Wallace House announces the return of our outdoor, in-person Graham Hovey Lecture
In 2013, longtime China correspondent Scott Tong came to the Knight-Wallace Fellowships to research China’s on-again, off-again ties with the global community and how it connected with his own family. The resulting book, “A Village with My Name: A Family History of China’s Opening to the World,” examines nationalism and globalization through the stories of five generations of Tongs. China’s openness to the western world delivered great benefits to the country yet came at a devasting human price during Mao’s communist rule. In the end, this openness made it possible for Tong to become an American journalist covering China.
Today, Beijing’s increasingly antagonistic relations with Washington and many advanced economies present a great risk to its own economy and high-tech development.
Now a co-host of NPR’s Here & Now Tong returns to Wallace House to deliver the 35th Graham Hovey Lecture and discuss Beijing’s increasing authoritarianism and international aggression and what it signals for its own future and that of globalization.
About the Speaker
Scott Tong is an author and the co-host of Here & Now, NPR’s midday news magazine, produced at WBUR. Previously he spent 16 years at Marketplace as Shanghai bureau chief and senior correspondent. As a 2014 Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan, Tong explored comparative ecosystems, innovation and the history of China.
About the Graham Hovey Lecture
The annual Graham Hovey Lecture recognizes a Knight-Wallace journalist whose career exemplifies the benefits of a fellowship at the University of Michigan and whose ensuing work is at the forefront of our national conversations. The event is named for the late Graham Hovey, director of the fellowship program from 1980 to 1986 and a distinguished journalist for The New York Times.
This event is outdoors. Wallace House will follow the University of Michigan’s Covid protocol and guidelines for this in-person event.
2022 Livingston Award winners (clockwise from top-left) Alex Stuckey of the Houston Chronicle, Jose A. Del Real of The Washington Post, Erika Lantz and Elin Lantz Lesser of Rococo Punch and iHeartRadio, and the Richard M. Clurman Award recipient, the late Fred Hiatt.
Today the Livingston Awards honor stories that represent the best in local, national and international reporting by journalists under the age of 35. The winning stories highlight Texas’s troubled mental healthcare system, the spread of viral disinformation and its effects on personal relationships, and the darker side of a religious order founded by Mother Theresa. The $10,000 prizes are for work released in 2021.
The Livingston Awards also honored the late Fred Hiatt, editorial page editor of The Washington Post, with the Richard M. Clurman Award for mentoring. The $5,000 prize is given each year to an experienced journalist who has played a pivotal role in guiding and nurturing the careers of young reporters. The prize is named for the late Richard M. Clurman, former chief of correspondents for Time-Life News Service and architect of the Livingston Awards.
Livingston Awards national judges Raney Aronson-Rath of Frontline, María Elena Salinas of ABC News, Anna Quindlen, author, and Bret Stephens of The New York Times introduced the winners at a ceremony, hosted by former long-serving Livingston Awards national judge Dean Baquet of The New York Times.
“Reading the Livingston Award entries we are reminded of the power of journalism to chronicle not just the biggest stories of the moment, but also looming crises and long ago misdeeds only now being called to account. This year’s winners each crafted beautifully nuanced portraits of the consequences of systemic failures and loss of trust in institutions,” said Lynette Clemetson, director of Wallace House. “Through meticulous reporting, they leave us no choice but to ponder the responsibility of those in power and our individual roles in either perpetuating or changing the systems that guide our lives.”
Celebrating its 41st year, the awards bolster the work of young reporters, create the next generation of journalism leaders and mentors, and advance civic engagement around powerful storytelling. The sponsors include the University of Michigan, Knight Foundation, the Indian Trail Charitable Foundation, the Mollie Parnis Livingston Foundation, Christiane Amanpour, the Fred and Judy Wilpon Foundation, Dr. Gil Omenn and Martha Darling, and Google News Inititative.
The 2022 winners for work released in 2021 are listed below.
Local Reporting
Alex Stuckey, 31, of the Houston Chronicle for “In Crisis,” an investigation of Texas’s mental health facilities, revealing an underfunded system shrouded in secrecy, where patient care takes a backseat to blame-avoidance. Her work prompted new state procedures and legislation to begin to address these problems.
“Alex Stuckey’s vivid accountability journalism about the challenges people living with severe mental illness face in Texas reveals a state in crisis and a serious bureaucratic breakdown with devastating human consequences. The systematic failure in Texas set against the stories of individual families is both urgent and heartbreaking and a model of great journalism. Drawing on a long-standing personal interest in care for those living with mental illness, her investigation illustrates a complex web of state level policies and failures that have a dire impact on the people who need the services the most.” – Raney Aronson-Rath
National Reporting
Jose A. Del Real, 31, of The Washington Post for “Truth, Trust and Conspiracy Theories in America,” a series examining viral disinformation, how it spreads and the impact it has on the personal relationships of those involved.
“As we try to navigate this complicated world we are living in, chock full of divisions and conspiracy theories that lead to anger and hatred, it is refreshing to read the humanity that Jose Del Real put into his stories on this very perplexing issue. He treats his characters with respect and compassion and helps the reader try to understand what moves them. Jose Del Real is a gem who so eloquently reminds us that conspiracy theories are part of American history and that only truth and trust can attempt to overcome them.” – María Elena Salinas
International Reporting
Erika Lantz, 31, and Elin Lantz Lesser, 30, of RococoPunch and iHeartRadio for “The Turning, The Sisters Who Left” a podcast series exploring the insular world of the Missionaries of Charity, the religious order founded by Mother Theresa, and the darker side of devotion.
