March 5, 2002
Kalb Report Heads into Stretch Run
Final Show Slated for April
By Thomas
Kohout
GW’s public affairs interview
series “The Kalb Report” is nearing the end of another successful
season. With just two programs left to tape, and a third set to air
on Howard University’s PBS channel WHUT TV 32 and CSPAN’s
American Perspectives series, which airs Saturdays at 8 and 11 pm, the
show has generated a tremendous buzz. Marvin Kalb, executive director
of Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center, has hosted such leaders
in journalism and broadcasting as CBS News Anchor Dan Rather, AOL/Time
Warner CEO Gerald M. Levin, and USA Today CEO Tom Curley.
The series, entitled “Journalism at the Crossroads,” is co-sponsored
by GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs, The National Press
Club, and the Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics, and Public Policy
at Harvard University, and is underwritten by a grant from the John
S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The foundation has underwritten the
series as part of its “News Economics Initiative,” designed
to stimulate informed discussions about the quality of journalism and
the business of news.
As part of the Knight Foundation
grant, each program is critiqued by a student and a journalism professional,
and surveys are issued to each audience member. The surveys are aimed
at the line of questioning, the program topic, and guests, providing
valuable feedback to Kalb and Vice President for Communications Michael
Freedman, who serves as executive producer of the program. Attendance
at the one-hour tapings is the clearest indication that the show continues
to strike a chord with the community.
“Because of how close
it was to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the first show attracted a
huge audience,” says Bob Ludwig, assistant director of media relations
and “Kalb Report” producer.
Ludwig adds that an average
of between 400–500 students, journalists, and other guests have
attended the programs this year. “Nearly 600 students and press
club members attended the opener. Since then we’ve been able to
sustain those high numbers while attracting a larger number of students.”
In February, Kalb invited a
panel of prominent war correspondents representing nearly every armed
conflict since World War II to explore the role of news coverage in
times of war. The panel included CBS “60 Minutes” correspondent
Morely Safer, who covered Vietnam; George Herman, former CBS News correspondent
who covered the Korean War; Richard C. Hottelet, a member of Edward
R. Murrow’s original broadcasting team at CBS during World War
II; Liz Trotta, an NBC News correspondent and the first woman to cover
a war for television; Carla Robbins, a Wall Street Journal correspondent
who covered the Gulf War; and Colin Soloway, the Newsweek contributing
editor who discovered the American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh.
On March 4, J.B. and Maurice
C. Shapiro Professor of Media and Public Affairs Steve Roberts, ABC
News correspondent Cokie Roberts, and Ann Cooper, executive director
of the Committee to Protect Journalists, discussed “The Tragedy
of Daniel Pearl and Its Impact on Global News Coverage.”
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
