ASU News - Journalism + Journalism + Journalism

Brian Williams receives Cronkite Award

jnewberg — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0700

People are confusing "tonnage" with knowledge when it comes to the crush of information available today on the Internet, NBC anchor Brian Williams said Nov. 18 at ASU's Cronkite Award luncheon.

“Facts matter less,” Williams told an audience of more than 1,200 journalists, public officials, students, faculty and members of the public who attended the Cronkite Award luncheon in downtown Phoenix. “We are all finding it is a heck of a lot easier to voice an opinion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan than it is to go and report back home on what you find."

Williams, who has served as anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly News” since 2004, received the 26th annual Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism from Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He joins a list of honorees that includes Tom Brokaw, the anchor Williams succeeded at NBC.

The first person to receive the award since Cronkite's death in July, Williams reflected on the differences between Cronkite's era and today, starting with millions of blogs and Twitter accounts and “cable networks that agree with you from the moment you wake up in the morning.”

“All things civic, it seems some days in this country are being replaced by all things narcissistic – one of the changes in the time since Walter Cronkite ruled the airwaves and came into our homes,” Williams said.

Williams said he watched Cronkite from the time he was a child and always aspired to be like him. He called Cronkite his “North Star.”

Cronkite was ideal for his era, Williams said.

“As icons go, Walter was unique," he said. "He was the right man in the right job at precisely the right time.”

ASU Executive Vice President and Provost Betty Capaldi presented Williams with the award after recounting a long list of his accomplishments, including four Edward R. Murrow awards, five Emmys, the duPont-Columbia University Award and the George Foster Peabody Award. He also holds six honorary doctorates.

His award-winning work has included coverage of Hurricane Katrina, which the New York Times called “a defining moment as a network reporter and anchor.”

In 2007, Time magazine named him one of the 100 “People Who Shape Our World.”

During his two-day visit to the school, Williams met with Cronkite students, visited the KPNX-Channel 12 newsroom and hosted “NBC Nightly News” from the rooftop of the Cronkite School on Tuesday night. He spent more than an hour Wednesday morning with students in the school’s First Amendment Forum, answering their questions and offering advice.

At the luncheon, Williams told the crowd that he sees one sign that more of those seeking reliable information are cutting through the clutter. His show’s ratings are up this year, exceeding viewership even during the presidential election.

“We don’t know why," he said. "We guess it’s because the difference is becoming sharper, and people know where to find us and they know what they’re going to get.”

And that's where Cronkite's values can guide journalists today, Williams said.

“It's all there if you know the difference,” he said. "There's journalism, and there is everything ending in 'lol.'”

Previous Cronkite Award recipients include TV journalists Bill Moyers and Jane Pauley; newspaper publishers Katharine Graham, Al Neuharth and Otis Chandler; television executives Bill Paley, Frank Stanton and Ted Turner; and newspaper journalists Ben Bradlee, Helen Thomas and Bob Woodward. Last year’s winners were Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil of PBS.

Cronkite News Service contributed to this report.

Cronkite School honors ESPN director

jnewberg — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Chip Dean, award-winning director of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” is the newest member of the Cronkite Alumni Hall of Fame.

Dean, a 1977 graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, joined ESPN 30 years ago, just two months after the network’s September 1979 launch.

He worked on “Sunday Night Football” from 2001 to 2005, then moved to one of the top positions in the industry in 2006 as director of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.” He is one of 43 original ESPN employees still with the company. Dean will be recognized at the Cronkite School’s annual Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism luncheon on Nov. 18. This year’s luncheon at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel will feature "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams.

While at ASU, Dean studied broadcast journalism and played free safety for the Sun Devils under longtime former football coach Frank Kush.

“I wanted to be an on-air talent until I took some [broadcast] production classes and realized it’s just like playing a team sport,” Dean says. “You all work together as a team and every show and every event is different.”

A native of Ridgefield, Conn., Dean returned to his home state after graduation to work for a cable television station. But in 1979, he heard about a new sports cable television network and signed on as a production assistant without any idea that ESPN would grow into a worldwide enterprise that regularly attracts more than a million viewers.

