TOM ROSENSTIEL
Director
Author and journalist Tom Rosenstiel designed the Project for Excellence in Journalism and directs its activities. A journalist for more than 30 years, he worked as media critic for the Los Angeles Times and chief congressional correspondent for Newsweek magazine and is vice chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, an initiative engaged in conducting a national conversation among journalists about standards and values, which he co-founded and formerly managed. At PEJ, he is the editor and principal author of the Project's Annual Report on the State of the News Media, a comprehensive report on the health of American journalism. He also directs the Project's other research efforts, including its weekly real time content analysis of the mainstream press called the News Coverage Index and its content analysis of blogs and social media called the New Media Index. Among his books, Rosenstiel is the author with Bill Kovach of The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect (Crown 2001, updated 2007), winner of the Goldsmith Book Prize from Harvard University, the Society of Professional Journalist Sigma Delta Chi award for research in journalism and the Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism from Penn State. "Elements" has been described as "one of five essential books" on journalism (Roger Mudd, the Wall Street Journal), a "modern classic" (William Safire, The New York Times) and "the most important book on the relationship of journalism and democratcy published in the last 50 years" (Roy Clark, the Poynter Institute). It is a required text in most journalism schools in the country and has been translated into more than 23 languages. Rosenstiel and Kovach are also authors together of Warp Speed: America in The Age of Mixed Media (Century Foundation 1999), which also won the SDX Award for research in journalism. Most recently, he is co-editor of Thinking Clearly: Cases in Journalistic Decision Making (Columbia University Press 2003). His newest book, "We Interrupt This Newscast: How to Improve TV News and Win Ratings, Too." (Cambridge University Press) was published in 2007. Rosenstiel is also the author of Strange Bedfellows: How Television and the Presidential Candidates Changed American Politics 1992, (Hyperion 1993). His writing also has appeared in such publications as Esquire, The New Republic, The New York Times, Columbia Journalism Review and The Washington Monthly. A former media critic for MSNBC's The News With Brian Williams, he is a frequent commentator on radio and television and in print. Rosenstiel is also co-author of CCJ's "Traveling Curriculum," an mid-career education program that has trained more than 6,000 journalists in print, TV and online newsrooms nationwide. He is a frequent lecturer and analyst on the revolution in media.
BILL KOVACH
Senior Counselor
Bill Kovach has been a journalist and writer for 50 years. In that time he was chief of the New York Times Washington Bureau, served as editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and curator of the Nieman Fellowships at Harvard University and the founding chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, a group that now totals more than 9,000 journalists worldwide. Kovach is co-author with Tom Rosenstiel of The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect (Crown 2001), which was awarded Harvard University’s Goldsmith Book Prize (2002), the Sigma Delta Chi award for research in journalism and the Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism. Kovach and Rosenstiel also co-authored Warp Speed: America in the Age of Mixed Media (Century Press in 1999), which earned an SDX Award for research in journalism in 2000. Kovach was the 2003 recipient of The Richard M. Clurman Award for Mentoring and has also been honored with the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award, which was accompanied by an honorary PhD from Colby College. In Fall 2004, Kovach was named to The John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies at Middle Tennessee State University. Among his other board affiliations, Kovach serves on the advisory boards of the Center for Public Integrity, the Native American Journalists Foundation, The Right Question Project and the Encyclopedia of the Appalachians. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, the Washington Post, the New Republic, and many other newspapers and magazines in the United States and abroad.
AMY s. MITCHELL
Deputy Director
Amy S. Mitchell is Deputy Director for the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. She is involved in all aspects of the PEJ, with a primary focus on designing, managing and writing the Project’s in-depth research reports. This includes the Annual Report on the State of the News Media, more specific studies such as coverage of various election cycles and of major news stories like the war in Iraq and the development of the New Media Index and earlier the News Coverage Index. Ms. Mitchell, who has been with the Project since its inception in 1997, speaks frequently to groups ranging from journalists of all types to press relation professionals to heads of various organizations on where journalism is heading. She also speaks on the various components of research conducted at the Project. Prior to PEJ, Ms. Mitchell was a congressional research associate at the American Enterprise Institute where she researched public policy and the relationship of the press, the public and government. She has authored and co-authored several works including, Thinking Clearly: Case Studies in Journalistic Decision Making. She has also won awards for PEJ’s Annual Report on the State of the News Media including two SPJ awards and the Bart Richards award. Originally from the mid-West, Ms. Mitchell now lives in Silver Spring, MD with her husband and three children.
