September 2008

GW Creates Global Media Institute

A new GW institute will serve as the focal point for research on journalism and the media in the 21st century, as well as the university’s broadcast productions and partnerships and new media endeavors.

The Global Media Institute will be led by veteran broadcast journalist, network executive, and GW administrator Michael Freedman, who will serve as executive director of the institute and professor of media and public affairs. Through GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs and Graduate School of Political Management, the institute will also offer special seminars and symposia for GW students and faculty, and student internship and enrichment opportunities in the United States and abroad.

“By launching this important new institute, GW will be in a position to study the transformation currently underway across the worlds of print and broadcast media,” says President Steven Knapp. “The institute will also forge new partnerships for media programming and combine ongoing broadcast projects within a single entity. I can think of no better person than Mike Freedman, given his rich background both in broadcast journalism and in higher education, to lead this effort.”

Freedman says, “I am truly honored to be selected for this position by President Knapp and look forward to creating a premier institute for substantive programming, as well as research in areas including the historic transformation of the media. This is an extraordinary opportunity to help prepare our students to become tomorrow’s industry leaders while using multiple media platforms to present dialogues about the profession in transition.”

In addition, the institute will serve as the administrative hub for the operations of the GW Media and Public Affairs Building, which includes the Jack Morton Auditorium and the university’s flash studio.

The Global Media Institute initially will serve as home to the following award-winning projects, which engage students, faculty, and staff:

• The Kalb Report, public television/radio series on journalism and public policy, moderated by GW Welling Presidential Fellow Marvin Kalb, funded by a grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, and produced by GW in partnership with The National Press Club and Harvard University’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy.

• Politics: From the Nation’s Capital, one-hour weekly series, produced by GW in partnership with XM Satellite Radio and hosted by network correspondent Sam Litzinger.

• GW Presents American Jazz, two-hour weekly XM Satellite Radio program, produced by GW in partnership with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and hosted by GW’s Dick Golden.

• GW Presents Beyond Category, two-hour weekly program, produced by GW in partnership with Tony Bennett’s Exploring the Arts Foundation and XM Satellite Radio and hosted by Golden.

• WRGW, the university’s student-run, Web-based radio station.

• GW Television (GWTV), the university’s student-run cable television channel, managed in partnership with the School of Media and Public Affairs.

• National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, annual network news and documentary Emmy Awards judging.

• American Women in Radio and Television, annual Gracie Awards judging.

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