Shorenstein Center announces spring fellows and visiting faculty

The Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), dedicated to exploring the intersection of press, politics, and public policy in theory and practice, recently announced incoming fellows and visiting faculty for the spring of 2009.

“Our fellows and visiting faculty this semester reflect the cutting edge of new media, traditional journalism, and scholarship, and will offer Harvard students a rich resource in multiple dimensions,” said Alex S. Jones, director of the Shorenstein Center.

Fellows and visiting faculty include:

James O’Shea served as editor and executive vice president of the Los Angeles Times from 2006 to 2008. Before that, he spent time at the Chicago Tribune in many different leadership roles, culminating in the position of managing editor from 2001 to 2006. At Harvard, he will examine conflicts between editors and owners of newspapers.

Maralee Schwartz worked for more than two decades as a reporter and editor at The Washington Post. After spending the 2008 fall semester as Visiting Murrow Lecturer of the Practice of Press and Public Policy at HKS, this semester she will research nonprofit journalism.

Mitchell Stephens, a professor of journalism and mass communications at New York University, is the author of “A History of News,” an extended history of journalism that was recognized as a New York Times “Notable Book of the Year.” His research at the center will argue for a proposed change in the priorities of major news organizations providing more informed analysis on major events of the day.

Michael Traugott, a communication studies professor at the University of Michigan, studies the mass media and its impact on American politics. Traugott has consulted with media and news organizations on their coverage of elections, including networks, newspapers, and the Voter News Service. His research will focus on polling and news making from the 2008 campaign.

Nicco Mele, founder and president of the Internet strategy consulting company EchoDitto, will be this semester’s Visiting Murrow Lecturer, teaching a course at HKS on the Internet as a mechanism for communication, with a special emphasis on its use in politics.