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2009 Knight Lecture: Ellen Weiss
Head of National Public Radio news to give Knight Lecture
Ellen Weiss, senior vice president for news for National Public Radio, will give the 21st Knight Lecture in May. As senior vice president, Weiss holds NPR's top management news position. In this role, Weiss oversees NPR's worldwide journalism operations, including 19 domestic and 17 foreign bureaus; more than 400 staff members; more than 40 hours of news programming weekly, and NPR's award-winning investigations, long-form series and other special reporting. The title of her talk is "Worst of Times, Best of Times: NPR in the 21st Century." The talk will be given at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14, in Kresge Auditorium. It is free and open to the public. The lecture is sponsored by the John S. Knight Fellowships for Professional Journalists. Weiss moved into her current position in 2007. For 12 years, she was executive producer of the daily NPR News magazine, "All Things Considered." She was responsible for its broadcasts from around the U.S. and the world - including Berlin during the fall of communism, San Francisco after the 1989 earthquake, L.A. in the midst of the 1992 riots and Jerusalem during the 1996 elections. Weiss has also served as a senior producer, editor, field producer and director at NPR News since joining the network in 1982. From 2001 to 2006, she was Senior Editor of the National Desk, managing 80 reporters, editors and producers covering all national issues including politics, business, religion, education, immigration, police and prisons. She oversaw coverage of major national events: among them, NPR News' critically-acclaimed work covering 9/11, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the 2002 and 2004 elections. Weiss also edited many of NPR News' investigations including Daniel Zwerdling's award-winning coverage of the use of dogs in detention centers, Carrie Kahn's report on mercy killings at New Orleans hospitals during Hurricane Katrina and John McChesney's investigation into the final hours of the only Abu Ghraib detainee whose death was ruled a homicide. She has been part of the NPR News teams that have received such honors as Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, George Foster Peabody Awards, Investigative Reporters and Editors Awards, Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards, Overseas Press Club Awards and American Women in Radio and Television Awards. Weiss is a graduate of Smith College with a B.A. in international relations. She and her family live in Washington, D.C. The Knight Fellowships program brings outstanding mid-career journalists, 12 from the U.S. and nine from other countries, to study at Stanford for an academic year. It has sponsored an annual lecture since 1988. James Bettinger is director of the Knight Fellowships, and Dawn Garcia is deputy director. |
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