NPC Update-1 Podcast

Photojournalist Linda Tirado, winner of a National Press Club 2020 John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award, recently visited the club to accept her award in person. Coinciding with that trip, she agreed to speak with NPC Broadcast/Podcast Co-vice-chair Adam Konowe for this edition of Update-1. The wide-ranging interview covers Tirado’s early days reporting on American civil unrest, why she chose to cover the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis, how she lost an eye due to a non-lethal round fired by police, her subsequent recovery and lawsuit, how police and journalists can play their respective roles in society without fear and intimidation, the particular challenges faced by freelancers, as well as the future for her and those who might follow in her footsteps.

During the week of July 18, the world’s aviation industry reconvened in Europe for the first time since before the pandemic. The biennial Farnborough International Airshow, aviation’s largest event for 2022, attracted tens of thousands of exhibitors and visitors, not to mention more than a thousand accredited journalists. On the eve of that event, the 10th annual Aerospace Media Awards held in London recognized excellence in journalism across nearly 20 categories. In this edition of Update-1, NPC Broadcast Podcast Team Co-vice Chair Adam Konowe speaks with AMA principal Peter Bradfield about the event, the airshow and the changing nature of aviation journalism. He also addressed the Defense Media Awards, scheduled to be held at the Club on October 9.

In this edition of Update-1, Washington, D.C. Ward 2 councilmember Brooke Pinto has ideas on how to help businesses that have suffered as a result of  COVID-19. She also discusses why she thinks legislation she has introduced could help not only in the district but throughout the country and why she believes flexible work schedules will become more popular in the future.

What motivates Russian President Vladimir Putin? In this edition of Update-1, Broadcast Podcast team member Lincoln Smith discusses Putin and the Russian people with David Satter, a former Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times and a former special correspondent on Soviet affairs for The Wall Street Journal. They talk about the challenges of reading Putin's mind and whether he's an enemy or a friend to the Russian people. Satter offers his thoughts on why Russia invaded Ukraine and Putin's long-term goals. He also talks about Russia having a history of underestimating enemies, with the Ukraine resistance being no exception.

The group Media Literacy Now works to ensure that students learn the literacy skills they'll need to function as productive adults. The efforts of MLN in several states could impact more than 10 million children. In this edition of Update-1, Broadcast Podcast Committee member Gemma Puglisi interviews former journalist Erin McNeill, the founder of Media Literacy Now, about what media literacy is, why it's so important in the 21st century and how the organization came to be. McNeil also explains why media literacy is considered a key communication skill by business leaders and why it's important for students to begin learning about it at a young age.

A National Press Club Zoom event in early April that examined the career of broadcast legend Edward R. Murrow, who set the standard for broadcast journalism with his reporting from London during World War II, is the focus of this edition of Update-1. Murrow's son Casey Murrow, an honorary NPC member, along with Marvin Kalb, the last correspondent hired by Murrow at CBS, talk about Murrow's life and legacy. They're joined by former NPC Presidents Mike Freedman and Mark Hamrick, National Press Club Journalism Institute President Gil Klein and NPC Board of Governors Chair Kimberly Adams in discussing Murrow's impact and influence on 21st-century reporting.

Syria, Mexico, China and Russia are just a few of the countries where press freedom is already severely curtailed or under increasing threat, according to new National Press Club press freedom chair Rachel Oswald, who is also a reporter at CQ Roll Call in Washington, D.C. In this edition of Update-1, Oswald discusses the myriad challenges to a free press and related democratic institutions. In her conversation with Broadcast Podcast Committee co-vice chair Adam Konowe, Oswald also highlights potential legal challenges to the landmark case New York Times vs. Sullivan, especially in light of a more conservative Supreme Court and multiple lawsuits related to false claims of 2020 election voter fraud and other cases of disinformation.

