News Points

Jon Sawyer, the Pulitzer Center

With the flood of terrific posts to Untold Stories from Pulitzer-backed journalists working in Georgia, Russia, Yemen, Iraq, Vietnam, Guatemala and more, we've also had a flurry of queries about who we are, how we came about, and the mission the Pulitzer Center seeks to serve.

As luck would have it, thanks to our friends at the Global Health Council, we've just acquired a copy of the video above, from a presentation on the Pulitzer Center that I gave to the council's annual media awards luncheon earlier this summer with Annmarie Christensen, the council's director of publications and new media. The presentation is on the Pulitzer Center's YouTube channel, along with dozens of other great Pulitzer videos from around the world, but you can also play it here.

Thanks for your interest -- and for supporting the Pulitzer Center's work!

Jon Sawyer, Pulitzer Center Executive Director

Jon Sawyer, Pulitzer Center

Jon Sawyer, Pulitzer Center

Every summer, the last weekend of July, a hardy band of world-watchers gathers in Black Mountain, N.C., for the Southeastern World Affairs Institute. They've been at it for 55 years and for nearly half that time I've been there too, in recent years as the in-house journalist who gives the closing summary of the talks.

Bethany Whitfield, Special to the Pulitzer Center

"It's hard to talk about, but at least when I talk about it, I get some relief," said Eric Gibson, a Liberian who survived the country's civil war during his youth by living behind rebel lines.

Bethany Whitfield, Special to the Pulitzer Center

At the height of China's crackdown on Tibet a network newscast features one journalist interviewing another, neither on the scene, about a government-sponsored propaganda trip the latter had once taken to Tibet. "Why is this news?" asks Solana Larson of Global Voices. "Why don't they talk to some local people?"

Katie Suter, Georgetown University Class of 2011, Special to the Pulitzer Center

When entering our Justice and Peace Studies class this past January, many of my classmates were excited about the prospect of learning various human rights and social justice theories. However, more than simply teaching us about the academic prospects associated with nonprofit work, Professor Rachel Stohl wanted us to get a hands-on approach to the field of Justice and Peace, starting with participating in the Pulitzer Center's Global Gateway initiative.

Megan Wollerton, American University student, for Pulitzer Center

As students of journalism in the United States, we often hear that our world is shrinking. With overseas bureaus closing by the day in favor of a few individuals who bring new meaning to the word "multi-task", staff positions are surely an endangered species. While our professors are charged with the job of painting a realistic picture for those of us stubbornly forging ahead, it is difficult not to feel overwhelmed.

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and Civitas Associates recently took the Global Gateway program to St. Louis where they engaged hundreds of students in a discussion about Liberian child soldiers.

Freelance reporter Ruthie Ackerman and Pulitzer Center Executive Director Jon Sawyer presented information on the plight of former child soldiers in Liberia and elsewhere in west Africa at seven high schools and one middle school. This Global Gateway: Liberia initiative has sparked discussion among students from many different countries and perspectives.