“I was young. I wasn’t thinking about the future,” he says. “I couldn’t anticipate that ESPN would grow into such a force in sports as it is today.”

Dean went on to a number of high-profile assignments for ESPN. He was director of the network’s prime-time college football telecasts from 1987 to 1996 and the network’s lead college basketball director from 1985 to 2000. His other high-profile directorial assignments have included ESPN’s College World Series coverage, the ESPYs, the X Games, the NCAA Women’s Final Four, “Wednesday Night Baseball,” men’s college basketball and more. He also served as coordinating director for ESPN’s coverage of the NFL Draft.

In addition, Dean served as the lead director for ABC Sports’ college football telecasts from 1997 to 2000, featuring two Rose Bowls, two Orange Bowls, the Fiesta Bowl and a pair of National Championship games.

Dean’s work, along with that of producer Jay Rothman, on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Football” earned the pair sports television’s highest honor in 2004 – the Emmy in the Live Series category. Under their direction, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” has grown to the most-watched series in cable television history. Dean also has been recognized with two other Sports Emmy Awards as well as two CableACE Awards.

Cronkite broadcast engineer Jim Dove, who has worked part-time as an editor for “Monday Night Football” for 18 years, described Dean as an innovator who understands technology, a leader who challenges and inspires others, and a hard worker who pays attention to detail.

“Work ethic says a lot about a person,” Dove says. “And you can’t find a lot of people who work harder than Chip. He’s a real role model for students.”

Dean says one of the highlights of his career was returning to ASU to direct coverage of the 1999 Fiesta Bowl – a bowl he played in as a college student.

“Walter Cronkite [was] probably the greatest newsman of our time,” he says. “And to be remembered by his school ... it’s incredible.”

Brian Williams broadcasts live from Cronkite School

jnewberg — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Brian Williams hosted the “NBC Nightly News” live from the rooftop of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication Nov. 17, the day before he was scheduled to accept the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.

Williams hosted the news from the northwest corner of the six-story building in downtown Phoenix with a view of Camelback Mountain in the distance.

“Water is precious and contentious,” said Williams as he led into a story about water issues in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Williams also covered stories ranging from President Barack Obama’s trip to China to airline fees, taking his cues via an earpiece from the director of the newscast stationed in New York City.

Broadcasting a network television newscast from a journalism school is “if not unprecedented, certainly unusual,” said Mark Lodato, the Cronkite news director who oversees Cronkite NewsWatch, the school’s student television newscast.

Lodato said an NBC crew arrived at the school early Monday morning to prepare for the broadcast, bringing with them tons of equipment including cameras, lights, monitors, tents, air conditioning units, computers and other electronics.

The crew also ran about 400 feet of cable from the roof to an NBC satellite truck in the parking lot north of the school, said Jim Dove, the Cronkite School's chief broadcast engineer.

“Essentially, they’re building an outdoor set from scratch,” Lodato said. “It’s taking one of the most high-tech news operations in the world and putting it on the roof of our building.”

Williams promoted the live broadcast throughout the day from the set. The show went live at 4:30 p.m. for the East Coast audience and 5:30 p.m. for the West Coast.

Williams is to receive the 26th Cronkite Award Nov. 18 at the annual Cronkite Awards Luncheon, which each year honors one of the nation’s pre-eminent journalists.

Williams, the anchor and managing editor of the nation’s top-rated evening network newscast, is the first sitting network news anchor to receive the Cronkite Award.

A 16-year veteran of NBC News, Williams also is the most decorated network evening news anchor. He has received four Edward R. Murrow awards, five Emmys, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award and the George Foster Peabody Award. In 2007, Time magazine named him one of the 100 “People Who Shape Our World.”

Williams became the seventh anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly News” in 2004, replacing Tom Brokaw, who won the Cronkite Award three years ago.

Williams and NBC News President Steve Capus took time during the day Tuesday to talk to students, answer their questions and even critique their work. Williams did an impromptu question-and-answer session with Cronkite NewsWatch students in their sixth-floor newsroom, and Capus “went from edit bay to edit bay looking at the students’ work and critiquing it for them,” Lodato said. “They were incredibly generous with their time and attention.”