“Sometimes it is the intimate, the human, that unexpectedly illuminates the great world for us. That was the case for me with ‘The Turning: The Sisters Who Left.’ In the anguished words of women who had entered the Missionaries of Charity, the religious order founded by Mother Teresa, I heard the classic dilemma of women’s lives: sacrifice versus freedom. Following faith and seeking to serve the poor, these women had discovered a system of isolation and control that began to break their spirits. Their stories were told with such care and sensitivity that their struggles lived within me afterward, less a podcast, more a world.” – Anna Quindlen
Mentoring Award
Fred Hiatt, editorial editor of The Washington Post, was honored posthumously with the Richard M. Clurman Award for his personal commitment to counsel, nurture and inspire young journalists.
“Somehow, Fred saw through the writer I was to the writer I wanted to be, one I couldn’t have become without his patience and support, one encouraging email at a time…Fred must have had access to some reservoir of time that most people do not, because I can name dozens of people who feel the same gratitude for the doors he opened.” – Alexandra Petri of The Washington Post.
In addition to Aronson-Rath, Salinas, Quindlen and Stephens, the Livingston national judging panel includes Ken Auletta of The New Yorker;John Harris of Politico; Matt Murray of The Wall Street Journal; Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune; Lydia Polgreen of Gimlet; and Kara Swisher of The New York Times and Vox Media.
Wallace House and the University of Michigan announced today the 2022 Livingston Awards finalists in local, national, and international reporting. The awards support young journalists and honor the best reporting and storytelling by journalists under the age of 35 across all forms of journalism. The 52 finalist selections were chosen from more than 450 entries for work released in 2021.
This year’s winners will be announced on June 8, 2022, at an in-person awards ceremony hosted by Dean Baquet, long-serving Livingston Award judge and executive editor of The New York Times.
“As the world continues to move through various types of upheaval, it’s encouraging to see younger journalists taking on and tackling important and complex stories,” said Wallace House Director Lynette Clemetson, Wallace House Director.
Celebrating its 41st year, the awards bolster the work of young reporters, create the next generation of journalism leaders and mentors, and advance civic engagement around powerful storytelling. The sponsors include the University of Michigan, Knight Foundation, the Indian Trail Charitable Foundation, the Mollie Parnis Livingston Foundation, Christiane Amanpour, the Fred and Judy Wilpon Foundation, and Dr. Gil Omenn and Martha Darling.
The Livingston Awards regional judges read all qualifying entries to select the finalists in local, national and international reporting. The regional judging panel includes Molly Ball, national political correspondent, TIME; Stella Chávez, immigration and demographics reporter, KERA Public Radio (Dallas); Chris Davis, executive editor and Vice-President of Investigative Journalism, Gannett; David Greene, host, “Ukraine Stories,” Fearless Media; Stephen Henderson, host, “Detroit Today,” WDET; Shirley Leung, columnist and associate editor, The Boston Globe; and Amna Nawaz, senior national correspondent, PBS “NewsHour.”
The Livingston Awards national judges review all finalist entries and select the winners. The national judges are Raney Aronson-Rath, executive producer, “FRONTLINE”; Ken Auletta, author and media and communications writer, The New Yorker; John Harris, co-founder, POLITICO; Matt Murray, editor in chief, The Wall Street Journal; Clarence Page, syndicated columnist; Lydia Polgreen, head of content, Gimlet; Anna Quindlen, author; María Elena Salinas, contributor, ABC News; Bret Stephens, op-ed columnist, The New York Times; and Kara Swisher, executive producer, Code Conference and host of the podcasts “Sway” and “Pivot.”
We present the 2022 Livingston Awards finalists and invite you to review their work here.
