sensitive, data-driven and timely coverage of cover the pandemic, a contested election critical isues. and a national reckoning on race, NPF reinvented itself as an all-digital operation. NPF also launched a redesigned website, We rededicated ourselves to making good held an all-virtual fundraising event and journalists better — in lockdown and beyond. made its trainings more accessible to more journalists in more places around the world. NPF began the year with two in-person, We launched a partnership with DataKind to full-length fellowships on the nation’s top match fellows tackling complex investigative pre-pandemic health issues: heart disease projects with data scientist volunteers willing and cancer. When COVID-19 struck, we to help them. And we launched new awards quickly pivoted to training journalists on to recognize the best reporting on poverty vaccines, homelessness and rural mental in the United States. health. As the year wore on, we began offering full-length online trainings on how Our work would not be possible without the to track taxpayer money through Paycheck generosity of our friends, sponsors, donors Protection Program loans and other pandemic and unsung volunteers. These include our relief programs. We ran a boot camp in speakers, who gave their precious time vaccine development, a 10-part series on free of charge; our board and fundraising international trade and global supply chains, committee members, who offered unstinting and programs on disinformation, lessons help; our sponsors, who shared expertise and from the pandemic, and rising poverty and staff time, as well as financial support; and inequality in the United States. our awards judges, who helped us celebrate the best in journalism. Your work sustains Our speakers included Nobel laureate Abhijit American democracy. Banerjee, the Rev. William Barber, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, pioneering With sincere thanks, psychologist Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble and other experts Zooming in from Beijing, Singapore, Canberra, Toronto, Geneva, Sonni Efron
1 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT LETTER FROM THE BOARD CHAIR
Donna Leinwand Leger
Dear Friends of the National Press This February, at the height of Zoom fatigue, Foundation, we held our gala online, and still, you — our stalwart supporters — showed up, full of It’s hard to imagine a more tumultuous enthusiasm for great journalism. Your year than 2020. One month after our always generosity in these uncertain times allowed inspirational gala honoring the best of the National Press Foundation to thrive. journalism, the world locked down into a pandemic crouch that continues even as I 2021 promises to be a brighter, healthier write this. Yet in times like this, our craving year, but we are all changed. The National for truthful, accurate and clear information Press Foundation, ever mindful of the grows stronger. fragility of the free press in times of crisis, will press forward with a renewed That is precisely why I am so grateful to our commitment to the future of journalism. friends, our donors and our volunteers who continued their generous support of the National Press Foundation and its mission to make good journalists better. COVID-19 forced us to reinvent our programs from Donna Leinwand Leger in-person to online training. Thanks to our terrific, flexible and imaginative staff, led by NPF President Sonni Efron, the National Press Foundation continued to deliver timely, issue-focused programming that connected journalists with top experts in vaccine science, disinformation and many other of-the-moment topics. And in the “silver lining” category, those programs reached more journalists in more countries than ever before.
2 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT What We Do
2020 YEAR IN REVIEW VIDEO
The National Press Foundation is a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to “make good journalists better.” We educate journalists on the complex issues of the day and train them to use the latest reporting tools and techniques. The foundation recognizes and encourages excellence in journalism through its awards and fellowships.
Since 1976, the foundation has provided in-person professional development opportunities to thousands of editors, producers and reporters, helping them better understand and explain the effects of public policy on readers and viewers. All NPF programming is free and on the record.
Prior to COVID-19, NPF programs were held in the nation’s capital, around the United States and overseas. During the global pandemic, we are offering all-virtual training and are continuing to bring journalists together with leading authorities to discuss significant issues, such as health care, foreign affairs, poverty and economics. Using the information in these fellowship briefings, NPF produces digital curricula that are posted to our website, allowing journalists around the world to access the best expertise and enhance their reporting.