Lodato said the experience was “a terrific opportunity for students to see what goes into a broadcast of this caliber and to work adjacent to some of the most seasoned professional in the business.”

Senior Lindsey Worthy said having Williams and Capus in the newsroom was “surreal. It was awesome to sit down with one of the greatest news anchors,” she said. “And Mr. Capus personally took time to talk to us and give us advice. It was definitely a very cool day.”

The Cronkite building in downtown Phoenix opened its doors to students in August 2008.

The building features 14 professional newsrooms and digital media labs, two state-of-the-art television studios, nearly 1,000 classroom seats and 280 digital workstations for students. The Cronkite School shares the building with local public television affiliate Eight/KAET.

'Breeding Bio Insecurity' argues for change in biodefense policy

chughes3 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Biological warfare has shaped human conflict throughout history. But the deadly anthrax-letter mailings following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks presented Americans with a threat new and terrifying. What if the resources spent to safeguard American citizens against terrorism have only made them more vulnerable?

With their new book, "Breeding Bio Insecurity: How U.S. Biodefense is Exporting Fear, Globalizing Risk, and Making Us All Less Secure," Edward Sylvester, an Arizona State University journalism professor, and Lynn Klotz, a senior science fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, investigate the implications of costly, complex and secretive U.S. biodefense policy.

The book, released in October, offers readers facts and figures regarding the U.S. government's biodefense policy, and compels policymakers to justify spending and actions. The authors argue that the greatest external threat facing the U.S. comes from rogue nations conducting secret research rather than hypothetical scenarios in which people with basic skills weaponize deadly biomaterials.

"We have an urgent message that everyone needs to hear," says Sylvester, who teaches science writing, news writing, reporting and editing courses at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Sylvester, who previously co-authored "The Gene Age" with Klotz, says, "‘Bio Insecurity' started out as a series of conversations with Lynn, a scientist who is an expert in the field of biological security issues and one of my oldest friends. We became increasingly concerned that the government was taking the wrong direction in preparing against possible bioterrorism attacks in the years after Sept. 11.

"Terrorists are best known for stealing what they use to kill, everything from rifles to jetliners," says Sylvester. "The only realistic way for terrorists to get their hands on highly developed pathogen stocks to make such weapons is by stealing them, and the government was making that more likely by funding research into those pathogens at a rapidly increasing number of places around the country."

The anthrax used against American citizens in the attacks after Sept. 11 was almost certainly stolen from Fort Detrick in Maryland, he notes.

"It was the extremely lethal Ames strain, cultured by well-trained scientists. It couldn't have been grown from a soil sample in someone's basement lab or a cave somewhere," Sylvester says.

The number of high bio-security labs in the country has tripled in the last several years. The expansion of the biodefense program after Sept. 11 and its clandestine nature make the centers more susceptible to lethal accidents or theft. The book asserts that the only way to truly defend the country from bioterrorism is through multilateral activities, such as treaties, and international cooperation on defenses against all diseases.

The future potential for biowarfare in the absence of such concerted efforts is truly ominous, Sylvester says.

"When you realize the propensity of countries to bring whatever is most powerful into warfare and you combine that with the stunning possibilities for manipulating the living world, you enter a whole new world of dark possibilities," he says.

Sylvester also is the author of three books on medical research: "Target: Cancer," "The Healing Blade: A Tale of Neurosurgery," and "Back From The Brink: How Crises Spur Doctors To New Discoveries About the Brain."

Written by Danielle Kuffler (dkuffler@asu.edu).

MEDIA CONTACT
Carol Hughes, carol.hughes@asu.edu
(480) 965-6375

Cronkite building gets green certification

jnewberg — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The new downtown Phoenix building that houses the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University has earned a citation for sustainability from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification will be awarded during the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Phoenix this week. The gathering draws building industry professionals from around the country and others interested in sustainable building practices. This year’s conference features former Vice President Al Gore and singer Sheryl Crow for Wednesday night’s opening keynote and celebration at Chase Field.