Local Reporting
Jessica Bakeman, New York Magazine
Sarah Blaskey, Miami Herald
Zoë Carpenter, The Nation
Rebecca Ellis, Oregon Public Broadcasting
Callie Ferguson, The Bangor Daily News
Amelia Ferrell Knisely and Molly Born, Mountain State Spotlight and The GroundTruth Project
Marie J. French, POLITICO
Amy Julia Harris, The New York Times
Madison Hopkins and Cecilia Reyes, Better Government Association and the Chicago Tribune
Cary Junior II, Detroit Free Press
Mark Keierleber, The 74
Danae King, The Columbus Dispatch
Kate McGee, The Texas Tribune
Mandy McLaren, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times
Jessica Miller, Paighten Harkins, Abby Ellis, Taylor Eldridge, Sam Stecklow and Muna Mohamed FRONTLINE in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune
Jessica Seaman, The Denver Post
Andrew Seidman, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Alex Stuckey, Houston Chronicle
Evey Wilson Wetherbee, Georgia Public Broadcasting
National Reporting
Jess Bidgood, The Boston Globe
Jamelle Bouie, The New York Times
Tony Briscoe, ProPublica
Claire Hannah Collins, Los Angeles Times
Maddy Crowell, The Atavist Magazine
Jose A. Del Real, The Washington Post
Hannah Dreyfus, ProPublica
Katelyn Ferral, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Maggie Freleng and Julieta Martinelli, Futuro Media/PRX
Drew Harwell, The Washington Post
Baxter Holmes, ESPN
Lauren Leatherby, The New York Times
Claire McNear, The Ringer
Laura C. Morel and Mohamed Al Elew, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting
Cecilia Nowell, New York Magazine’s The Cut
Rita Omokha, ELLE
Lizzie Presser, ProPublica
Roman Stubbs, The Washington Post
Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr., Gimlet Media
Kaveh Waddell and Maanvi Singh, Consumer Reports and The Guardian
International Reporting
Rachael Bale, National Geographic
Max Bearak, Júlia Ledur and Dylan Moriarty, The Washington Post
Khalid Bencherif, In These Times
Olivia Carville, Bloomberg Businessweek
Gloria Dickie, Scientific American
Thomas Gibbons-Neff, The New York Times
Sanket Jain, The Verge (Vox Media)
May Jeong, New York Magazine
Olivia Konotey-Ahulu, Bloomberg News
Erika Lantz and Elin Lantz Lesser, Rococo Punch and iHeartRadio
Louisa Loveluck and Mustafa Salim, The Washington Post
While the Russian invasion of Ukraine swiftly united NATO and western nations in condemning Putin, enacting sanctions and supplying defense weapons, there are growing cries for the U.S. and its NATO allies to do more militarily. Join Knight-Wallace journalists who have reported extensively from the region and a U-M policy expert as they examine Putin’s suppression of a free press, the call for direct military support, and the geopolitical, economic and humanitarian consequences of the growing conflict.
Elena Milashina is an award-winning senior investigative reporter for Novaya Gazeta, the acclaimed independent Russian news organization that recently ceased publication in response to threats of closure and imprisonment from the Putin regime. Simon Ostrovsky is a video journalist and filmmaker who reports for PBS NewsHour and The New York Times. Ronald Suny is a professor of history and political science at U-M and a senior researcher at the National Research University-Higher School of Economics in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Wallace House Director, Lynette Clemetson, will lead this discussion.
The Eisendrath Symposium on International Reporting honors Charles R. Eisendrath, former director of Wallace House, and his lifelong commitment to international journalism.
About the Speakers
Elena Milashina is a 2009-2010 Knight-Wallace Fellow and an investigative journalist “Novaya Gazeta,” Russia’s last remaining independent newspaper before it ceased publication in response to threats from the Putin regime. She investigates and brings to attention accounts of enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial executions, torture, and persecution of relatives of alleged insurgents, women’s rights in Chechnya and beyond. Milashina exposed a major crackdown on gay men in Chechnya in spring 2017, investigated the catastrophe of the Kursk submarine, and hostage crises in Moscow and Beslan. She has documented atrocities committed by both sides during the 2008 Russia-Georgia conflict and pressed for an end to impunity. She has repeatedly received death threats from the Chechen authorities. She is the recipient of Human Rights Watch’s Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism ad the International Women of Courage Award.
Simon Ostrovsky is a 2021-2022 Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellow. As a Special Correspondent for PBS NewsHour and an investigative journalist, he is best known for his coverage of the Crimea crisis and the war in eastern Ukraine for which he was nominated for two Emmys. He won a DuPont Award from Columbia University in 2015 for his “Selfie Soldiers” documentary, which tracked Russian soldiers in Ukraine through their social media posts, and an Emmy Award in 2014 as a producer of VICE on HBO. Ostrovsky has covered extensively the countries of the former Soviet Union, where he witnessed five revolutions and four wars. He has served as South Caucasus Bureau Chief for Agence France Presse and as an investigative reporter at CNN. His work also has appeared on the BBC and CBS News’ “60 Minutes.”
Ronald Suny is the William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History and Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan and Emeritus Professor of Political Science and History at the University of Chicago. The grandson of the composer and ethnomusicologist Grikor Mirzaian Suni and a graduate of Swarthmore College and Columbia University, he taught at Oberlin College (1968-1981), as visiting professor of history at the University of California, Irvine (1987), and Stanford University (1995-1996). He also served as Senior Researcher at the National Research University, Higher School of Economics, Saint Petersburg (2014-2016). He was the first holder of the Alex Manoogian Chair in Modern Armenian History at the University of Michigan (1981-1995), where he founded and directed the Armenian Studies Program.
About the Moderator
Lynette Clemetson is the Charles R. Eisendrath Director of Wallace House, home of the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists and the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists at the University of Michigan.
Featured speakers from left to right include Molly Ball, Barton Gellman and Anne Applebaum
About the Series
U.S. democratic institutions are under attack. While law enforcement agencies and a Congressional committee still work to investigate the January 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol – political violence aimed at blocking or overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election – a wave of subsequent efforts have continued to seek to undermine the norms and structures that have given Americans basic confidence in elections and in the peaceful transfer of power. Meanwhile, from statehouses to the Supreme Court, bitter debates rage over voting rights, access, and security. The University of Michigan will host four award-winning journalists who will share their insights into the forces threatening and protecting American democratic structures and systems.
The series will also explore the current state of journalism and the role of the press in upholding democratic institutions–at a time of demagogic attacks on the media and dramatic shifts in media ownership and independence. The series begins with three events in March featuring Molly Ball, Barton Gellman, and Sarah Kendzior, and will culminate in a keynote lecture at the Michigan League by Pulitzer Prize winning author, journalist, and historian,Anne Applebaum, on April 4.