Journalists are currently under fire, overworked, underpaid, and too often threatened with violence. The landscape for media continues to deteriorate with widespread layoffs, newsroom closures, mistrust and disinformation. Against this grim background, the National Press Foundation’s mission — making good journalists better — has become more necessary than ever.
3 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT Metrics
MOST-WATCHED VIDEOS OF 2020
2020 WAS A YEAR LIKE NO OTHER 65 3,049 14 PROGRAMS TRAINED ONLINE TRAININGS IN Q4 2020 61 fellows trained in-person (before COVID)
YouTube Subscribers
2019 798 2020 1,125 +47%
Website Pageviews
2019 17 0, 616 2020 191,507 +12%
Twitter Impressions
2019 1,406,400 2020 2,625,000 +86%
4 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE Programs 4 SUMMARY SELECTED 6 FELLOWS 8 AGENDA PROGRAM 14 NARRATIVE 18 METRICS SPEAKER 20 RATINGS 22 FELLOW TESTIMONIALS professional organizers, great fellow journos. I learned a ton, not just about the cold, the building refused to turn up the heat.) for stories I was working on at the time, but also for stories down the road.” A few fellows, meanwhile, were By Chris Adams "This fellowship gave overwhelmed by the volume of EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Fellows appreciated individual speakers and were information in the program. Director of Training and Content equally appreciative of the format of the program. The me energy to come FELLOW WORK intimate setting and the structure calling for speakers back home and dig “I think we might have benefitted from 23 Heart disease kills one in four Americans, yet we have become complacent Reichel pushed out much of the content in the program in newsletters to present and then take plenty of questions has long a little more break time as well. I wanted about it. As breakthroughs in cancer treatment make news, and scourges aimed at reporters. been used by NPF as a way to help fellows hone their more deeply." more time to interact with the other Covering the COVID-19 and Medical Trade Warssuch as opioid addiction ravage communities, heart disease hums along story ideas and build their source networks. Several journalists,” said Flam of Bloomberg. as the leading cause of death for Americans. For Bloomberg Opinion, Faye Flam wrote “American Mothers Are Dying fellows interviewed speakers after the program. Such -Lisa Gillespie, freelance Because of the U.S. Health Care System,” based on the work of speaker Dr. access was among the favorite aspects of the program. (Louisville, Kentucky) Full comments from all the fellows are Heart Beat Homelessness Part MAY 26 That was the backdrop and the message National Press Foundation Nandita Scott of Harvard Medical School. Her piece noted: “The number of included in the back of this report. fellows heard during “Covering the Heart Beat,” a four-day training Jan. women dying of complications of pregnancy and childbirth is going down While most of the sessions received strong ratings, a few stood out, EVALUATIONS 26-29, 2020, in West Palm Beach, Florida, that drew on the knowledge and in all developed countries except the United States.” JAN. 26-29 including Dr. Joanna Chikwe of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Dr. Martha For the most part, however, fellows appreciated the program and the 25 Two: The View From insights of 17 experts in cardiac disease, treatment and surgery. Gulati of the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, and speaker lineup. Of the 315 individual ratings, 51% were “excellent,” 32% And for Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Amanda Cuda wrote “Are health Tracking the Scott and her colleague Dr. Malissa Wood of Harvard Medical School. “good,” 16% “fair" and 1% “poor.” CANCER The NPF training convened 20 fellows from a range of U.S. news professionals taking your blood pressure