The Nieman Foundation for Journalism is the primary journalism institution at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

History

It was founded in February 1938 as the result of a $1.4 million bequest by Agnes Wahl Nieman, the widow of

Lucius W. Nieman Lucius William Nieman (December 13, 1857 – October 1, 1935) was an American businessman and founder of ''The Milwaukee Journal''. Biography Born at Bear Valley in Sauk County, Wisconsin, Lucius's father was Conrad Nieman; and Sara Elizabe ...

, founder of ''

The Milwaukee Journal The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the ...

''. Scholarships were established for journalists with at least three years' experience to go back to college to advance their work. She stated the goal was "to promote and elevate the standards of journalism in the United States and educate persons deemed specially qualified for journalism."

Programs

Nieman Fellows

The Nieman Foundation is best known as home to the Nieman Fellows, a group of journalists from around the world who come to Harvard for a year of study. Many noted journalists, and from 1959, also photojournalists, have been Nieman Fellows, including John Carroll,

Dexter Filkins Dexter Price Filkins (born May 24, 1961) is an American journalist known primarily for his coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for ''The New York Times''. He was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for his dispatches from Afghanistan ...

, Susan Orlean,

Robert Caro Robert Allan Caro (born October 30, 1935) is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson. After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote '' The Power Bro ...

, Hodding Carter,

Michael Kirk Michael Kirk is a documentary filmmaker and the original senior producer of '' Frontline'', PBS' flagship documentary series, from its inception in 1983 until the fall of 1987, when he created his own production company: the Kirk Documentary Gr ...

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American Far-right politics, far-right radio host, radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas. ''The Alex Jones Show'' is the lo ...

Anthony Lewis Joseph Anthony Lewis (March 27, 1927 – March 25, 2013) was an American public intellectual and journalist. He was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and was a columnist for ''The New York Times''. He is credited with creating the field o ...

, Robert Maynard, Allister Sparks, Stanley Forman,

Hedrick Smith Hedrick Smith is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former ''New York Times'' reporter and Emmy award-winning producer and correspondent. After serving 26 years with ''The New York Times'' from 1962-88 as correspondent, editor and bureau chief in both Mos ...

, Lucia Annunziata,

Jonathan Yardley Jonathan Yardley (born October 27, 1939) is an American author and former book critic at ''The Washington Post'' from 1981 to December 2014, and held the same post from 1978 to 1981 at the '' Washington Star''. In 1981, he received the Pulitzer ...

, Philip Meyer,

Howard Sochurek Howard James Sochurek (27 November 1924 – 25 April 1994) was an American photojournalist. Life and career Howard J. Sochurek was born in 1924 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated from Princeton University in 1942 then enlisted on 1 December ...

and Huy Duc. It is considered the most prestigious fellowship program for journalists; Nieman Fellows have collectively won 101

Pulitzer Prizes The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

''Nieman Reports''

The foundation is also the home of ''Nieman Reports'', a website and quarterly print publication on journalism issues. The journal was founded in 1947.

Nieman Watchdog

In 2004, the Foundation launched Nieman Watchdog, a website intended to encourage more aggressive questioning of the powerful by news organizations. In 2012 it became a project of ''Nieman Reports''.

Nieman Journalism Lab

In 2008, the foundation created the Nieman Journalism Lab, an effort to investigate future models that could support quality journalism.

Narrative journalism

For several years, ending in 2009, the foundation sponsored the annual Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism, the largest conference of its kind, which attracted hundreds of writers, filmmakers, and broadcasters to Boston. The narrative program now consists of a writing seminar for Fellows, and a public website, Nieman Storyboard, which covers storytelling across media.

Awards based at Nieman Foundation

Several prestigious literary or journalism awards are based at the Nieman Foundation. They include three given in connection with the Columbia University School of Journalism: * The J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize ($10,000, "recognizes superb examples of nonfiction writing that exemplify literary grace, a commitment to serious research and social concern") * The Mark Lynton History Prize ($10,000, awarded to the "book-length work of history, on any subject, that best combines intellectual or scholarly distinction with felicity of expression") * The J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award ($30,000, "given annually to aid in the completion of a significant work of nonfiction") Other awards based at Nieman include: * The Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Reporting ($20,000, "honors investigative reporting of stories of national significance where the public interest is being ill-served") * The I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence ("to a journalist whose work captures the spirit of independence, integrity, courage, and indefatigability that characterized '' I. F. Stone's Weekly''") * The Louis Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism ("recognizes displays of conscience and integrity by individuals, groups or institutions in communications") * The Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers ($10,000, "recognizes fairness in newspaper reporting")

Curators

The leader of the Nieman Foundation is known as its "curator" — a holdover from a brief moment after Agnes Wahl Nieman's death when her gift was to be used to build a

microfilm A microform is a scaled-down reproduction of a document, typically either photographic film or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original d ...

library of quality journalism. The foundation has appointed eight curators: *

Archibald MacLeish Archibald MacLeish (May 7, 1892 – April 20, 1982) was an American poet and writer, who was associated with the modernist school of poetry. MacLeish studied English at Yale University and law at Harvard University. He enlisted in and saw action ...

, 1938–1939 *

Louis M. Lyons Louis Martin Lyons (September 1, 1897 – April 11, 1982) was an American journalist in Massachusetts and curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Biography Lyons was born in Boston in 1897 and was a graduate of Mass ...

( Nieman Fellow class of 1939), 1939–1964 * Dwight E. Sargent ( Nieman Fellow class of 1951), 1964–1972 * James C. Thomson Jr., 1972–1984 * Howard Simons ( Nieman Fellow class of 1959), 1984–1989 * Bill Kovach ( Nieman Fellow class of 1989), 1989–2000 * Robert H. Giles ( Nieman Fellow class of 1966), 2000 – June 2011 * Ann Marie Lipinski ( Nieman Fellow class of 1990), 2011 –

References

External links

Nieman Foundation

Nieman Journalism Lab

''Nieman Reports''

Nieman Watchdog
{{Authority control Harvard University research institutes 1938 establishments in Massachusetts Educational foundations based in the United States American journalism organizations Organizations established in 1938