This speaker series is hosted by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Co-sponsored by Democracy & Debate, Wallace House, Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum, and Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.
Join us for a discussion with two Knight-Wallace alumni. Hear from TIME National Political Correspondent and Molly Ball in conversation with longtime political writer Craig Gilbert to kick off the Spring 2022 Democracy in Crisis series.
This is an in-person event limited to current University of Michigan students, faculty, and staff. All attendees will be required to complete the ResponsiBlue screening before entering the building, and masks are required. Registration is required to attend.
The event will also be live-streamed for those outside of the university, or university members who choose not to attend in person. The live stream will appear on this page on the day of the event. Registration for the live stream is optional.
About the Event
The 2020 election, conducted in the shadow of an unprecedented pandemic and a president determined to sabotage the vote, laid bare how fragile America’s democratic institutions are. What did we learn from the weaknesses 2020 exposed? What efforts are underway to sabotage—and protect—the next national election? And how can we strengthen democracy going forward?
About the Speaker
A prominent voice on U.S. politics, Molly Ball serves as national political correspondent for Time and is a frequent television and radio commentator. She is the author of Pelosi, the first biography written with the House Speaker’s cooperation. Prior to joining Time, Ball was a staff writer covering U.S. politics for The Atlantic. She previously reported for Politico, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and the Las Vegas Sun. She has worked for newspapers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Cambodia, as well as The New York Times and The Washington Post. Ball is the recipient of the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency, the Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism, and the Lee Walczak Award for Political Analysis for her coverage of political campaigns. A graduate of Yale University, she was a Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan in 2009-2010 and serves on the Livingston Award judging panel.
About the Moderator
Craig Gilbert is the recently retired Washington Bureau Chief and national political reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He has covered every presidential campaign since 1988 and chronicled Wisconsin’s role as the nation’s most enduring political battleground. Gilbert has written extensively about the battle for the swing states of the industrial Midwest, the region’s shifting political map, its increasingly polarized political culture and the deepening urban-rural divide. His work has been recognized by Editor & Publisher, the National Press Foundation, the National Headliner Awards, the Milwaukee Press Club, and the Columbia Journalism Review, which called him the “most political science friendly reporter in America.” Gilbert was a Knight-Wallace fellow at the University of Michigan; a writer in residence at the University of Wisconsin, and is currently a Lubar Fellow at the Marquette Law School. Gilbert previously worked for the Miami Herald, the Kingston (NY) Daily Freeman and was a speechwriter for New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He has a B.A. in History from Yale University.
Join us for Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Barton Gellman in conversation with Michigan Law Professor from Practice Barbara McQuade, as part of the spring 2022 Democracy in Crisis series.
This is a virtual event.
About the Speaker
Barton Gellman, a staff writer at The Atlantic, is the author most recently of Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the American Surveillance State and the bestselling Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency. He has held positions as senior fellow at The Century Foundation, Lecturer at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School and visiting research collaborator at Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy. Before joining The Atlantic, Gellman spent 21 years at The Washington Post, where he served tours as legal, diplomatic, military and Middle East correspondent. Gellman anchored the team that won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for coverage of the National Security Agency and Edward Snowden. He was previously awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for a series on Vice President Dick Cheney. In 2002, he was a member of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for coverage of the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath. Other professional honors include two George Polk Awards, two Overseas Press Club awards, two Emmy awards for a PBS Frontline documentary, Harvard’s Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
About the Moderator
Barbara L. McQuade, BA ’87, JD ’91, is a professor from practice. Her interests include criminal law, criminal procedure, national security, data privacy, and civil rights. From 2010 to 2017, Professor McQuade served as the U.S attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. Appointed by President Barack Obama, she was the first woman to serve in her position. Professor McQuade also served as vice-chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee and co-chaired its Terrorism and National Security Subcommittee. As U.S. attorney, she oversaw cases involving public corruption, terrorism, corporate fraud, theft of trade secrets, civil rights, and health care fraud, among others. Professor McQuade also serves as a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Lawfare, Just Security, Slate, and National Public Radio, and she has been quoted in The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, Politico, and other publications. Before becoming U.S. attorney, Professor McQuade served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit for 12 years, serving as deputy chief of the National Security Unit, where she handled cases involving terrorism financing, export violations, threats, and foreign agents. Professor McQuade began her career practicing law at the firm of Butzel Long in Detroit. Professor McQuade previously taught at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Professor McQuade has been recognized by the Detroit Free Press with the Neal Shine Award for Exemplary Regional Leadership, The Detroit News with the Michiganian of the Year Award, Crain’s Detroit Business as a Newsmaker of the Year and one of Detroit’s Most Influential Women, the Detroit Branch NAACP and Arab American Civil Rights League with their Tribute to Justice Award, and the Council on Legal Education Opportunity with their Diversity Award.
Sarah Kendzior, author of Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America, will be in conversation with Jonathan Hanson, political scientist and lecturer in statistics at the Ford School as part of the spring 2022 Democracy in Crisis series.