wrong?” It was based on the Chikwe received a score of 3.8 and the others scored 3.7. the Front Lines organizations, including print, broadcast and online outlets in 16 states presentation of Dr. Carl Orringer of the University of Miami Health System. The expert speakers hailed from these organizations: Centers for Disease and Washington, D.C. They learned the latest on federal efforts to prevent What’s New in Anti-Vaccination Journalists were impressed with the professionalism, organization Control and Prevention; National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the heart disease, visited a cutting-edge research lab exploring the use of The experts from the training are likely to play a big – and ongoing – role APRIL 6 and execution of the program, from travel and hotel logistics to National Institutes of Health; University of Miami Health System and stem cells in cardiac treatment, heard from one of the top pediatric heart in fellows’ work for years to come. Fellows said the program was packed APPLICANTS management of speakers and program time. Said Emily Woodruff of Miller School of Medicine; NYU Langone Health; Dell Medical School at the surgeons in the nation, and talked with cardiac patients about how their with information and was inspirational. Flam, from Bloomberg, called it 38 Cancer Coverage Movement The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate: “Your organization and University of Texas at Austin; Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical CORPORATE hearts had failed them. The program included 15 presentations and “a wonderful, enriching, stimulating and useful few days.” Kate Thayer of planning are top-notch. … I’m really grateful to you all for the hard prep Center; University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix; Mayo Clinic; site visits designed to give journalists the education and training they the Chicago Tribune said, “I’m already planning additional cardiovascular work you obviously put in and the execution of this training.” U.S. News & World Report; and Corrigan Women’s Heart Health Program need to understand the issues, as well as story ideas to take back to their health coverage!” MARCH 2-4 Tracking COVID-19 MAY 28 at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School. newsrooms. ACCOUNTABILITY What didn’t go over so well? A few speakers received less-than- And Lisa Gillespie, a Louisville, Kentucky, based freelancer, said, “It was enthusiastic ratings, particularly a set of speakers from the Miller School All content from the trainings, including stories, audio recordings, text, Despite the advent of coronavirus, which took most of the health reporters great on multiple levels, from the other journalists I met and networked Misinformation of Medicine at the University of Miami, which hosted a field trip on photos, slides and resources shared by each speaker, is posted on NPF’s off the cardiac beat, the program had a substantial impact on coverage. In with, to the content I learned, to the speakers I will work with in the future. Monday. While one Miami speaker received top ratings – and several website. During the training, the staff also produced five-minute video From Coronavirus Techno-Nationalism the three months after the training, fellows produced 30 stories that were Journalism can be such a daily grind and it can be easy to lose sight of why mentions in stories after the training – a second session/lab tour and a interviews with five of the experts. All of this content will be viewed by re-published 4 times. I do this work. This fellowship gave me energy to come back home and dig and Disinformation third session with a panel of three cardiologists received fairly dismal thousands more journalists over time. As of this writing, this content has COVID CASH more deeply.” ratings (2.4 and 2.7). Part of that was due to speakers not