The 2017 World Press Institute fellows will begin their fellowship in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, spend time in two small Minnesota towns, and then visit nine (9) major cities across the country meeting with community, business and political leaders as well as policy experts. Themes this year are journalism in the era of “fake news,” nuclear policy and security and the American presidency including environmental, immigration and trade issues. Here is an outline of this year’s schedule:
Aug. 11: Fellows arrive in Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Aug. 13: Welcome picnic and gathering with Minneapolis/ St. Paul host families.
Aug. 14: Orientation to the program with WPI Executive Director David McDonald and WPI staff.
Aug. 15-18: Three days of briefing and discussion of journalism issues with University of St. Thomas faculty, John Ullmann, former Assistant Managing Editor for Investigations at the Star Tribune and former WPI Executive Director, and Paul McEnroe, Executive Producer for Investigations and Special Projects at KSTP-TV. Also a visit to the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota to meet with policy experts on immigration, trade and the environment.
Aug. 20-26: A visit to the town of Ely, in the wilderness of northern Minnesota, a community forum sponsored by the Ely Echo newspaper, a visit to the International Wolf Center and some canoeing in the Boundary Waters. Later in the week, back in the Twin Cities, a meeting with an Environmental Studies professor from Macalester College about the Paris Agreement, a discussion about the JFK assassination with Chief Federal Judge John Tunheim, a meeting with two immigration rights attorneys and a new feature: WPI journalists shadow reporters and producers from Twin Cities media outlets for a day.
Aug. 27-Sept. 2: The week begins with a visit to farm country and the town of Tracy in southwestern Minnesota, a visit to Pipestone National Monument, rich in Native American history, and a community forum with Tracy residents sponsored by the Tracy Herald newspaper. Back in the Twin Cities, more visits with journalists at the Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio and Hubbard Broadcasting and a briefing on nuclear policy and security by an expert from the MacArthur Foundation.
Sept. 3-8: Washington, D.C., where the focus will be on nuclear policy/security and on the changing face of journalism with visits to the Washington Post, Politico, PEW Research, Fox News, PBS NewsHour, the Arms Control Association, the Stimson Center and more. And a visit to the Newseum for a unique view of the history of journalism.
Sept. 9-15: New York City, where we will visit The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, ProPublica, CNN, the Carnegie Corporation and possibly the United Nations. On Sept. 15, the fellows will make a day-trip to Boston to visit a nuclear expert at the Harvard Kennedy School and a New Yorker staff writer who also teaches at Harvard.
Sept. 16-19: Miami, where we will visit the Miami Herald, a Hispanic political polling firm, Univision, the Spanish language television network and a political science professor who specializes in political conspiracies. We will also visit Carnival Cruise Lines, a WPI sponsor.
Sept.20-23: Austin, where we will explore Texas politics, polling and the media with visits to The Texas Tribune, political media experts and operatives and University of Texas academics. We also will attend the Texas Tribune Festival, a gathering of journalists, politicos and policy wonks at the University.
Sept. 24-26: For the first time in several years we will be visiting Denver and Boulder, Colorado, to explore immigration and environmental issues and meet with Governor John Hickenlooper and Denver City Attorney Kristin Bronson.
Sept. 27-30: Off to the West Coast and San Francisco where we will visit Google, the Center for Investigative Reporting, N Square, a nuclear policy organization, and Wired magazine.
Oct. 1-6: Chicago, where we will visit the MacArthur Foundation, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago and hopefully have the journalists shadow their counterparts in Chicago media.
Oct. 7-14: Back to the Twin Cities for a final week of activities with faculty and students at the University of St. Thomas, host families and WPI sponsoring companies like 3M. A graduation and the final banquet will be held on Oct. 13 and the fellows will depart on Oct. 14.