This is a virtual event. The event will have a live watch party in Weill Hall, Room 1110. A free copy of Sarah Kendzior’s book, Hiding in Plain Sight, will be provided for attendees at the viewing party on a first-come first-serve basis. Attendance at this watch party is limited to current University of Michigan students, faculty, and staff. All attendees will be required to complete the ResponsiBlue screening before entering the building, and masks are required. Registration is required to attend.
About the Speaker
Sarah Kendzior is a journalist who lectures on politics, the economy, and the media. Since 2006, she has regularly given talks and keynotes at universities and policy forums around the world. She is the author of the best-selling book The View From Flyover Country, which was re-released in 2018 after originally being published as an eBook in 2015 and becoming a bestseller the following year, and her new book Hiding in Plain Sight.
Sarah Kendzior received her Ph.D. studying the authoritarian states of the former Soviet Union and has since put that expertise to use in explaining what is happening to the United States. Today she writes regularly for the Globe and Mail, NBC News, and Fast Company. She has over 350,000 followers on Twitter and is regularly interviewed by the media both in the US and abroad. In summer 2018, she launched the Gaslit Nation podcast with Andrea Chalupa. She is a recurring guest on the MSNBC show AM Joy, where she discusses corruption in the Trump administration as well as the Russian interference scandal.
Sarah Kendzior’s Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America pulls back the veil on a history spanning decades, a history of an American autocrat in the making. In doing so, she reveals the inherent fragility of American democracy – how our continual loss of freedom, the rise of consolidated corruption, and the secrets behind a burgeoning autocratic United States have been hiding in plain sight for decades.
Anne Applebaum, “Democracy in Crisis: The Twilight of Democracy”
Pulitzer Prize winning historian, journalist and commentator Anne Applebaum delivers the keynote lecture of the Spring 2022 Democracy in Crisis series, in conversation with Ford School Dean Michael S. Barr.
This is an in-person event. All in-person attendees will be required to complete the ResponsiBlue screening before entering the building. Registration is required to attend.
The event will also be livestreamed for those who choose not to attend in-person. The livestream will appear on this page the day of the event. Registration is optional.
About the Speaker
Pulitzer Prize winning historian, journalist and commentator on geopolitics, Anne Applebaum, examines the challenges and opportunities of global political and economic change through the lenses of world history and the contemporary political landscape. Informed by her expertise in Europe and her years of international reporting, Applebaum shares perspectives on, and the far-reaching implications of, today’s volatile world events. In July 2020, Penguin published Anne’s book ‘Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism’. Anne was later named one of “The Top 50 Thinkers of the Covid-19 Age” by Prospect magazine. She is a Senior Fellow of International Affairs and Agora Fellow in Residence at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. For many years, Applebaum wrote a biweekly foreign affairs column for The Washington Post which is syndicated internationally. She is now a staff writer at The Atlantic.
Wallace House at the University of Michigan welcomes Jayson Rose as its Senior Development Officer.
In this newly created role, Rose will be responsible for developing and managing annual giving, major gifts and institutional support needed to advance the mission and programs of Wallace House. Working jointly with Wallace House director Lynette Clemetson and the Office of University Development leadership, Rose will identify gift prospects, with a focus on connecting the philanthropic interests and passions of Wallace House friends, alumni and donors to our journalism programs in meaningful ways.
“As Wallace House expands its vision, it is imperative that we respond thoughtfully to the many supporters who reach out to us with interest in helping to foster our programs and journalism’s vital role to our democracy,” said Lynette Clemetson. “Jayson’s background and expertise will allow us to develop these philanthropic interests strategically with an eye to the future. We are thrilled to welcome him.”
Rose comes to Wallace House with deep development experience. He recently oversaw fundraising efforts for three divisions within Duke University’s academic medicine fundraising entity, Duke Health Development and Alumni Affairs. Before joining Duke, Rose spent more than three years at his alma mater, Western Michigan University, as the Director of Major Gifts. In that role, he helped raise five, six and seven-figure gifts for various entities across the campus. His previous academic experience also includes time at Iowa State University, helping to lead efforts at their business school. Rose was also Associate Director of Development for Student Life at the University of Michigan and points to that experience as a turning point in his professional career.
Rose is known for being a collaborative and compassionate fundraising professional who is committed to helping donors make a lasting impact through philanthropy. Throughout his career, he has played a prominent role in securing resources for student scholarships, faculty support, endowed funds, planned gifts and other areas of need. Rose helped drive strategies that led to philanthropic support tied to billion-dollar-plus campaigns, including “Forever True, For Iowa State,” and, we are happy to include, “Victors for Michigan.”
Before his career in fundraising, Rose worked for Phoenix Media in Chicago and was a professional DJ lending his services to corporations and world-famous athletes and celebrities, including Derek Jeter, Michael Jordan, and Michael Bublé.
Rose earned his B.A. from Western Michigan University with a concentration in Economics. He will start at Wallace House on January 31.
Wallace House is committed to protecting, honoring, and supporting journalists and a free press through our programs, events, and social media. Whether you’ve connected with us through the Knight-Wallace Fellowships, the Livingston Awards, or our community events, we want to engage with you and share news about all of our activities as efficiently as possible.
Now you can follow all Wallace House programs on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram under the username @UMWallaceHouse.
Please find us at our new social home. We look forward to engaging with you.