remembering drawn 1,122 page views and 58 YouTube views. On Twitter, @NatPress to Tariffs: Online JUNE 9 Just a sampling: In The Washington Post, fellow Steven Petrow wrote “I their audience and presenting as though they were in a room of received about 27,527 impressions during the program. More detail on APRIL 9 thought I knew a lot about how to prevent heart disease. I was surprised All fellows filled out a detailed evaluation form, rating each speaker and cardiologists, not general health reporters. program metrics is on Page 19. by what I didn’t know.” It was a comprehensive overview that cited five of the overall program as well as offering suggestions, critiques or praise for Workshop on the speakers from our program. Petrow, a longtime health writer, realized aspects of the program. The evaluations were based on a scale of 1-4 (poor, Angela Haupt of U.S. News & World Report said that a few speakers “felt, There were 49 applicants for the program. NPF staff selected 20 fellows, in West Palm Beach that much of what he did know was outdated. fair, good, excellent). Fellows rated the overall program 3.9 of a possible 4 Pandemic Politics: at times, like they were speaking to medical students vs. journalists.” who reflected diversity of age, gender and ethnicity, and work for large and DEMOCRACY points, reflecting 17 “excellent” and three “good” ratings. small print, online and broadcast markets from all regions of the country. Trade Issues COVID-19 and For the Journalist’s Resource, a publication of the Harvard Kennedy (Another possible reason for the low Miami scores: the frigid School’s Shorenstein Center, Chloe Reichel wrote “5 myths and realities Commenting on the overall program, freelancer Katja Ridderbusch called Covering Voting temperatures in the medical school’s lecture hall. Although several NPF is grateful to Bayer for its generous support of this program. about women’s heart health,” citing two of the program’s speakers. The it “flawlessly run, highly beneficial. … Fascinating expert talks, extremely fellows complained MARCH 16 Homelessness Part publication is aimed at helping journalists cover different beats, and fellow by Mail 4 5 GLOBAL TRADE Three: The Coming COVID-19 and JUNE 16 Wave of Evictions HEART HEALTH Homelessness Part APRIL 13 Superpower One: Fighting Showdown HOMELESSNESS COVID-19 Among “The Great Influenza” – JUNE 23 America’s Most Lessons From the Past OPIOIDS AND Vulnerable with John M. Barry Covering the Jobs ADDICTION MARCH 30 APRIL 20 Report JUNE 30 How to Report on COVID-19 and POVERTY AND COVID-19 and Suicide: Exploring Essential Ingredients INEQUALITY the Homeless Prevention JULY 7 MARCH 30 APRIL 28 VACCINES Managing the Developing a COVID-19 and New Cold War COVID-19 Vaccine Rural Mental Health JULY 7 APRIL 3 MAY 5
Where’s Our Food? Supply Chains and Food Insecurity MAY 12
5 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT CONTINUED
TRACKING CORONAVIRUS VACCINE RELIEF FUNDS BOOT CAMP HOW TO FOLLOW THE TAXPAYERS’ MONEY
Support for this training provided by the Evelyn Y. Davis Foundation Support for this training provided by
Tracking Coronavirus Data and A Conversation Relief Funds National Security with Historian JULY 13-17 SEPT. 21 Harold Holzer DEC. 1 Vaccine Boot Camp Children’s Health JULY 30-AUG. 12 SEPT. 23 The Coming Battle Over Paid Family Trump, Biden and Poverty, Trauma and Leave What’s Next the Developing Brain DEC. 2 for the WTO SEPT. 30 SEPT. 1 Workplace Election 2020: Mental Health Poverty and Barriers to Voting DEC. 3 Inequality 2020 OCT. 1 SEPT. 2 The White House Are Trade Wars Beat Under the Biden What Works to Class Wars? Administration Reduce Poverty OCT. 6 DEC. 8 SEPT. 9 Child Care Education: Closing the Election 2020: OCT. 7 COVID Inequality Gap Covering Ballot A Discussion with DEC. 9 Initiatives Robert Reich SEPT. 10 NOV. 16 Children in Poverty U.S. Trade Policy Plus COVID for the Next SEPT. 16 Administration Poverty as a NOV. 17 Pre-Existing The Suburbs Health Condition After COVID SEPT. 17 NOV. 19