ASU President Michael Crow, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan will receive the LEED award Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the Cronkite School’s First Amendment Forum, 555 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. U.S. Green Building Council President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi will present the award. The event is open to the public.

Callahan said the award, which comes more than a year after the new building opened, is a reminder of how special the Cronkite building is. “It’s a place that epitomizes not just the highest standards of journalism but the highest standards of sustainability,” he said. “We’re extremely proud to receive this award.”

The Cronkite building was constructed with numerous sustainable features, including an east-west orientation for solar control, exterior overhangs and sunscreens for shading windows, energy-saving materials to help optimize building-energy performance, low or no-water landscaping, low-flow plumbing fixtures, building materials that meet LEED low-emitting product requirements and occupancy sensors for lighting control.

In addition, more than 10 percent of the total building material content was manufactured using recycled materials, said Howard Shugar, vice president and senior project manager for HDR, the architectural firm for the building.

In its report, the U.S. Green Building Council awarded the project 37 points out of 37 submitted for sustainable features, such as being served by 12 bus lines within a quarter-mile of the site, diverting 79.8 percent of construction waste generated on-site from a landfill, and development and implementation of a green housekeeping program.

The Cronkite building, which also houses KAET/Eight, is the result of an innovative partnership between Arizona State University and the city of Phoenix. It was built with revenue from a $223 million bond approved overwhelmingly by Phoenix voters in 2006. The Cronkite building represents the largest single portion of that investment at $71 million.

The building, located at the corner of Central Avenue and Taylor Mall, is a six-story structure of glass, steel and concrete built by Sundt Construction Inc. and designed by Steven Ehrlich Associates in partnership with HDR.

Features include the First Amendment Forum, a multi-tiered public space designed for informal daytime gatherings of students and faculty as well as nightly public events; the Cronkite Theater, a 144-seat venue that, along with the Forum, is equipped with ready-for-broadcast high-definition TV cameras; and the Marguerite and Jack Clifford Gallery, a museum-inspired space that displays media artifacts, including several items from Walter Cronkite, the school’s namesake and legendary CBS News anchor, who passed away earlier this year.

Other building features include seven state-of-the-art professional newsrooms and media incubators, seven other digital computer labs, the Sony TV Studio, the Cronkite NewsWatch Studio, two KAET/Eight TV studios, KBAQ radio studio, 17 fully mediated classrooms, nearly 1,000 classroom seats and 280 digital workstations for students. The space is about five times the size of the school’s previous home, Stauffer Hall, which is on ASU's Tempe campus.

LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. The rating system, created by the U.S. Green Building Council, grades project sustainability based on points awarded for water conservation, energy efficiency and environmental quality, among other things. The more points, the higher the rating, which goes from basic certification up to Silver, Gold and Platinum.

Award-winning photographer from Ground Zero to speak at ASU

icsea — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:28:48 -0700

In an image-focused world, we are all photographers, says Joel Meyerowitz, acclaimed photographer who gained unlimited access to Ground Zero to create a record in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack.

Meyerowitz will give the public a fascinating “Look Behind the Lens” at a free presentation at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 19 in Katzin Concert Hall in the Music Building, Arizona State University Tempe campus, as the 2009 Flinn Foundation Centennial Lecturer.

As an award-winning artist and Guggenheim Fellow, his work has appeared in more than 350 galleries and museums around the world. He is the author of 16 books, including “Cape Light,” considered a classic work of color photography.

In his programs, Meyerowitz often shares selections of audience photography along with some of his own work, to illustrate the increasingly blurred lines between professional and amateur photography.

Tickets for the free event are available at the front office of Barrett, the Honors College, and also a limited number at the door. Meyerowitz will be at ASU all week, speaking to photojournalism and honors classes, and to the student photo club.

His book, “Aftermath: the World Trade Center Archive,” features 400 images as well as an engaging account of his experience during recovery efforts. Through persistence and determination, he was the only photographer given access to the site. An exhibit from the archive has traveled to more than 200 cities in 60 countries.

