TOM ROSENSTIEL

Director

Tom Rosenstiel designed the Project for Excellence in Journalism and directs its activities. He also serves as vice chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, an initiative engaged in conducting a national conversation among journalists about standards and values. From 1997 to 2006, he also functioned as executive director in charge of the daily operation of CCJ, which was then also administered by PEJ. A journalist for more than 20 years, he is a former media critic for the Los Angeles Times and chief congressional correspondent for Newsweek magazine. He is the editor and principal author of PEJ’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 content analysis reports on the performance of the press. Rosenstiel is also co-author of the CCJ's "Traveling Curriculum," an ongoing education program that since 2001 has trained more than 6,000 journalists in print, TV and online newsrooms nationwide. Among his books, he is the author with Bill Kovach of The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect (Crown 2001), winner of the 2002 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" is a required text in virtually every journalism school in the country and has been translated into more than 23 languages. A new edition of Elements was published in April 2007. 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) will be 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.

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 MITCHELL

Deputy Director

Amy S. Mitchell is Deputy Director for the Project for Excellence in Journalism. She is involved in all aspects of the PEJ, with a primary focus is designing, managing and writing the Project’s in-depth research reports. This includes the Annual Report on the State of the News Media and other more specific studies such as coverage of various election cycles and of major news stories like the war in Iraq. Ms. Mitchell has been with the Project since its inception in 1997. Prior to this occupation, 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.

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

CherylElzey manages PEJ’s office in Washington, tracksthe finances, and supports the Director and Deputy Director. Cheryl has worked in the news industry forthe past 20 years in both the news and business sides. She comes to us from TheWashington Post and prior to them the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, NY.She is a graduate of the University of Albany State University of New York in Albany, NY and Monroe Community Collegein Rochester, NY.

PAUL HITLIN

Content Supervisor

Paul Hitlin assists with the design and implementation of content analysis Research for PEJ and supervises the content coding operations. He earned an M.A. from Georgetown University's Communication, Culture, and Technology program where his thesis was an analysis of television political pundits. Previously, he has done work for the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, and the Center for Media and Public Affairs. Paul is also a graduate of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.

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.

Banu Akdenizli

Index Methodologist

Banu Akdenizli earned her Ph.D. in Mass Media and Communication from Temple University, Philadelphia. Her first book, "Toward a Healthier Understanding of Internet Policy Development: The Case of Turkey" is published by VDM Verlag Dr. Muller. Previously she taught briefly at George Mason University and Temple University. She also was a writer for the Turkish edition of the Cosmopolitan Magazine and a radio producer for TRT (Turkish Radio and Television) in Turkey. Banu has a BA in Sociology and an MA in Translation Studies from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Russ Tisinger

Research Associate

Russ came to the Project from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, where he studied the influence of the media on political attitudes. His research addressed the effectiveness of web-based political information, the power dynamic between the press and the executive branch, patterns of media choice among evangelical Christians, and the influence of popular televised fiction on political attitudes and opinion. Before pursuing his Ph.D. at Annenberg, Russ covered the budget process and judiciary issues for Congressional Quarterly magazine, was a senior writer to the Center for Public Integrity’s 2000 book, The Buying of the President, and covered the 2000 presidential campaign for the online magazine Speakout.com. Directly before coming to the Project he worked as a pollster for ICR, a polling firm outside of Philadelphia, PA. He earned his B.A. in political science from Davidson College in North Carolina.

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.

Erica Feldherr

Research Analyst

Erica recently moved to Washington, DC after completing a Fulbright Fellowship in Nicaragua studying women throughout civil society and their political participation. A native New Yorker, she graduated from Pace University with a degree in Political Science, and is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree in Public Administration at the George Washington University.

Jesse Holcomb

Research Analyst

Jesse is currently an M.A. candidate at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs. He has also worked for the Fund for Public Interest Research and Sojourners magazine, and holds a B.A. from Gordon College (Wenham, MA).

Kenny Olmstead

Research Analyst

Kenny gradated from Skidmore College in May 2006 with a B.A. inGovernment. He has interned in the government relations office at theSporting Goods Manufacturers Association, been a research assistant ona forthcoming book on the European Union, and has worked in web designat the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Mahvish Shahid Khan

Content & Training Coordinator

Mahvish Khan is a part of PEJ’s content analysis team that works on the Weekly News Index; and she has worked on various other PEJ Reports. 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

Tricia is responsible for overseeing the day to day coding operation. She also writes the weekly number. Tricia graduated from the University of Michigan in April 2006 withdegrees in communications and philosophy. She had previously held an internship with PEJ.

Jeff Beattie

Researcher/Coder

Jeff Beattie is areporter at The Energy Daily, a Washington, D.C.-based tradepublication. He previously worked as an analyst at Washington-basedconsulting firms and non-governmental associations focusing on energyand environmental issues. He holds an M.A. in Applied Economics fromJohns Hopkins Universityand a B.A. in History from the Universityof Pennsylvania.

kevin caldwell

Researcher/Coder

Kevin graduated from Oswego State University in New York with a BA in Communications. Shortly after graduation, he exchanged the long, cold winters of Upstate New York for hot, sticky summers of Washington, DC. After working as a graphic designer and production manager, Kevin recently returned to school to pursue an MA in Communications from The Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC.

Vadim Nikitin

Researcher/Coder

Vadim 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.

Jennifer Pommer

Researcher/Coder

Jenny has an MA in International Relations from Schiller International University in London and a BA in Soviet Area Studies from the University of Maryland. She worked as a researcher and writer on Eurasia and Iran for the Imagery and Mapping Agency of the US Government.

Sovini Tan

Researcher/Coder

Sovini 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 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.