6 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE 4 SUMMARY SELECTED 6 FELLOWS 8 AGENDA 14 PROGRAM SpeakersNARRATIVE NPF thanks these speakers, who gave 19so METRICS generously of their time and expertise. SPEAKER 21 RATINGS FELLOW 22 TESTIMONIALS 24 FELLOW WORK 26 EVALUATIONS 38 APPLICANTS
Heart Health Carol Taylor COVID-19 and Global Trade: Laurence Sperling Behfar Ehdaie Homelessness: Essential David Goff Jr. Rebecca Goldin Evictions WEBINAR Ingredients Carl Orringer Juan Pablo Garnham Glenn Luckinbill Joshua Hare Latest on Matthew Desmond Jane Nakano Jeffrey Goldberger Autonomous Cars Alieza Durana Kristin Vekasi Mauricio Cohen WEBINAR Nan Roman Robert Myerburg Kelly Donahue Global Trade: Tracking COVID-19 Medical Jennifer Chao Catherine McCullough Misinformation and Charles Fraser Jr. Courtney Rozen Sébastien Miroudot Disinformation Noel Bairey Merz Rosemary Gibson From Coronavirus Joe Smyser Martha Gulati Gary Gereffi to Tariffs: Online Claire Wardle Judith Hochman Workshop on Donie O’Sullivan Corporate Joanna Chikwe Trade Issues Accountability Sarah LaCorte Kristen Monaco Barbara Morse Linord Moudou Jon O’Connell VirendVoice of Somers America Myron Brilliant Oncology Times MedPage Today NBC 10 WJAR The Times-Tribune “The Great Maya MacGuineas Philadelphia, Pa. New York, N.Y. SteveWashington, Sternberg D.C. Providence, R.I. Scranton,Kurt Pa. Tong Influenza”: Lessons Phillip Mattera Malissa Wood Jennifer A. Hillman From the Past Maxwell Mishkin Nandita Scott Rick Dunham John Barry Kathleen Day Paul Wiseman James B. Steele What’s New in Megan Cassella COVID-19 and Danielle Brian Cancer Coverage Suicide Derek Willis Clifton Leaf COVID-19 and Alfiee Breland-Noble Chantilly Jaggernauth Norman E. Sharpless Homelessness: Holly Wilcox Sheila Krumholz Larissa Korde A View from the David Gunnell Dan Auble Mary Hynes Alex Ruoff Michael Schroeder Letitia Stein NiraliShen N. Wu ShahTan DavidFront Wahlberg Lines WEBINAR Las Vegas Review-Journal Bloomberg Government U.S. News & World Report USA Today The Washington Times Wisconsin State Journal James V. Grimaldi Las Vegas, Nev. Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. Tampa, Fla. StevenWashington, A. Rosenberg D.C. Madison,Stephanie Wis. COVID-19 and Susan E. McGregor Jennifer Croswell Klasky-Gamer Rural Mental Cheryl W. Thompson George Demetri Dennis Culhane Health: Through 7 Mark Horvit Elizabeth A. Platz Vianna Davila the Cracks Rob Wells Jane Henley Miriam Mason Susan Greene Mark Walker Brian M. Rivers Niki Turner Diana B. Henriques Carl June Paul Force Otis W. Brawley Emery Mackie
7 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT CONTINUED
Superpower Deborah Fuller Data and U.S. Trade Policy Paul Miller Showdown: Georges Benjamin National Security: for the Next Fellowship What’s Next in the Rahul Gupta The New Digital Administration Idrees Ali U.S.-China Trade Julie Morita Trade War Edward Alden Dan Auble War? Paul Offit Lindsay Gorman Mary Lovely Lolita Baldor Bob Davis Leonard Friedland Clete Willems Lingling Wei Sean Doody Mary Lovely Peter Marks Adam Segal Christopher Garver Henry Huiyao Wang Wilbur Chen The Suburbs Shane Harris Children’s Health After COVID Kathleen Neuzil Jonelle Henry Democracy: Joan Alker Richard Fry Nate Hurst Vote by Mail Trump, Biden Benard Dreyer June Williamson David Lightman Wendy Weiser and What’s Next Brian O’Looney Maya MacGuineas Herb Jackson Poverty, for the WTO David Martin Adam Bonica Trauma and the A Conversation Andrea Durkin Mike Mastrian Developing Brain with Historian Jennifer Hillman Philip Mattera Managing the Swati Adarkar Harold Holzer Bryce Baschuk John McCambridge New Cold War Jack P. Shonkoff Harold Holzer Elizabeth McLaughlin Alan Dupont What Else Is Sean Moulton Jia