MARK JURKOWITZ
Associate Director
Mark Jurkowitz, Associate Director of the Project, has spent nearly two decades covering the news media. He was the press critic and author of the Boston Phoenix’s “Don’t Quote Me” column from 1987-1994 and again from July 2005 until June 2006. In between, he spent 10 years at The Boston Globe, initially as the paper’s ombudsman and then as its first full-time media beat writer. A graduate of Boston University, Jurkowitz has taught a course on media ethics at both Northeastern University and Tufts University and has been a commentator on media-related issues on outlets ranging from CNN’s “Reliable Sources” to NPR’s “On the Media.” He has also made more than 300 appearances as a regular panelist on “Beat the Press,” a weekly program on Boston’s WGBH-TV that scrutinizes the journalism profession. In the 1990’s, he spent a number of years as a radio talk host on WHDH-AM and WRKO-AM in Boston.
Jon morgan
Senior Editor
Jon Morgan spent 25 years reporting and editing at various newspapers in Wisconsin, Illinois and Maryland. The last 21 years were at The Baltimore Sun where he covered, among other things, the massacre at Columbine High School, the move of the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore and the murder trial of Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. In a decade on the sports desk, he specialized in the economic, legal and cultural aspects of sports – especially the costs and benefits of taxpayer-built sports facilities – and provided expert analysis for CBS, Fox, CNN, NPR and other media outlets. His work has won awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Illinois Press Association, the Chesapeake Associated Press and the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association. His editing assignments included stints as Assistant City Editor, State Political Editor, Regional Editor and Assistant Managing Editor for Enterprise. He is the author of two books: Glory for Sale: Fans, Dollars and the New NFL and Gaining a Yard. He holds a journalism degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and was a Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan in 2000-2001. He lives in Baltimore with his wife and three daughters.
PAUL HITLIN
Senior Researcher
Paul Hitlin supervises PEJ's content coding operations, assists with the design of content analysis research, and helps to write the weekly New Media Index. He earned an M.A. from Georgetown University's Communication, Culture, and Technology program where his thesis was an analysis of television political pundits. Prior to joining PEJ in 2005, he worked for the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, and the Center for Media and Public Affairs. Paul is a graduate of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.
HONG JI
Senior Methodologist
Hong Ji supervises the statistical data analysis and research design for PEJ projects. She earned a Ph.D. in Mass Communication/Journalism from E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. Employing content analysis method, her dissertation examined the use of advertising appeals and gender images in ads in global magazines. Previously, she taught at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
cheryl Elzey
Administrative Manager
Cheryl Elzey manages PEJ’s office in Washington, tracks the finances, and supports the Director and Deputy Director. Cheryl has worked in the news industry for the past 20 years in both the news and business sides. She comes to us from The Washington Post and prior to them the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, NY. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany and Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY.
Dana Page
Public Relations Associate
Dana Page earned her master’s degree in Broadcast, Telecommunications and Mass Media from Temple University. Prior to graduate school, she worked in the corporate communications department of a major credit card company in Wilmington, Delaware. Dana holds a B.S. in magazine journalism from Syracuse University.
Mahvish Shahid Khan
Content & Training Coordinator
Mahvish Shahid Khan works on the data and content side of the Weekly News Index. She earned an M.A. from Georgetown University’s Communication, Culture and Technology Department, where she wrote her thesis on the public debate surrounding the memory of the atomic bombs in American culture. She also holds a B.S. in Communication Studies and History from Northwestern University.