In the latest phase of his career Meyerowitz turned his lens onto nature, commissioned by the city of New York to document, interpret and celebrate one of the city’s greatest legacies: nearly 29,000 acres of parks. The resulting 90 photographs are now on view in an exhibition and accompanying book, “Legacy: the Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks,” in the Museum of the City of New York

Through a stunningly rich archive of parks, shorelines and forests, his exhibit transports the viewer into the heart of a lush wilderness which is a key part of New York City life.

Meyerowitz is a street photographer who began photographing in color in 1962 and was an early advocate of the use of color during a time when there was significant resistance to the idea of color photography as serious art. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1959 with a degree in painting and medical illustration but took to the streets with a camera shortly thereafter.

His talk is presented by Barrett, the Honors College. This is the 20th year for the annual lecture which was established by an endowment from the Flinn Foundation, to bring some of the world’s most influential intellects to campus.

The ASU Music Building is at Gammage Parkway and Mill Avenue. Parking is available in ASU’s lot 16, at the southeast corner of Mill and University.

Cronkite student productions honored at Emmys

jnewberg — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Two television productions created by students in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University were honored at the 2009 Emmy Awards given by the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

The work was among five Cronkite School productions nominated in the Student Production category. Another student documentary was nominated in a professional category for cultural documentaries.

The chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences gives Emmys each year to professional broadcasters to reward excellence in broadcasting in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and El Centro, Calif. Student work also is recognized.

The top-ranked student work included an edition of Cronkite NewsWatch, the school’s student newscast that airs on ASUtv Cox 116 and Eight/KAET, Arizona’s public television station, and a program about South Africa produced by a group of students who traveled to that country in the summer of 2008 as part of a special projects class.

The newscast was produced by students Michael Pelton and Joshua Zuber, and the South Africa program was produced by Jennifer Wahl and reported by Carolyn Carver, Amber Dixon and Emily Graham. It was aired on Eight/KAET.

Sue Green, broadcast director for Cronkite News Service and one of two professors who accompanied students to South Africa, said the trip gave students the opportunity to “tell some amazing stories about the challenges facing the people” of that country.

The students arrived in South Africa right after a series of xenophobic attacks when minorities were flocking to refugee camps, Green said. “They tackled a difficult topic, but they handled it with professionalism and compassion,” she said. “They told stories that will resonate with viewers long after the show is over. This award shows them that hard work and great storytelling is what great journalism is all about. I think Walter Cronkite would be very proud of the work they did.”

The other student programs nominated for Emmy recognition were documentaries produced by students in Professor John Craft’s documentary production classes in the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009.

One of them, “The Torn Identity,” about transgender individuals, was of such high quality Craft said it was entered in a professional category rather than as student work. The students traveled to Trinidad, Colo., to interview one of the country’s foremost surgeons who work on transgender cases.

The complete list of Cronkite student Emmy nominees:

Cronkite NewsWatch

Tuesday April 28, 2009

Michael Pelton and Joshua Zuber, producers

Cronkite NewsWatch Sports: Spring Training 2009

March 9, 2009

Samantha Brodie, Madelyn Burke, Ryan Cody, JW Cox, Harris Feibischoff, Andrew Filler, Eric Fink, Nicholas Landauer, Frank Morales, Erisa Nakano, Jeff Skrzypek, Mathew Waggoner

“Click for a Soul Mate” about online dating services

Laura Kennedy, Andre Barker and Erica Nwosu

Spring 2009

“South Africa: At the Crossroads of Hate and Hope” about xenophobia in South Africa

Jennifer Wahl, producer

Carolyn Carver, Amber Dixon and Emily Graham, reporters

Summer 2008

“Staring Shadows” about homeless people who live and panhandle on Mill Avenue in Tempe, Ariz.

Michelle Algazi, producer, and Ester Blue, director

Spring 2009

“The Torn Identity” about individuals caught in transgender identity crises

Jillian Sloan, producer; Chris Parkinson, director; and Zak Markey, videographer.

Fall 2008

Cronkite students produce FOX Sports Arizona show

jnewberg — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Broadcast students in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication are producing a new magazine sports show, “Sun Devils 101,” for FOX Sports Arizona.