Qingguo on the Election Are Trade Wars The Coming Battle John Mulligan Ana Swanson Ballot? Class Wars? Over Paid Family Michael O’Hanlon John G. Matsusaka Cathy Feingold Leave Taft Phoebus Covering Ryan Byrne Matthew Klein Indivar Dutta-Gupta Paul Stares the Monthly Pete Quist Wendy Chun-Hoon Jobs Report Informing Susan Swain Citizens About The White House Erica Groshen Poverty and Voting Barriers Beat Under Inequality 2020 the Biden Global Trade: Food William Barber Wendy Weiser Darci Vetter Dale Ho Administration Anita Kumar Shefali Kapadia What Works to Scott Bland Simon Evenett Reduce Poverty? Margaret Talev Abhijit Banerjee Child Care Francesca Chambers Global Trade: in Crisis George Condon Technonationalism Children in Poverty Catherine White Paula Reid Alex Capri Plus COVID Linda Smith Yukon Huang Anna Johnson Hannah Matthews Education: Martijn Rasser Hirokazu Yoshikawa Closing the COVID America’s Growing Inequality Gap Vaccines Poverty as a Inequality Katharine Stevens Arthur Caplan Pre-Existing Health Robert Reich Julia Kaufman Seth Mnookin Condition Bryan Hancock Margot Savoy Sir Michael Marmot Walter Orenstein Otis W. Brawley José Romero
8 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT Paul Miller Fellowship
For more than 30 years, the Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship has introduced promising young(ish) Washington reporters to the city they have been assigned to cover. The fellowship gives print, online and broadcast journalists from top news organizations an intensive and lively overview of reporting in the capital.
The fellows meet once a month to learn more about the Pentagon, the Supreme Court, the Capitol and other key Washington institutions. They review politics and policy with regulators, lawmakers, experts and the best reporters in the business. And they network with colleagues who help them grow personally and professionally.
2019-2020 PAUL MILLER Lauren Dezenski Story Hinckley Zach Montague Adam Taylor FELLOWS CNN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE THE NEW YORK TIMES THE WASHINGTON POST MONITOR Alana Abramson Lauren Egan Daniel Moore Elizabeth Thomas TIME NBC NEWS Willie James Inman PITTSBURGH ABC NEWS NEWSY POST-GAZETTE Zach C. Cohen Caitlin Emma Jazmine Ulloa NATIONAL JOURNAL POLITICO Sanjana Karanth Juliette Rocheleau THE BOSTON GLOBE HUFFPOST NPR Elizabeth Crisp Teaganne Finn Laura Weiss THE ADVOCATE, THE BLOOMBERG Ellie Kaufman Katie Suiters CQ ROLL CALL TIMES-PICAYUNE GOVERNMENT CNN COX MEDIA GROUP
Emma Kinery Sophie Tatum BLOOMBERG ABC NEWS
9 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT Website Redesign
We launched an all-new website in November, with modern architecture to better support NPF’s all-virtual operations. Features include a search function; speaker biographies; search engine optimization; the ability to embed video, slides and PDFs; and the ability to surface some evergreen content that was buried on the old website. Pageviews have been steadily climbing since the launch. | nationalpress.org
NEW WEBSITE METRICS
UNIQUE PAGEVIEWS ON HOMEPAGE ON TOPICS PAGES
Oct. 1, 2020 – Feb. 28, 2021 5,694 8,447
Oct. 1, 2019 – Feb. 28, 2020 4,115 4,205
+38% +101%
CHANNEL ANALYTICS
Overview Reach Engagement Audience
Your videos got 89,184 views in 2020
Views Watch time (hours) Subscribers 89.2K 5.3 K +377
10 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT What Our Journalists Say
Barbara Sprunt, NPR Craig Harris, Arizona Republic PAUL MILLER REPORTING FELLOWSHIP 2017-2018 TRACKING CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUNDS, JULY 13-17, 2020 “It was one of the best experiences “In ever-shrinking newsrooms, we are so grateful for folks of my professional career and where like you who believe in the Fourth Estate and help us to I met some of the best people I know in D.C.” learn new ways to hold accountable those in power.”