While the Russian invasion of Ukraine swiftly united NATO and western nations in condemning Putin, enacting sanctions and supplying defense weapons, there are growing cries for the U.S. and its NATO allies to do more militarily. Join Knight-Wallace journalists who have reported extensively from the region and a U-M policy expert as they examine Putin’s suppression of a free press, the call for direct military support, and the geopolitical, economic and humanitarian consequences of the growing conflict.
Elena Milashina is an award-winning senior investigative reporter for Novaya Gazeta, the acclaimed independent Russian news organization that recently ceased publication in response to threats of closure and imprisonment from the Putin regime. Simon Ostrovsky is a video journalist and filmmaker who reports for PBS NewsHour and The New York Times. Ronald Suny is a professor of history and political science at U-M and a senior researcher at the National Research University-Higher School of Economics in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Wallace House Director, Lynette Clemetson, will lead this discussion.
The Eisendrath Symposium on International Reporting honors Charles R. Eisendrath, former director of Wallace House, and his lifelong commitment to international journalism.
The Knight Foundation, Ronald and Eileen Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (WCEE), Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (CREES), Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and Michigan Radio are co-sponsors of this event.
Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press
A special series featuring Molly Ball, Barton Gellman, Sarah Kendzior and Anne Applebaum
U.S. democratic institutions are under attack. While law enforcement agencies and a Congressional committee still work to investigate the January 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol – political violence aimed at blocking or overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election – a wave of subsequent efforts have continued to seek to undermine the norms and structures that have given Americans basic confidence in elections and in the peaceful transfer of power. Meanwhile, from statehouses to the Supreme Court, bitter debates rage over voting rights, access, and security.
The series will also explore the current state of journalism and the role of the press in upholding democratic institutions–at a time of demagogic attacks on the media and dramatic shifts in media ownership and independence.
March 23: Barton Gellman, “Democracy in Crisis”Virtual event
March 31: Sarah Kendzior, “Hiding in Plain Sight”Virtual event
April 4: Anne Applebaum, “Democracy in Crisis: The Twilight of Democracy”In-person event
This speaker series is hosted by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Co-sponsored by Democracy & Debate, Wallace House, Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum, and Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.
Robin Wright Photo credit: April Brady/Project on Middle East Democracy
America’s Place in the Post-Afghanistan World
With Robin Wright, writer for The New Yorker and Jawad Sukhanyar, journalist and 2019 Knight-Wallace Fellow
What are the implications of the U.S. retreat from Afghanistan? Does it mark the “end of the American era?” What can the world community do for the thousands of Afghan refugees across the globe? How will the Taliban government treat women and Afghans who worked with Western organizations? Amid the continuing uncertainty, journalists Robin Wright and Jawad Sukhanyar will give their perspectives on the evolving situation, in conversation with Lynette Clemetson, Director of Wallace House.
Robin Wright has written for The New Yorker since 1988 as a contributing writer and columnist. Her first piece on Iran won the National Magazine Award for best reporting. A former correspondent for The Washington Post, CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, and TheSunday Times, she has reported from more than 140 countries. Wright is the author of several books. Her book, “Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World,” was selected as the best book on international affairs by the Overseas Press Club.
She received her bachelor of arts and masters’ degrees from the University of Michigan and was the first female sports editor for The Michigan Daily.
Jawad Sukhanyar, journalist and 2019 Knight-Wallace Fellow, was a reporter for The New York Times in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2019. He returned to Ann Arbor to join the university as a journalist-in-residence with the Donia Human Rights Center and the International Institute. This research fellowship, sponsored by Wallace House, will commence once Sukhanyar receives full clearance from U.S. resettlement and immigration officials. He will study the implication of the U.S. departure from Afghanistan and new rule under the Taliban.
Sukhanyar first came to the university in September 2018 as a Knight-Wallace Fellow, where he studied issues related to women’s rights in Afghanistan. Read more about Sukhanyar’s journey.
It’s been 20 years since the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the world we live in is still shaped in many ways by the events of that day. Join the Ford School and Wallace House for a special retrospective on 9/11 with journalists Beth Fertig of WNYC and Aisha Sultan, a nationally syndicated columnist, who has written about the U.S. Muslim experience, in a post-9/11, post-Trump America. Lynette Clemetson, Director of Wallace House, will moderate the conversation.
Beth Fertig is a senior reporter at WNYC. She is currently covering New York City’s economic recovery from the pandemic. Since starting her career at WNYC in 1995, she has reported on immigration, public education, 9/11, and city politics. She has won many local and national awards.
Fertig is a New York City native who discovered her love for journalism at TheMichigan Daily, her college newspaper at the University of Michigan. She also has a Master’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago. She is a frequent contributor to National Public Radio.
Aisha Sultan is a nationally syndicated columnist and award-winning filmmaker and features writer. Her work has run in more than a hundred publications. She has won several national honors, including the Asian American Journalists Association “Excellence in Written Journalism” award for her coverage of the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri. Her work explores social change with an emphasis on education, families and inequality. Sultan teaches college writing at Washington University. Her essay on being a Muslim in this country during 9/11 and the ensuing 20 years was published in the September 1, 2021 issue of Newsweek.
This conversation will be moderated by Lynette Clemetson, Director of Wallace House.
This event is a Josh Rosenthal Education Fund Lecture and part of the Policy Talks at The Ford School event series, co-sponsored by Wallace House.
