Thank You
I finished my stint at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and boy was that enlivening and energizing. My last obligation was moderating a panel on journalism which can be found here. I am very thankful to the good people of the IOP.
I will offer some of my own thoughts later, but I agree with Oliver Darcy and all other panelists that we’re only going to get the journalism we want if we pay for it. So I am very grateful to all of you out there who have subscribed to my work here which, as regular readers are painfully aware, includes some finger exercises, sketches and experiments about news delivery. Like Stack the Week, which just posted.
This weekend in Washington a series of parties will take place in connection with the White House Correspondents Association dinner. We have donated to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Anne arrives tomorrow so I have 18 hours to cook dinner and clean up which is about what it will take.
Honest, truthful, and reliable independent journalism is key to getting our nation back on track. I regard subscribing as an investment, not as a cost.
Professor, do you plan to participate in other higher-ed teaching or speaking opportunities? No pressure, but while I heartily agree with Mr. Darcy that we only get high-quality journalism by supporting it financially (and I'm proud to do so with a few of your peers and institutions), another leg to that stool is to provide high quality education to young proto-journalists. Your values, expertise, knowledge, historical perspective, and obvious teaching/communication skill puts you in a unique position to leverage your influence over another generation (or 2). And, man, could they use the inspiration. My favorite uncle was a well-traveled Rhode scholar, a journalist at several domestic and foreign newspapers (including the WSJ and the Far Eastern Economic Review), was the editor of two small California town newspapers, and ended his career teaching journalism in SoCal. He was most proud of the last. He was eulogized at his funeral ceremonies (!) by dozens of past students from all over the country.
Look to the future.
Thanks for you fine work.