Rhea Mahbubani, Insider Inc. TRACKING CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUNDS, JULY 13-17, 2020 “I’ve been in newsrooms for almost 10 years, Letitia Stein, but have always been intimidated by data and USA Today Excel sheets. … This fellowship offered training WHAT’S NEW IN CANCER COVERAGE, MARCH 2-4, that added another dimension to my skillset as 2020 a journalist. I look forward to being able to take “I enjoyed the the lead on digging up scoops and finding stories really deep that I couldn’t previously because I didn’t know science dive my way around data well enough.” on precision medicine and Lisa Krieger, The Mercury News VACCINE BOOT CAMP, JULY 30-AUG. 12, 2020 some of Alva James-Johnson, “Because I knew there would be the new Spectrum Magazine technologies.” TRACKING CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUNDS, accurate transcripts, I didn’t have JULY 13-17, 2020 to focus on taking perfect notes — “I liked the intensity of the instead, I could listen for content. training, which gave it a boot The transcripts also made it camp feel. The time was used efficiently, and I enjoyed the possible to quickly write accurate selection of speakers. I find the ‘Q and As’ based on verbatim support very encouraging.” quotes; readers wrote to say they appreciated hearing facts straight from the experts.”
11 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT 2020 Dinner FEBRUARY 13, 2020
The National Press Foundation Annual Awards Dinner recognizing journalistic achievement is one of the largest media dinners in Washington, bringing together more than 1,000 journalists, policymakers and executives of media companies, public relations firms, corporations and trade groups.
AWARD WINNERS
SOL TAISHOFF AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN BROADCAST JOURNALISM
Dana Bash
INNOVATIVE STORYTELLING AWARD HINRICH FOUNDATION AWARD FOR NPR and the University of Maryland’s DISTINGUISHED REPORTING ON TRADE Howard Center for Investigative Paul Wiseman, Joe McDonald Journalism & Capital News Service and Anne D’Innocenzio The Associated Press CLIFFORD K. & JAMES T. BERRYMAN AWARD FOR EDITORIAL CARTOONS THE FEDDIE REPORTING AWARD Robert “RJ” Matson Christina Jewett CQ Roll Call Kaiser Health News
BENJAMIN C. BRADLEE EDITOR OF THE YEAR AWARD W.M. KIPLINGER DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTIONS Aminda (Mindy) Marqués Gonzalez TO JOURNALISM AWARD Miami Herald Media Company Bob Woodward The Washington Post EVERETT MCKINLEY DIRKSEN AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED REPORTING OF CONGRESS CHAIRMAN’S CITATION Michael Kruse Charles Sennott and Steven Waldman Politico Report for America
12 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT Awards
2019 CAROLYN C. MATTINGLY poverty at the beginning of the pandemic – AWARD FOR MENTAL HEALTH and how such aid soon ran out. REPORTING The awards honor the best reporting on The Colorado Independent won the National children in poverty in the United States for Press Foundation’s Carolyn C. Mattingly the month of September. Each carries a Award for Mental Health Reporting for a $4,000 prize and is offered in conjunction story on how the killing of a mentally ill man with trainings for journalists. Both the by a police officer changed a community. awards and the trainings are funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, “Through the Cracks: A stranger, a police the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the shooting, and a small town’s silence” Heising-Simons Foundation; NPF is solely was written by Niki Turner, editor of the responsible for the content of the trainings. Rio Blanco Herald Times, and Susan Greene, editor of The Colorado Independent, a nonprofit in Denver. THOMAS L. STOKES AWARD FOR BEST ENERGY AND NATIONAL PRESS ENVIRONMENT WRITING FOUNDATION’S 2020 POVERTY Three Wall Street Journal reporters won the AND INEQUALITY AWARDS Thomas L. Stokes Award for Best Energy and Environment Writing for their three Idrees Kahloon of The Economist and Anna articles on “How PG&E Burned California.” Wolfe of Mississippi Today were the first winners of the National Press Foundation’s Katherine Blunt, Russell Gold and Rebecca 2020 Poverty and Inequality Awards. Smith cover energy and the environment. The award carries a $2,500 