Nieman Foundation

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

"Nieman Fellowships were established in 1938 and are the oldest and best-known midcareer program for working journalists.

"An unexpected gift of $1 million came to Harvard in 1937 with a mandate that puzzled university officials.

T"he directive said the earnings from the gift were to be used for a single purpose: "To promote and elevate the standards of journalism in the United States and educate persons deemed specially qualified for journalism."

"The benefactress was Yale alumna Agnes Wahl Nieman, who bequeathed the money to Harvard in memory of her husband, Lucius W. Nieman, the founder and publisher of The Milwaukee Journal.

"Harvard President James Bryant Conant shared with Harvard colleagues and leading journalists his uncertainty about how to satisfy the grand directive that accompanied the Nieman gift. He sought advice from many quarters. Walter Lippmann, the prominent columnist who was on the Harvard Board of Overseers, was among them. Lippmann had written thoughtfully years earlier about the need for journalists to know more about the complex subjects they covered. Publishers, editors and members of the Harvard faculty weighed in with ideas...

"Nieman Foundation Curators"


 * 1938 to 1939: Archibald MacLeish
 * 1939 to 1964: Louis M. Lyons (1939 Nieman Fellow)
 * 1964 to 1972: Dwight E. Sargent (1951 Nieman Fellow)
 * 1972 to 1984: James C. Thomson, Jr.
 * 1984 to 1989: Howard Simons (1959 Nieman Fellow)
 * 1989 to 2000: Bill Kovach (1989 Nieman Fellow)
 * 2000 to present: Bob Giles (1966 Nieman Fellow)

Advisory Board
Accessed June 2008:
 * President: William O. Wheatley, Jr. - Retired executive vice president, NBC News (1977 Nieman Fellow)
 * Vice President: Lorie Conway - Documentary filmmaker and producer, Boston Film and Video Productions (1994 Nieman Fellow)
 * Secretary: Joseph L. Bower - Donald Kirk David Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
 * Cecilia Alvear - Producer, NBC News, and former president, National Association of Hispanic Journalists (1989 Nieman Fellow)
 * Rosental Alves - Professor & Knight Chair in Journalism & UNESCO Chair in Communication, University of Texas, Austin; Director, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas (1988 Nieman Fellow)
 * H. Brandt Ayers - Chairman and publisher, The Anniston (Alabama) Star and Consolidated Publishing (1968 Nieman Fellow)
 * Roberta Baskin - Director, WJLA-TV’s I-Team (2002 Nieman Fellow)
 * Gregory Brock - Senior editor, The New York Times (1994 Nieman Fellow)
 * John Carroll - Former editor, Los Angeles Times and The Baltimore Sun (1972 Nieman Fellow)
 * Carolyn Curiel - Editorial board member, The New York Times
 * Thomas (Mac) Deford - Columnist, freepressonline.com
 * Jerelyn Eddings - Managing Editor, Editors’ World (1985 Nieman Fellow)
 * Mark Ethridge - President, Carolina Parenting Magazines (1986 Nieman Fellow)
 * Charles Ferguson - Retired editor, The Times-Picayune (1966 Nieman Fellow)
 * Katherine Fulton - President, Monitor Institute (1993 Nieman Fellow)
 * Paula Fray - Managing Director, Paula Fray & Associates (2001 Nieman Fellow)
 * Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - Director, W.E.B. Du Bois Institute and Professor of African and African American Studies, Harvard University
 * Gigi Georges - Partner, The Glover Park Group
 * Robert Giles - Curator, Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University (1966 Nieman Fellow)
 * Tim Golden - Senior Writer, The New York Times (1996 Nieman Fellow)
 * John Harwood - Senior contributing writer, The Wall Street Journal and chief Washington correspondent, CNBC (1990 Nieman Fellow)
 * Sharon King Hoge - Media consultant
 * George Irish - President, Hearst Newspapers, and senior vice president, Hearst Corporation
 * Alex Jones - Director, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard University; and Laurence M. Lombard Lecturer in the Press and Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard (1982 Nieman Fellow)
 * Rami Khouri - Editor-at-large, The Daily Star, Beirut, Lebanon; Director, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, American University of Beirut (2002 Neiman Fellow)
 * Katie King - Lead Digital Strategist, Burson-Marsteller, Europe (1994 Neiman Fellow)
 * Murrey Marder - Retired diplomatic correspondent, The Washington Post, and sponsor, Nieman Watchdog Project (1950 Nieman Fellow)
 * Nancy Hicks Maynard - Media consultant
 * Lindsay M. Miller - Independent producer of print and broadcast (1988 Nieman Fellow)
 * Gregory Moore - Editor, The Denver Post
 * John Seigenthaler - Founder, The First Amendment Center (1959 Nieman Fellow)
 * Charles Shepard - Chairman, Smith Family Council (Menasha Corporation) (1991 Nieman Fellow)
 * Michael Skoler - Executive Director, Center for Innovation in Journalism and the founder of Public Insight Journalism. Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media (1993 Nieman Fellow)

Contact

 * Web: http://www.nieman.harvard.edu

External Articles

 * Jim Boyd, "Editorial Pages: Why Courage is  Hard to Find," Nieman Reports, Spring 2006.
 * Eric Alterman and Danielle Ivory, "Think Again, Blogosphere to Mainstream Media: Get Off the Bus," Center for American Progress, May 21, 2009.

Related Sourcewatch

 * United States-South Africa Leader Exchange Program