The show, which features Arizona State University sports, debuts Oct. 30 at 5 p.m. with a 30-minute program about ASU football, diving, golf and soccer. FOX Sports Arizona, which reaches 2.8 million homes, will air the show repeatedly throughout Arizona and New Mexico.

“It’s about ASU athletics through the eyes of ASU students who are aspiring sports broadcasters,” says Mark Reda, FOX Sports Arizona coordinating producer. “That the reporters and producers are college students is an important aspect of the show.”

The Cronkite student reporters may be the first in the country to produce a program for a commercial sports network.

“We don't know of any other journalism school that is producing a 30-minute program for a commercial sports network,” says Mark Lodato, news director and professor of practice at the Cronkite School. “It will mean tremendous exposure for our students and the Cronkite School.”

In addition to reporting for FOX Sports Arizona, Cronkite broadcast students produce news reports for a number of other media outlets, including ABC15 (KNXV), Eight/KAET and AZTV7/Cable 13.

The first “Sun Devils 101” will feature profiles of diving team members and a story about Josh Jordan, an ASU football player who also is a member of student government. It also includes a segment called “Devil’s Dish,” which shows a soccer player cooking a favorite meal. Fans of the show can follow it on Facebook and post fan videos.

Student reporters come from the staff of Cronkite NewsWatch, the school’s award-wining newscast produced by advanced broadcast students. The students do all the writing, editing and shooting for the show, Reda says. They often will spend as long as 10 to 12 hours producing a two-minute piece.

Lodato said FOX Sports staff members work closely with the students.

“FOX Sports Arizona staff has been very instrumental in leading this effort, with weekly meetings at Cronkite,” he says. “And the network has assigned professional mentors to each of the students participating.”

The genesis of the show was in May of this year when Reda toured the Cronkite School’s new downtown Phoenix facility, realized what could be produced through the school and proposed a partnership that would utilize resources from the station and the school.

“It's an ideal example of how our move downtown enhances our relationship with local media outlets,” Lodato says.

The first “Sun Devils 101” airs at 5 p.m. on Oct. 30 and replays at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 11; 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 13; 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 22; and 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Nov. 30. The second show will air at 8 p.m. on Dec. 3, and additional shows are planned for the spring semester.

Disability Center comes to Cronkite School

jnewberg — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0600

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University is the new home for the National Center on Disability & Journalism.

The NCDJ provides resources, including a style guide and reporter tip sheet and source list, for journalists covering people with disabilities. The center’s Web site, hosted at the Cronkite School, also provides a forum for journalists and people with disabilities to share and comment on news coverage.

The center was launched in 1998 in San Francisco as the Disability Media Project to raise awareness of how the news media cover people with disabilities. In 2000, the center’s name was changed to the National Center on Disability & Journalism, and it operated for a time out of Boston. In 2008, the center’s board decided to seek an affiliation with a university journalism program. The center has an office in the new Cronkite building in downtown Phoenix and is staffed by Cronkite graduate student Jake Geller, who himself has a disability. Cronkite Assistant Dean Kristin Gilger oversees the center.

Gilger says the news media have lagged behind in coverage of disabilities. At least 19 percent of the U.S. population has some kind of disability, defined by the American with Disabilities Act as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities.”

“The mainstream press frequently under-covers this segment of the population or the coverage is inaccurate or incomplete,” Gilger says. “We hope to help reporters do a better job, not because we advocate a particular point of view but because we are concerned about the journalistic principles of accuracy, fairness and diversity in news coverage.”

For example, the center offers advice to reporters on how to approach an interview with a person who has a disability and suggests when it’s appropriate to use the terms “handicapped” or “disabled.”

Geller, who also is the lead writer for an NCDJ blog on disability issues, said he hopes the center will become “the starting point for journalists working on stories about people with disabilities and a place where journalists will share what they do and how they can improve their storytelling abilities.”