Lucian Kim has covered Russia and Eastern Europe since 1996 for the Christian Science Monitor and other publications. He recently moved to Washington after five years as Moscow correspondent for National Public Radio, receiving a fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Interviewed by longtime National Press Club member Irv Chapman, in this edition of Update-1 Kim traces how Vladimir Putin tightened the screws over time on Russia's news media as he faced critical coverage of popular discontent, notably over rigged elections a decade ago, and now has eliminated independent media entirely. And Kim says until last month, correspondents for foreign media could work freely, though sources dried up as Putin cracked down.

The National Press Club Journalism Institute benefits not only club members but journalists and non-journalists throughout the country. The institute offers a variety of programs that enhance journalists' ability to inform the public and the public's ability to better understand what constitutes quality journalism. In the latest edition of Update-1, Broadcast Podcast Committee co-vice chair Mike Hempen talks with JI President Gil Klein about the impact of the institute outside of Washington and his goals for this year. They also discuss the institute's board, its non-profit status and its 2022-2024 strategic plan.

Highlighting press freedom, increasing media literacy and countering anti-democratic propaganda top the priorities list for Jen Judson, the 115th president of the National Press Club.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have been flown to the United States since the U.S. pulled its last troops out of Afghanistan at the end of August. The co-founder and chair of the Peace Corps Alliance for Cultural Understanding thinks the use of Afghan advisory groups is essential for the well-being of Afghan refugees. In this edition of Update-1, Broadcast Podcast group member Lincoln Smith talks with Tony Agnello, the president of Friends of Afghanistan, a committee working with veterans’ organizations to ensure all eligible Afghans receive immigration clearance. Agnello, who previously served in Afghanistan while in the Peace Corps, discusses the Afghan refugee resettlement camps and why he thinks public-private partnerships and faith-based coalitions should be part of the process of relocating Afghans into American communities.

The movie House of Gucci is off to an impressive start at the box office, taking in more than $33 million in North America in the two weeks since its release. It's based on a book written by Sara Gay Forden, the guest on the latest Update-1 podcast. Forden talks with Broadcast Podcast team member Gemma Puglisi about the challenges of writing her book, "The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed." Forden recounts living in Italy and covering the Italian fashion industry and how Maurizio Gucci, the grandson of the company's founder who was brutally murdered in 1995, drew her to "write the story." She also discusses how her book became a movie, the excitement of meeting members of the cast and the need for good content.

David Ensor spent three decades as a news correspondent for NPR, ABC, and CNN then turned to public service with a year at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan and then four years as director of the Voice of America. Among his overseas posts was that of ABC News Bureau Chief in Warsaw, when a Polish cleric became pope and helped his native land turn away from Communism. On this edition of Update-1, Ensor comments on all three of those experiences which remain in the news--the rightward turn of the current Polish government, the end of America's "forever war" in Afghanistan, and the efforts of the last administration to refashion the Voice of America, He spoke with Press Club Broadcast Podcast team member Irv Chapman.

The National Capital Radio and Television Museum (https://ncrtv.org/), located just east of the Capital Beltway in Bowie, Maryland, opened its doors in 1999 and contains an impressive collection of radio and television equipment, some roughly a century old. In this edition of Update-1, NPC Broadcast/Podcast Co-vice Chair Adam Konowe interviews museum curator Brian Belanger about the genesis of the museum, who it attracts and why it has earned five-star status on TripAdvisor. Belanger highlights a number of the museum’s most noteworthy artifacts, as well as other educational features of the museum, such as its comprehensive library and hands-on technology classes.

American journalist Danny Fenster has been imprisoned in Myanmar since May, while Chinese journalist Haze Fan has been detained in China since December. Fenster and Fan are the NPC’s most recent John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award winners.    In this edition of Update-1, Broadcast Podcast team member Lincoln Smith interviews veteran reporter and long-time Press Club member John Donnelly, who discusses the two Press Club honorees and another detained journalist, Austin Tice. Donnelly also highlights his own career and offers thoughts on the state of press freedom around the world.