National Journalism Center

Founded by conservative journalist M. Stanton Evans in 1977, the National Journalism Center (NJC) is now a program of Young America's Foundation, and has successfully trained more than 1700 journalists since its conception. NJC places interns primarily in Washington, DC in both mainstream media outlets and smaller niche-oriented publications.

History
NJC offers scholarships to budding young journalists so that they can attend its 12-week training sessions, where they receive training in the technical skills of journalism, combined with current event discussions, which help their understanding of such topics as education, environmental regulation, taxes, and media law. Interns participate in full-time internships and attend training seminars one day per week.

Interns at the NJC also receive career advice at seminars featuring speakers from the world of public policy and journalism, such as columnist Robert Novak, Washington Times political correspondent Donald Lambro, or Wall Street Journal editorialist John Fund (himself an NJC alumnus).

"Among the media outlets where NJCers have worked are the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal; ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and C-SPAN; Time, Newsweek, New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, National Geographic, Readers' Digest, Wired, George, Details, Stuff and Forbes; AP, UPI, Dow Jones Newswire, Bloomberg News Service, Copley News Service, Knight Ridder News Service, and hundreds more," the web site states.

According to a guide to right-wing groups on universities, the NJC is accused of being "is a product of the American Conservative Union." Currently, there are no ties between the American Conservative Union and The National Journalism Center, and the National Journalism Center works with all media outlets to train journalists in responsible, accurate reporting.

Funding

 * Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
 * John M. Olin Foundation

In the four financial years from 1998 to 2001, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation contributed a total of $160,000 - $40,000 each year - to the general operations of the center. (They also contributed a further $105,000 over the 1986-1988 period).

In 2001, the Education and Research Institute, the former parent organization for NJC, received $40,000 from the John M. Olin Foundation for the NJC. 

According to the conservative Capital Research Center, the Education & Research Institute 1999 return - the last it accessed - revealed that ERI ran at a $97,000 loss that year with revenue of $403,058 and expenditure $500,031. It also revealed that in 1994, 1997 and 1998, Exxon Mobil contributed $6,000 each year with a further $6,000 from Exxon Educational Foundation in 1998. In 1994 and 1995 Philip&#8217;s Petroleum contributed $5,000 and $1,000 respectively. 

Currently, the National Journalism Center receives no federal funding and receives grants from private foundations and individual supporters.

Personnel
The National Journalism Center was under the direction of M. Stanton Evans from 1977 until it became a project of Young America's Foundation in 2001/2002. After Stan Evans retired from the program, Kenneth E. Grubbs, Jr. led the program, but was released in 2004, following a freelance piece criticizing the media. . The National Journalism Center is currently under the guidance of Alex X. Mooney, who has led the program since 2005. NJC also employs a full-time academic director to oversee the training seminars and overall academic component of the internship program.

NJC alumni
Since its formation in 1977, the NJC estimate that of the 1700 people who have attended their 12-week long training sessions, about two-thirds have gone on to media and media-related positions. The length of time in the journalism industry varies among the alumni, but a number have carved our careers as media commentators, in conservative think tanks, trade associations, or PR companies. 

A selection of NJC alumni, with the date of their course in brackets, who have worked and succeeded in the journalism industry. Many have become published authors in addition to their roles as journalists.


 * John Barnes (summer '81)
 * Joel Bucher (fall '92)
 * Mike Caputo (summer '85)
 * Timothy P. Carney (summer '99)
 * Michael Catanzaro (summer '96)
 * Eileen Ciesla (fall '00)
 * Ann Coulter (spring '85)
 * Brett Decker (spring '96)
 * Michael Fumento (fall '85)
 * John Fund (summer '81)
 * Maggie Gallagher (summer '80)
 * Barbara Gracey (spring '83)
 * Tim Graham (fall '87)
 * Steven Hayward (spring '81)
 * Matt Hisrich (summer '99)
 * Tom Holt (summer '84)
 * John Hood (summer '87)
 * Mark Huber (summer '79)
 * Michael Johns (summer '83)
 * Cliff Kincaid (summer '78)
 * R. Cort Kirkwood (fall '83)
 * Mark LaRochelle (summer '90)
 * Elizabeth Larson (summer '90)
 * Karen Lotter/ Hickey (spring '96)
 * Rachel Marsden (fall '02)
 * William McGurn (summer '80)
 * John Merline (fall '84)
 * John Meroney (summer '94)
 * Richard Miniter (summer '88)
 * Sean Paige (spring '88)
 * Richard Vigilante (fall '79)
 * Christopher Westley (fall '84)
 * Martin Morse Wooster (spring '81)

According to Ann Coulter: "NJC teaches writers to locate primary sources, run down facts, and get quotes. Partisan bile you have to develop on your own." ­Michael Fumento also comments on the work of the NJC: "No institution has worked harder or been more effective than the National Journalism Center in preventing 'responsible journalism' from becoming a true oxymoron." 

Case studies

 * The National Journalism Center and Philip Morris In the early 1990s, Philip Morris worked with NJC alumni to accurately report about the tobacco industry and proposed health care reforms. The National Journalism Center, under the direction of M. Stanton Evans, hosted forums on public policy issues to raise awareness and promote education of the issues.

Contact information
National Journalism Center 529 14th Street NW, Suite 937 Washington, DC 20045 Phone: 202-628-1490 Fax: 202-628-1490 Web: http://njc.yaf.org

Other SourceWatch resources

 * Young America's Foundation

External articles

 * New project, Bates No 2046662829, April 1993 (estimated), page 2.
 * Unitled, Bates No 2021170039,August 13, 1993 (estimated), page 6.
 * Philip Morris, &#8220;Tobacco strategy&#8221;, Bates No 2022887066, March 1994.
 * Dalya Massachi and Rich Rowan, "Excerpt from Guide to Uncovering the Right on Campus," October 1994.
 * Consumer Alert,"National Consumers Week seminar", Bates No 2046968854, October 1995, page 1.
 * "Proactive media relations: the Borelli formula", Bates No 2072927845/7848, August 1997 (estimated date), page 2.
 * Joseph A. D'Agostino, &#8220;Conservative Spotlight: National Journalism Center&#8221;, Oct 9, 2003 (D'Agostino is the Associate Editor of Human Events, a long-standing conservative newspaper which has hosted NJC interns).
 * Howard Kurtz, "The Ordinary American, Under Stress and Oversimplified," Washington Post, July 19, 2004, describes the release of NJC director Ken Grubbs, Jr.