Shorenstein Center Names Spring Fellows

The Kennedy School of Government’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy announced on Tuesday the six recipients of its Shorenstein Fellowship who will join the center for the spring semester, among them a radio host and a New York Times reporter.

The four Joan Shorenstein Fellows—former Center for Public Integrity executive director William E. Buzenberg, New York Times national correspondent Jackie Calmes, NPR host Michele Norris, and philosopher David Weinberger—will research and write a paper on a media- or policy-related issue. They will be joined by the two first Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellows, former U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and former U.S. deputy CTO Nick Sinai ’98.

Joan Shorenstein Fellows are chosen in a “highly selective” application process, whereas the Walter Shorenstein Fellows are selected by invitation, according to the center’s fellowship program manager, Katie Miles.

A former fellow at the Institute of Politics, Buzenberg said he will explore digital-era journalistic collaboration during his time at Harvard, drawing from past experiences at NPR and CPI. He highlighted the pooling of journalistic resources both nationally and internationally as “the new way journalism works,” a modern way for the media to mount massive investigations.

Calmes said that she will focus on the power of partisan media during her fellowship, particularly among conservatives.

“I’m intrigued by the extent to which the conservative media...are able to assess and define the agenda for Republicans here in Washington so much more so than the mainstream media ever has done for either party in power in my time,” she said. She pointed to the unexpected opposition to John Boehner’s re-election as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives as an example of the influence of talk show hosts and conservative pundits.

Sinai and Norris will also each lead their own study groups at the Shorenstein Center. Sinai wrote in an email that he intends to “research, write, and speak on the idea of data as public infrastructure” with former colleague Chopra, covering in particular the technology and innovation of the Obama Administration in his study group.

Norris said she will examine “how shifts in race and cultural identity influence politics and policy and pop culture,” using her work on “The Race Card Project,” a website that aims to foster dialogue about race through user-submitted six-word essays, as “both a mirror and a window” for the study group.

The fellows also expressed a general excitement for the change of pace and collaboration that will take place on Harvard’s campus in the spring.

“There’s always something left in your notebook,” Norris said. “And so it’s a really good opportunity to just take a step back and dive in.”

—Staff writer Luca F. Schroeder can be reached at schroeder@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @lucaschroeder.