Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 19, 2001

Volume 30, Number 7

News reporters take on the role of teachers
during campus visits as Poynter Fellows

The Poynter Fellowship in Journalism brings to campus the news reporters who satisfy the public's "need to know" and asks them to share their know-how up close and personal with Yale students and faculty.

While most Poynter Fellows give a public talk during their stay on campus, it is the informal gatherings on their agenda -- the classroom appearances, luncheons, master's teas or visits to The Yale Daily News -- that make the fellowship headline material.

"Education is at the heart of the Poynter Fellowship," says the fellowship's director, Helaine Klasky, who is also director of public affairs and special assistant to the president. "The fellowship, as a whole, is dedicated to helping Yale students and faculty better understand the role of the media in today's society. Each Poynter Fellow brings his or her own unique experience and perspective to that topic."

The fellowship was established in 1971 by newspaper mogul Nelson Poynter '27 M.A. Over the years, it has hosted visits by some of the best-known by-lines, voices and visages in the news media -- from newspaper reporters and editors to news broadcasters, documentary filmmakers, communication experts and media critics. In recent years, notable Poynter Fellows have included Frank Rich, Helen Thomas, Bob Woodward, David Gergen, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Anna Quindlen, Jeff Greenfield, Tim Russert, Howell Raines, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Anthony Lewis and Steven Brill.

"While most Poynter Fellows work in the U.S. media, we've also sponsored visits by journalists from overseas," notes Klasky, "and we hope to have even more participants representing international media in the future." The fellowship also has put together panels, conferences and symposiums featuring several news reporters at once.

This fall the Poynter Fellowship will host a visit by David Brooks, an editor at both The Weekly Standard and Newsweek who also appears on National Public Radio and "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" (see related story). The next visit will be on Nov. 7 by James Fallows of The Atlantic Monthly; Tom Friedmann of The New York Times will be one of several speakers who will be here this spring.

Poynter Fellow visits generally last two to three days, with participants often staying in residential college suites -- the better to promote interchanges with students, explains Klasky.

"Whatever their role out in the world, once they're on campus, Poynter Fellows serve as teachers," she says. "They lead classroom discussions on topics ranging from politics to American society to economics, foreign policy, history and more. Some have helped graduate or undergraduate students with specific research projects, and some have taught alongside Yale faculty in accredited courses covering subjects not normally taught at Yale.

"In fact, if faculty members know of a particular journalist they would like to have visit their class, they should let us know," says Klasky, "We have nominal funds available, and would be happy to work with faculty to enhance their curricula in this way."

Suggestions can be sent to Klasky at helaine.klasky@yale.edu.

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