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Former L. A. Times Editor John S. Carroll to Serve as First Knight Visiting Lecturer
The Shorenstein Center is delighted to announce that we will host the first Knight Visiting
Lecturer, a position for distinguished journalists who will study,
analyze and comment on the future of journalism in America and around
the world. John S. Carroll, former editor of the
Los Angeles Times, is the
first to receive this appointment. He will be based
within the Kennedy School of Government here at the Shorenstein Center. The position is funded with a $200,000
grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The new lectureship will provide distinguished journalists with
positions at major universities of their choosing for a year of
reflection, research and teaching. The lectureship is intended for
highly respected, senior journalists who embody both excellence and the
highest ethical standards. Earlier this year, Carroll retired after
five years as top editor of the Los Angeles Times, during which the
paper won 13 Pulitzer Prizes. “John Carroll is one of the most important journalists of his
generation,” said Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of Knight
Foundation. “We’re glad to help make possible an opportunity to reflect
on his experience and on journalism in society at a time of
transformational change. Students and scholars at Harvard will benefit,
as well as the virtual, worldwide community of people who care about
the uses of information in an open society.” “My topic is an urgent one: nothing less than the fate of journalism,”
said Carroll. “The economic underpinnings of our craft are eroding. At
the same time, the Web is offering rich opportunities for journalism in
new forms. And, in the current scramble for market share, the work of
the principled journalist is being lost in a din of marketing and
propaganda.” “As a matter of public policy, a self-governing nation simply cannot do
without real journalism,” added Carroll. “As a practical matter, we
must find ways to make it pay. These are some of the concerns I intend
to explore – urgently and, I hope, realistically – in this new role at
Harvard. I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity.” As Knight Visiting Lecturer, Carroll will spend the spring semester
beginning January 2006 doing research. During the year, he will deliver
a major address regarding the state of the news media. Carroll has been
a strong voice arguing the importance of high quality news reporting as
essential to American democracy, and he has been critical of
corporations that have demanded excessive profit levels. In the fall
semester, he will teach a course at the Kennedy School titled
“Journalistic Values in a Time of Upheaval.” “John Carroll stands for everything honorable and fine in journalism,”
said Alex S. Jones, director of the Shorenstein Center. “We are
enormously honored to have him with us as the inaugural Knight Visiting
Lecturer, and we salute the vision of Knight Foundation for making it
possible.” The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes journalistic
excellence worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S.
communities. Since 1950, when it was created, the
foundation has approved more than $260 million in journalism grants.
Learn more online at www.knightfdn.org ###
Contacts
Knight Foundation:
Larry Meyer, Vice President of Communications and Secretary, (305)
908-2610, meyer@knightfdn.org
Kennedy School of Government:
Doug Gavel, Media Relations Manager, (617) 495-1115, doug_gavel@harvard.edu
John Carroll, Knight Visiting Lecturer:
Jessica Cole, 617-496-3557, Jessica_Cole@harvard.edu
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