2021 Livingston Award winners (counter-clockwise from top left) Joshua Sharpe of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Hannah Dreier of The Washington Post, and Chao Deng of The Wall Street Journal and 2021 Clurman Award recipient Susan Chira, editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project.
Today the Livingston Awards honor stories that represent the best in local, national and international reporting by journalists under age 35. The winning stories highlight an investigation proving the innocence of a man serving two life sentences for murder, the deadly consequences of a teenage asylum-seeker in the flawed U.S. immigration system, and early Covid reporting from Wuhan, China. The $10,000 prizes are for work released in 2020.
The Livingston Awards also honored Susan Chira, editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project with the Richard M. Clurman Award for mentoring. The $5,000 prize is given each year to an experienced journalist who has played a pivotal role in guiding and nurturing the careers of young reporters. The prize is named for the late Richard M. Clurman, former chief of correspondents for Time-Life News Service and architect of the Livingston Awards.
Livingston Awards national judges Anna Quindlen, author, Matt Murray of The Wall Street Journal, Raney Aronson-Rath of FRONTLINE and Lydia Polgreen of Gimlet introduced the winners at an online ceremony, hosted former Livingston Award national judge Christiane Amanpour of CNN and PBS.
“We are always moved by the work of our Livingston Award entrants, finalists and winners. But the work published in 2020 is especially important and inspiring. Under incredibly difficult reporting circumstances, these tenacious journalists doggedly pursued work that pushed criminal justice, immigration and global public health systems – toward truth, transparency and greater accountability,” said Livingston Awards Director Lynette Clemetson. “We are proud to honor this year’s winners and we look forward to extending the reach of their work and following their promising careers.”
Celebrating its 40th year, the awards bolster the work of young reporters, create the next generation of journalism leaders and mentors, and advance civic engagement around powerful storytelling. The sponsors include the University of Michigan, Knight Foundation, the Indian Trail Charitable Foundation, the Mollie Parnis Livingston Foundation, Christiane Amanpour, the Fred and Judy Wilpon Foundation, and Dr. Gil Omenn and Martha Darling.
The 2021 winners for work released in 2020 are:
Local Reporting
Joshua Sharpe, 33, of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for “The Imperfect Alibi,” an exhaustive re-examination of a 35-year old double murder mystery that debunked the alibi of a long-overlooked suspect and proved the innocence of a man wrongly imprisoned for 20 years.
Only very rarely does one of our stories – one of us – change the course of human events. For more than two decades, a man said that he wasn’t the person who murdered a deacon and his wife, both pillars of the local black community in Spring Bluff, Georgia. Joshua Sharpe asked the right questions, refusing easy answers and pretty much proved that man was telling the truth and was innocent. And that another man was guilty of those crimes and had gotten over for so many years with an alibi so thin that you could read a newspaper through it. – Anna Quindlen
National Reporting
Hannah Dreier, 33, of The Washington Post for “Trust and Consequences,” a portrait of Kevin Euceda, a teenage asylum-seeker fleeing Honduras, who was held in U.S. custody and required to see a therapist only to have notes from those confidential sessions turned over to ICE and used against him in court hearings.
Hannah Dreier’s series does what the best reporting can do. It leaves an indelible impression by making abstract policy and institutional decisions, human and concrete, and shows the effect they can have on real lives. Whatever one’s views on immigration, no one who reads these stories can fail to be moved outraged and informed by them. – Matt Murray
International Reporting
Chao Deng, 32, of The Wall Street Journal for “On the Front Lines in Wuhan,” a remarkable series of reports which, despite the Chinese government’s attempts to silence her, tells the complex and rapidly evolving story on the ground at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the early stages of the crisis.
The gathering of anonymous accounts from government officials, paired so eloquently with family stories of Chinese citizens, dealing with the then mysterious outbreak. Chao Deng’s reporting amplified the voices of the citizens of Wuhan. It was, and is, vital and crucially important journalism. – Raney Aronson-Rath
Mentoring Award
Susan Chira was honored with the Richard M. Clurman Award for her newsroom commitment to counseling, nurturing and inspiring young journalists. Chira is the editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project and former deputy executive editor of The New York Times. In a video tribute introduced by Lydia Polgreen, reporters from The New York Times and The Marshall Project spoke about Chira’s influence on their careers.
Susan inspired me to follow in her footsteps and become a leader, a mentor, a coach and an editor. Looking back now I know that the most important work of my life is not the swashbuckling exploits that I enjoyed as a young foreign correspondent. Susan inspired and championed that work for sure. But more importantly, she inspired me to emulate her leadership and to be a Susan Chira for everyone who wasn’t lucky enough to work with the real Susan Chira. – Lydia Polgreen
In addition to Quindlen, Murray, Aronson-Rath and Polgreen, the Livingston national judging panel includes; Ken Auletta of The New Yorker, Dean Baquet of The New York Times; John Harris, co-founder of Politico, Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune; María Elena Salinas, CBS News contributor; Bret Stephens of The New York Times; and Kara Swisher of The New York Times and Vox Media.
The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists are the most prestigious honor for professional journalists under the age of 35 and are the largest all-media, general reporting prizes in American journalism. Entries from print, online, visual and audio storytelling are judged against one another, as technology blurs distinctions between traditional platforms. The $10,000 prizes are awarded annually for local, national and international reporting. The Livingston Awards are a program of Wallace House at the University of Michigan, home to the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists and the Wallace House Presents event series.
