Friday, July 13, 2001

Media contact:
Donna Fowler, 703/284-2887

Freedom Forum names 3 Journalism Teachers of the Year

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Freedom Forum today announced its Journalism Teachers of the Year awards, honoring three professors for outstanding teaching and leadership in journalism instruction. Each honoree will receive a medal and $10,000 at an awards luncheon on Sunday, Aug. 5, at the convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) in Washington, D.C.

"Young journalists are fortunate to have gifted teachers like these as inspiration," said Charles L. Overby, chairman and chief executive officer of The Freedom Forum. "The Freedom Forum is proud to honor them."

All three winners are former or current journalists and veteran teachers. They are:

  • Jean Folkerts, professor and director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The first female student reporter to cover the Vietnam War, Folkerts has worked in and around the news media for her entire career. She was a reporter for several years at the Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal and an assistant press secretary to the governor of Kansas in the late 1970s. Afterward, Folkerts turned to teaching journalism at universities in Kansas, Texas and Washington, D.C. She has served on the editorial boards of several media-related journals and has received many professional grants.

    "Students need solid knowledge of the history of the profession and an understanding that being a journalist in an open society is a great privilege," Folkerts said. "This knowledge should guard against arrogance, a characteristic I warn students against because I consider it a great danger to the profession itself."

  • Frederick R. Blevens, associate professor of the department of mass communication at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos. Blevens was simultaneously a teacher and a journalist until 1995, when he began teaching full time. His journalism career included working for Missouri Magazine, the Houston Chronicle, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the San Antonio Light. He has taught at several universities, including Texas A&M, the University of Missouri, San Antonio College and Ball State University. Blevens has won many academic honors and awards and was a 2000 fellow for the Institute for Journalism Excellence at the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

    "I try to encourage students to think deeply and move their work in new directions," Blevens said. "Getting some of the story is not acceptable; getting most of the story is the daily responsibility; getting all is the personal goal."

  • A.J. "Jack" Langguth, professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Langguth has taught journalism for more than 40 years. His journalism career including reporting for The New York Times on a number of historic events, including the civil rights movement, the aftermath of the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Vietnam War. He also was a political correspondent at the Valley Times in San Fernando Valley, Calif., during the 1960 presidential election.

    "I tell students to write each story as though the people involved are watching over their shoulder," Langguth said. "Reporters have immense capacity to wound feelings and destroy reputations, and they must wield their power responsibly."

    The awards recognize excellence in teaching and leadership in the core areas of print and broadcast journalism: reporting, editing, journalism history, media law and ethics. The awardees are selected from nominations submitted to The Freedom Forum by journalism-school administrators, alumni and students across the country. This is the fifth year the awards have been presented.