Tricia Sartor
Manager, Weekly News Index
As manager of the Weekly News Index, Tricia Sartor is responsible for overseeing the day to day coding operation. She also conceptualizes and authors the weekly number. Tricia holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and Philosophy from the University of Michigan.
Josh Appelbaum
Research Analyst
Josh Appelbaum conducts research on news magazines and local television and will author the corresponding chapters in PEJ’s Annual Report on the State of the News Media. He earned his master’s degree in Public Policy from the Edward J. Bloustein School at Rutgers University and was a fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. Previously, he has worked as a reporter and editor for Packet Publications in Princeton, N.J.
Emily Guskin
Research Analyst
Emily Guskin recently moved back to the DC area after completing a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Edward J. Bloustein School at Rutgers University. She conducts research on ethnic news media for PEJ and received bachelors' degrees from the University of Maryland in both Communication and Government and Politics. Previously, Emily worked in the Polling Unit of ABC News and as a researcher at Rutgers University.
Jesse holcomb
Research Analyst
Jesse Holcomb’s research focuses on the cable news industry and the media’s coverage of religion. Previously he was an editorial assistant and occasional reporter at Sojourners magazine and a writer with the Fund for Public Interest Research. Jesse earned his M.A. in media and public affairs at George Washington University and his B.A. in sociology from Gordon College.
Kenny Olmstead
Research Analyst
Kenny Olmstead gradated from Skidmore College in May 2006 with a B.A. in Government. He has interned in the government relations office at the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, has been a research assistant on a book on the European Union, and has worked in web design at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Monica Anderson
Researcher/Coder
Monica is originally from Texas where she received her B.A. from
Southwestern University in Political Science and Feminist Studies. She
completed her M.A. at Georgetown University, majoring in Communication,
Culture, and Technology. Her expertise lies within the realms of media
and politics, with a particular interest in the role that media plays in
the lives of women and minorities.
Jeff Beattie
Researcher/Coder
Jeff Beattie is a reporter at The Energy Daily, a Washington, D.C.-based trade publication. He previously worked as an analyst at Washington-based consulting firms and non-governmental associations focusing on energy and environmental issues. He holds an M.A. in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in History from the University of Pennsylvania.
kevin caldwell
Researcher/Coder
Kevin Caldwell graduated from Oswego State University in New York with a B.A. in Communications. Shortly after graduation, he exchanged the long, cold winters of Upstate New York for hot, sticky summers of Washington, DC and has worked as a graphic designer and communications manager.
Vadim Nikitin
Researcher/Coder
Vadim Nikitin was born on a Soviet submarine base and grew up in London. Since taking his AB in Government at Harvard with a thesis on US democracy promotion in Russia, he has worked at an international law firm and a shopping mall, but dreams of becoming a journalist.
Aaron Ray
Researcher/Coder
Aaron Ray is an M.P.P candidate at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute. He earned a B.A. Philosophy, Political Science and Religion from Linfield College and an M.A. in Education from the University of New Mexico. He recently taught government, history and economics at high schools in Washington, D.C. and Crownpoint, N.M.
Angela Sanson
Researcher/Coder
Angela Sanson earned an M.A. in Public Communication from American University, where she wrote her thesis on Facebook and youth mobilization in the 2008 Presidential election. She has also worked for the Center for Social Media, and holds a B.A. in Strategic Communication from Ohio State University.
Laura houston Santhanam
Analyst/Coder
Laura Houston Santhanam graduated with a master’s degree in public policy from American University’s School of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a newspaper reporter at The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, Ariz., and at the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Chattanooga, Tenn. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism and history from the University of Mississippi and is from Tupelo, Miss.
Sovini Tan
Researcher/Coder
Sovini Tan is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of New South Wales's School of English, Media and Performing Arts. She has also earned an MSc in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Nancy Vogt
Researcher/Coder
Nancy Vogt has degrees in Anthropology from American University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Previously, she worked and volunteered with the U.S. Committee for Refugees, the Indonesia Project of Peace Brigades International, and the Humane Society of the United States.
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