Wallace House and the University of Michigan announced today the 2021 Livingston Awards finalists in local, national and international reporting. The awards support young journalists and honor the best reporting and storytelling by journalists under the age of 35 across all forms of journalism. The 50 finalist selections were chosen from more than 500 entries for work released in 2020.
This year’s Livingston Award winners will be announced at a virtual ceremony on June 10, 2021. Hosted by Christiane Amanpour, former Livingston Award winner and judge, the event is open to everyone. Information and registration can be found here.
“We are proud and honored to acknowledge and showcase the reporting of this year’s Livingston Award finalists, who produced exceptional works of journalism despite the numerous intersecting challenges facing the nation today,” said Wallace House Director Lynette Clemetson. “That we received more than 500 strong entries this year is testament to the conviction and dedication of young journalists to pursue stories that need to be told, especially in the most difficult times.”
Celebrating its 40th year, the awards bolster the work of young reporters, create the next generation of journalism leaders and mentors, and advance civic engagement around powerful storytelling. The sponsors include the University of Michigan, Knight Foundation, the Indian Trail Charitable Foundation, the Mollie Parnis Livingston Foundation, Christiane Amanpour, the Fred and Judy Wilpon Foundation, and Dr. Gil Omenn and Martha Darling.
The Livingston Awards regional judges read all qualifying entries to select the finalists in local, national and international reporting. The regional judging panel includes Molly Ball, national political correspondent, Time; Stella Chávez, immigration and demographics reporter, KERA Public Radio (Dallas); Chris Davis, executive editor and Vice-President of Investigative Journalism, Gannett; David Greene, former host, “Morning Edition,” NPR; Stephen Henderson, host, “Detroit Today,” WDET; Shirley Leung, columnist and associate editor, The Boston Globe; and Amna Nawaz, senior national correspondent, PBS “NewsHour.”
The Livingston Awards national judges review all finalist entries and select the winners. The national judges are Raney Aronson-Rath, executive producer, “Frontline,”; Ken Auletta, author and media and communications writer, The New Yorker; Dean Baquet, executive editor, The New York Times; John Harris, co-founder, Politico; Matt Murray, editor in chief, The Wall Street Journal; Clarence Page, syndicated columnist; Lydia Polgreen, head of content, Gimlet; Anna Quindlen, author; María Elena Salinas, contributor, CBS News; Bret Stephens, op-ed columnist, The New York Times; and Kara Swisher, executive producer, Code Conference and host of the podcasts “Sway” and “Pivot.”
We present the 2021 Livingston Awards finalists and invite you to review their work here.
Local Reporting
Haley BeMiller, Green Bay Press-Gazette
Lauren Caruba, San Antonio Express-News
Lakeidra Chavis, The Trace in partnership with The Chicago Sun-Times
Ann Choi, Rachel Holiday Smith and Will Welch, The City (NY, NY)
Jessica Contrera, The Washington Post
Courtney Crowder, The Des Moines Register
Andrew Ford, Asbury Park Press in partnership with ProPublica
Eileen Grench, The City (NY, NY)
Samantha Hogan and Agnel Philip, The Maine Monitor and ProPublica with support from Report for America
Lizzie Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
Josh Kaplan, DCist in partnership with Spotlight DC
Soumya Karlamangla, Los Angeles Times
Ana Ley, The Virginian-Pilot
Nichole Manna, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Jessica Miller, The Salt Lake Tribune
Thad Moore, The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.)
Bridget Read, New York Magazine
Eric Sandy, Cleveland Scene
Joshua Sharpe, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
National Reporting
Kenzi Abou-Sabe, Adiel Kaplan and Kit Ramgopal, NBC News Investigative Unit
Hamed Aleaziz, BuzzFeed News
Bethany Barnes, Tampa Bay Times
Eric Boodman, STAT
Sydney Brownstone, Scott Greenstone and Will James, KNKX Public Radio and The Seattle Times
Elizabeth Bruenig, The New York Times
Chabeli Carrazana, The 19th
Elizabeth Dias, The New York Times
Hannah Dreier, The Washington Post
Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken, CNN
Katie Engelhart, The California Sunday Magazine
Alissa Escarce, Max Siegelbaum and Mazin Sidahmed, Documented, Latino USA and Type Investigations
Eli Hager, The Marshall Project in partnership with The Atlantic
Ellen Huet and Shawn Wen, Bloomberg News
Jamiles Lartey, The Marshall Project
Daniel Lombroso, The Atlantic
Alysia Santo and Elaine Sheldon, The Marshall Project in partnership with FRONTLINE and America ReFramed on WORLD Channel
Emily Shugerman, The Daily Beast
Roman Stubbs, The Washington Post
Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic
International Reporting
Josh Baker, FRONTLINE
Luisa Conlon, Gabriela Dematteis and Paola Ramos, Vice News
Maddy Crowell, Virginia Quarterly Review
Chao Deng, The Wall Street Journal
Caitlin Dickerson, The New York Times
Emily Feng, NPR
Ruby Gaviola, Lauryn Schroeder and Kate Morrissey, San Diego Union-Tribune
Claire Harbage and Kat Lonsdorf, NPR in partnership with the John Alexander Project
Isayen Herrera and Julie Turkewitz, The New York Times
