NPC Update-1 Podcast

The NPC’s annual photo exhibit is on display in the Club’s lobby through September 27. Broadcast/podcast co-vice chair Adam Konowe spoke to photo team co-chair Alan Kotok about the evolution of the exhibit and its relevance in today’s critical society. Konowe also interviewed Aileen Schlef about her photos at a Washington, D.C. church, as well as Molly McCartney, who captured life in Syria before the civil war. Both photographers discuss how the photos were taken and the stories behind them.

The Internet is a global distribution platform, but along with such unprecedented technology and capability to instantly communicate, there area many overarching questions. What is the state of press freedom? How often is the First Amendment observed? What is the status of Freedom of Information? And how have the media changed from the 1960's to today? In this edition of Update-1, National Press Club Broadcast/Podcast Committee member Lincoln Smith interviews former National Press Club President Mark Hamrick, who addresses these questions and more.

With the 2020 election campaign well under way, the Democrats have a front runner, thanks in part to the name recognition Joe Biden acquired as senator, vice president, and a previous presidential candidate. On this edition of Update One, longtime Press Club member Irv Chapman interviews Larry Barrett, a veteran journalist who covered Biden's short-lived campaign in 1988, when Senator Gary Hart was a competitor and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis won the nomination and ran against Republican Vice President George H.W. Bush. Barrett, who covered campaigns, elections and the White House for Time Magazine, and before that reported for the New York Herald Tribune, looks back at the strengths and weaknesses Biden displayed back then, and how they are impacting his performance so far this year.

In the wake of the deadliest assault on journalists in U.S. history, a permanent memorial is being planned to commemorate America’s commitment to a free press and honor news reporters and photographers who have sacrificed their lives in service to that cause. In this edition of Update-1, National Press Club member Bill Loveless talks with David Dreier, the chairman of Tribune Publishing Company and the chair of the newly formed Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation. Tribune Publishing is the owner of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Md., where five members of the newspaper’s staff were slain by a gunman in their newsroom in June 2018. Joining Bill and David is Barbara Cochran, the president of the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation and the Curtis B. Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism. She’s also the president of the National Press Club Institute.

The Museum of Public Relations, founded by veteran communications practitioner and lecturer Shelley Spector, recently added an exhibit of 50 items from Harold Burson, founder of Burson-Marsteller. The legendary PR executive, now 98, attended the unveiling with more than 100 young communicators present. Spector talked by phone from the museum to NPC Broadcast/Podcast Team co-vice-chair Adam Konowe about the artifacts on display and the lessons that can be derived from a pre-digital world.

Did you know the National Press Club has an American Legion post embedded within the club? On this edition of Update-1, the commander of that post, NPC member Jim Noone, talks with Broadcast/Podcast Team member Tom Young about the long and colorful history of the Post 20, which this year is celebrating its centennial. They discuss how the post began, its notable members both past and present, the support Post 20 and the American Legion offer to veterans, and how you can become a member of Post 20.

America’s young people are learning how to separate fact from fiction in the information avalanche that hits them every day. The National Association for Media Literacy recently held its annual conference in Washington, D.C. National Press Club member Irv Chapman interviews three of its leading participants on this edition of Update-1. Belinha de Abreu of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut chairs the annual conference, Jeff Share teaches new teachers at UCLA, and Natasha Casey teaches at Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois. They discuss helping elementary school students learn how the news media work by recording their own podcasts, interviewing family members; how college students can use social media to improve social conditions; and how they all benefit when teachers go beyond the dos and don'ts of web surfing.

Congressman David Cicilline is a strong believer in the importance of a free and diverse press. In this edition of Update-1, the Rhode Island Democrat sits down with National Press Club member Bill Loveless to discuss legislation he introduced to allow local news outlets to negotiate collectively with large online platforms like Facebook and Google. From his office on Capitol Hill, Cicilline discusses how the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would provide a lifeline to publishers facing increasingly difficult economic conditions. The bill is the opening salvo in a larger antitrust investigation of the online market by the House Judiciary Committee. Their conversation took place just days after a hearing by the committee on the measure, which is cosponsored by Cicilline, the chairman of the antitrust subcommittee, and Georgia Congressman Doug Collins, the top Republican on the full committee.

Although President Trump says he abruptly called off military strikes on Iran last month, American troops are involved in conflicts around the world. In this edition of Update-1, National Press Club member Mike Hempen talks with Emily Manna, a policy analyst for Open the Government, a nonpartisan coalition that believes in a stronger democracy and a more open, accountable, and responsive government. They discuss America's hidden wars, what keeps them going and how public knowledge of what is happening on the battlefield has waned.

Tim Robinson, editor-in-chief of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Aerospace magazine, spoke with NPC Broadcast/Podcast Team co-vice chair Adam Konowe about developments at the 2019 Paris Air Show. The biennial event, held in odd-numbered years, saw sales of existing products from Airbus, Boeing and others; the introduction of new products; progress on efficiency and environmental technology; and the impact of geopolitical trends on the aerospace and defense industry. Robinson also discussed his editorial approach to covering a massive, weeklong exposition featuring thousands of exhibitors and the evolution of his team’s coverage during the past decade.

Peter Bradfield, founder of the Aerospace Media Dinner held annually on the eve of the biennial Paris and Farnborough Air Shows, talks to NPC Broadcast/Podcast Team co-vice chair Adam Konowe about this year’s event. Held on June 16 at the Aéro Club de France, nearly 20 journalists were recognized for aviation-related coverage, including civil and military sectors, plus business and technology. American Barb Zuehlke and Briton Elfan Ap Rees garnered lifetime achievement awards for four and six decades of trade media service, respectively. Bradfield also organizes the Defence Media Dinner, held at the National Press Club in October.

The founding fathers of American democracy felt strongly about the need to hold the new government accountable and prevent tyranny. They embraced the free press as a watchdog to expose corruption and provide a safeguard to keep power in the hands of the people. Do Americans today still share those views, or has the evolution of technology left us vulnerable to malicious influence that has undermined those original ideals? The National Press Club's David Melendy reaches out to a broad spectrum of society to listen to the people and gives them a voice in this Update-1 podcast, "Free press: power to the people."

On this edition of Update One, veteran political journalist Larry Barrett, who covered campaigns, elections, and the White House, notably for Time Magazine and the New York Herald Tribune, looks at the early stages of the 2020 campaign, and the lessons learned--or the lessons that should have been learned--by the media. Interviewed by longtime Press Club member Irv Chapman, Barrett compares the Trump style and his policies with those of the dominant Republican personage of recent years, Ronald Reagan, and he talks about the experience of covering a campaign from the early stages to the White House.

In this edition of Update-1, Broadcast/Podcast Committee member Lincoln Smith interviews Ambassador Stuart Holliday, the president and chief executive officer of the Meridian International Center, a non-partisan diplomatic and global leadership institution that strengthens U.S. engagement around the world.  Ambassador Holliday has served an ambassador to the United Nations, as a Naval intelligence officer, as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and as Special Assistant to President George W. Bush. Along with providing unique insight into Meridian’s international mission, Ambassador Holliday discusses its advocacy for freedom of the press and its efforts to counter disinformation.

Senate Historian Betty Koed talks about the many resources her office offers journalists to help them cover current events and put their stories into a historical context. In an interview with Broadcast/Podcast team member Janice Law, she also discusses the importance of being the institutional memory of the Senate and an oral history project planned for the centennial celebration of the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote. This is a two year celebration of the amendment, which was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919 and ratified on August 18, 1920. Besides listening on Press.org, Update-1 can be heard on iTunes, Stitcher and TuneIn.