The 2019 World Press Institute fellows will begin their fellowship in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, spend time in several small Minnesota towns, and then visit seven (7) major cities across the country meeting with community, business and political leaders as well as policy experts and journalists. Themes this year are journalism in the Trump era, nuclear threats and security, the upcoming U.S. Presidential election, and the role and influence of social media in journalism and politics.
Here is an outline of this year’s schedule:
Aug. 16: Fellows arrive in Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Aug. 18: Welcome picnic and gathering with Minneapolis/ St. Paul host families.
Aug. 19: Orientation to the program with WPI Executive Director David McDonald and WPI staff. Visit with Chief Judge, U.S. District Court, John Tunheim, former head of a federal panel that declassified many of the documents about the John F. Kennedy assassination.
Aug. 20-23: Three days of briefing and discussion of journalism and other issues with University of St. Thomas faculty, John Ullmann, former Assistant Managing Editor for Investigations at the Star Tribune, and Tom Hanson, former U.S. diplomat. Also, visits to a unique Minneapolis charter school and the Humphrey School of Public Affairs to meet with global policy experts.
Aug. 25-30: 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 Canoe Area. Later in the week, back in the Twin Cities, a meeting with the chairs of the state Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican Parties, a visit to KSTP-TV, a reception with Global Minnesota, an international relations community organization, a panel with local political journalists and experts and a day when WPI journalists shadow reporters and producers from Twin Cities media. The week ends with a visit to the nationally known Minnesota State Fair.
Sept. 1-6: The week begins with visits to farm country and various agricultural organizations and projects. Back in the Twin Cities, newsroom visits to Minnesota Public Radio and the Star Tribune newspaper and a briefing on nuclear threats and security by an expert from the MacArthur Foundation.
Sept. 7-13: New York City, where fellows will visit The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, ProPublica, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, the Carnegie Corporation, the United Nations and the 911 Memorial & Museum.
Sept. 14-20: Washington, D.C., where the focus will be on nuclear threats and security and on the changing face of journalism with visits to the Washington Post, Politico, Axios, PEW Research, the Arms Control Association, the Stimson Center, the Heritage Foundation, the Brookings Institution and more. And a visit to the Newseum for a unique view of the history of journalism.
Sept. 21-25: Miami, where fellows 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. The fellows will also visit Carnival Cruise Lines, a WPI sponsor.
Sept. 26-28: Austin, Texas, where the fellows will explore Texas politics, polling and the media with visits to The Texas Tribune Festival and meetings with political experts and University of Texas academics. And hopefully a visit to cattle country outside of Austin.
Sept. 29-Oct. 3: Chicago, where visits include the MacArthur Foundation, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, policy experts at the University of Chicago, and hopefully a visit to agricultural activities outside of Chicago.
Oct. 4-8: Off to the West Coast and San Francisco where fellows will visit Google, the Center for Investigative Reporting and Reveal, N Square (a nuclear policy organization), and policy experts at Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley.
Oct. 9-12: Seattle where the journalists will visit with a professor at the University of Washington who is an expert on the influence of social media companies and a part-time columnist for The New York Times, the Gates Foundation and, hopefully, Microsoft and Amazon.
Oct. 13-19: 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 ceremony and final banquet will be held on Oct. 18 and the fellows will depart on Oct. 19.