Harvard Kennedy School — Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy

Programs offered

The Kennedy School itself is Harvard University's school of public policy and does not grant journalism degrees. Its relevance to journalism runs through the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, a research center offering courses that are integral to the Kennedy School's curriculum, a visiting fellowship program for journalists and scholars each semester, and public programming for working journalists.

Programs and emphasis

The Shorenstein Center awards the annual Goldsmith Awards, including the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and the Goldsmith Book Prize, and hosts the David Nyhan Prize for Political Journalism, the T.H. White Lecture on Press and Politics, and the Richard S. Salant Lecture on Freedom of the Press. It operates the Journalist's Resource, a free reference site connecting journalists to academic research, and publishes the peer-reviewed Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review.

History

The Kennedy School's engagement with the press dates to the 1970s Harvard Institute of Politics under director Jonathan Moore, who in 1980 proposed a dedicated center on press, politics and public policy. Following the March 1985 death of Joan Shorenstein, a CBS Evening News producer, at age 38, an endowment drive backed by donors including the Boston Globe, Walter Cronkite, and Katharine Graham raised $5 million, and the center was founded in 1986. Journalist Marvin Kalb became its first director in 1988, followed by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Alex S. Jones in 2000.

Key faculty and leadership

Nancy Gibbs: Director of the Shorenstein Center.
Marvin Kalb: First director (1988-1999), who formalized the fellowship program and introductory press-politics course.
Alex S. Jones: Director from 2000, who expanded the fellowship program and advisory board.

Location and contact info

Address
Harvard Kennedy School
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Website
https://shorensteincenter.org