A national advisory board of journalists and disability experts help lead the center. The newly named board members are:

• Jennifer LaFleur, director of computer-assisted reporting for ProPublica, a nonprofit news organization that produces journalism in the public interest;

• Steve Doig, Knight Chair in Journalism at the Cronkite School and a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter;

• Suzanne Robitaille, founder and editor-in-chief of Abledbody.com, a consumer Web site that covers disability news and assistive technology;

• Nan Connolly, former business editor with Knight Ridder who teaches news reporting at the Nicholson School of Communication, University of Central Florida;

• Beth Haller, professor of journalism/new media at Towson University in Maryland and former co-editor of the Society for Disability Studies’ scholarly journal “Disability Studies;”

• Greg Smith, book author and host and producer of the nationally syndicated radio program “On A Roll – Talk Radio on Life & Disability.”

LaFleur who has written extensively about disabilities, said she’s excited to see the NCDJ up and running. “I’m honored to be a part of it,” she says. “My hope is that the NCDJ will be a resource for reporters in covering the real issues that affect people with disabilities.”

For more information, visit www.ncdj.org.

Cronkite School honors namesake

jnewberg — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Walter Cronkite’s life, work and dedication to journalism were remembered during a daylong tribute Wednesday at the school that bears his name – the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU.

Cronkite, who died July 17, had a 25-year relationship with the school, which was named for him in 1984.

About 250 students, faculty, journalists and members of the public gathered in the school’s forum to watch live satellite interviews of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, PBS news host Jim Lehrer and former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw, all past winners of the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. Former CNN anchor Aaron Brown, who now serves as the Walter Cronkite Professor of Journalism at ASU, conducted the interviews.

The journalists recalled how Cronkite broke new ground in broadcast journalism during coverage of stories such as Watergate and earned the trust of America in the process.

“He had the most trust of anybody of his time,” Lehrer said.

Cronkite anchored the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981 and reported on the pivotal stories of the era – the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the civil rights battles and the Apollo moon landings.

Cronkite’s coverage of the Watergate scandal was unprecedented, Woodward said.

“The world did not know about Watergate at that point,” Woodward said. “Walter said, ‘These stories raise serious questions about what is going on in this presidential campaign.’ It was one of the all-time gutsy moves by an anchor.”

Shaw said that Cronkite was a role model who eventually became a colleague and a friend.

“My two idols aside from my parents were Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite,” Shaw said.

It was a day of reflection for faculty, staff and students at the Cronkite School, especially for those who knew Cronkite.

“It’s very sad to lose Walter, but we have the spirit of Walter Cronkite; we have the values. And our pledge to students is to instill the values that Walter lived each and every day,” said Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan.

Cronkite was actively involved with ASU, advising the journalism school’s leadership, meeting with students and faculty and traveling to Arizona each year to personally give the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism to a media leader. The award is one of the most coveted in American journalism today. Past recipients include Helen Thomas, Jane Pauley and Tom Brokaw.

This year’s recipient is Brian Williams, who will receive the 26th Cronkite Award at a luncheon ceremony Nov. 18 at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel.

Cronkite always made time to visit the school, speaking to classes and granting interviews to eager student journalists, during his trips to Phoenix for the award ceremonies.

“These are my people,” said Cronkite, in an archival video clip that showed him with a group of students.

Cronkite became involved with the school when Tom Chauncey, the owner of the CBS affiliate in Phoenix and a leading supporter of journalism education, asked his old friend if he would allow the school to take his name. That marked the beginning of a 25-year relationship that helped boost the school to national prominence.

Cronkite students and faculty produced an hour-long video tribute to Cronkite and his impact on the school that closed the day-long tribute program.

Throughout the day, students stopped by a recording booth set up in the school’s First Amendment Forum to record their thoughts about the school’s namesake.

Student Josh Frigerio, a sophomore broadcasting major, said Cronkite continues to serve as a model to students.

“I think there’s an industry standard and a Cronkite standard. How high that is I can’t even imagine,” Frigerio said. “Nobody came close to doing what he did.”

Phoenix resident Darleen Phelan came to the event to remember Cronkite, who she used to watch when he anchored the CBS Evening News.

“You really felt that he was honest, that you could trust him … telling it like it was,” Phelan said.