prize. Wolfe’s winning story and photo essay, “Are the kids alright?,” captured the unprecedented Judges called the work “accountability challenges of COVID-19 for the schoolchildren journalism at its finest” and “an example of Jackson, Mississippi. Wolfe chronicled of dogged public affairs reporting based on how the system and its children have adapted record requests, on-site reporting and good with grace and spirit. old shoe leather.” Kahloon, who works in the Washington bureau of The Economist magazine, won for “Measuring Poverty: And the poor get poorer.” His piece wove together a panoply of data to show how the $1,200 federal stimulus checks made a dent in American
13 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT NPF Board of Directors
Chair Board Members Donna Leinwand Leger Jeffrey Birnbaum DC MEDIA STRATEGIES BGR PUBLIC RELATIONS Vice Chair Catalina Camia Amos Snead CQ ROLL CALL ADFERO Peter Cherukuri Treasurer ALTICE NEWS Jon Sawyer PULITZER CENTER ON CRISIS REPORTING Heather Dahl INDICIO.TECH
Executive Committee Members Tom Davidson Jim Brady GANNETT PRODUCT SPIRITED MEDIA Rafael Lorente Kevin M. Goldberg PHILIP MERRILL COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM, DIGITAL MEDIA ASSOCIATION UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
Tom Rosenstiel Sudeep Reddy AMERICAN PRESS INSTITUTE POLITICO
Kathy Gest Terence Samuel IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR NPR PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONSULTANT Charles Self 227 INTERNATIONAL
Adam Sharp NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES
Susan Swain C-SPAN
Robyn Tomlin MCCLATCHY
Julie Triolo WARNER MEDIA
John Walcott GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
14 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT NPF Staff
Sonni Efron PRESIDENT AND COO Sonni Efron joined the National Press Foundation in January 2020. Efron began her career at The Associated Press in Boston, followed by 20 years at the Los Angeles Times. She was a foreign correspondent in Moscow, Tokyo bureau chief, State Department correspondent and editorial writer on national security. She was also a speechwriter and senior policy advisor at the State Department and writer in residence at the RAND Corporation.
Chris Adams DIRECTOR OF TRAINING AND CONTENT Chris Adams joined the NPF in 2015 after more than 25 years as an investigative, political and business reporter and editor. He previously worked for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, The Wall Street Journal’s Pittsburgh and Washington bureaus, and the Knight-Ridder and McClatchy Washington bureaus. He was part of a six-member Journal team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for coverage of military spending issues. He teaches journalism at American University.
Jason Zaragoza DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Jason Zaragoza joined the NPF in January 2021. He manages the foundation’s finances, operational budget and human resources. Jason also oversees the logistical execution of NPF’s Annual Awards Dinner and is responsible for its project management. Prior to NPF, he spent 11 years at the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN), most recently as executive director.
Jeff Hertrick DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL STRATEGY Jeff Hertrick joined the NPF in 2020 from National Geographic, where for 17 years he held a variety of roles, including director of news and documentary video, director of digital media operations and senior producer. previously spent 20 years as a reporter, anchor and producer at radio and television stations in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Washington, D.C.
Alyssa Black PROGRAM MANAGER Alyssa Black joined NPF in July 2018. She has a background in logistics and administration and volunteers as a group captain for Atlas Corps, an online community for global social change.
Chikezie Omeje Kaela Roeder Valerie Yurk DIGITAL FELLOW INTERN INTERN
15 | THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION 2020 ANNUAL REPORT WE MAKE GOOD JOURNALISTS BETTER.
1211 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 310 Washington, D.C. 20036 202.663.7280 nationalpress.org
THE NATIONAL PRESS FOUNDATION IS A 501(C)(3) ORGANIZATION
@NATPRESS
@NATIONALPRESSFOUNDATION