Tag Archives: journalism

Understanding the Islamic State: A Medill NSJI Event

WASHINGTON – The Medill National Security Journalism Initiative will host “Understanding the Islamic State,” a lunch and panel discussion featuring National War College Professors of Strategy & Policy Dr. Omer Taspinar and Dr. Richard B. Andres, at the National Press Club on Monday, April 6 at 12:15 p.m.

The event is aimed at increasing the media’s knowledge of the Islamic State terrorist group. Taspinar is a leading expert on Islamic radicalization and the author of two books: “Political Islam and Kurdish Nationalism in Turkey” and “Fighting Radicalism with Human Development: Education, Employment, and Freedom in the Islamic World.” Andres is a former Defense Department official who specialized in defense planning, especially related to Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr. Andres is also a leading thinker on the role of cyber across the national security realm.

The February story of four teenage girls leaving Britain to join the Islamic State in Syria caught the world unaware but they were not unique. Young men and women have been joining ISIS, apparently after significant exposure to its message on social media. Andres and Taspinar are experts who will help the audience understand how this is developing. They will focus on how the Islamic radical movement in 2015 is using technology to appeal to youth to uproot themselves from relatively secure environments to join a radical movement in a distant land full of conflict.

Lunch will be served, but reservations are required.

The Medill National Security Journalism Initiative, begun in January 2009 with the support of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, offers a sequence of courses that equip graduate and
undergraduate journalism students with the knowledge and skills to report on national security issues, undertakes an annual student investigative project with a media partner and sponsors an annual conference for journalists featuring briefings on the most pressing national security issues. It also provides training and background materials on nationalsecurityzone.org as well as webinars for working reporters around the country.

The National War College, founded in 1946, educates future leaders of the armed forces, State Department and other civilian agencies for high-level policy, command and staff responsibilities. The national security policy curriculum emphasizes the joint, interagency, and the multinational perspectives. NWC is located on Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington.

TO RSVP OR FOR QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT TIFFANY K. ROBERTS BY PHONE AT (202) 661-0107 OR VIA EMAIL AT TIFFANY.ROBERTS@NORTHWESTERN.EDU.

Medill National Security Journalism Initiative goes global

GIJN_band_logo_largeWASHINGTON — The Medill National Security Journalism Initiative has been elected to membership in the Global Investigative Journalism Network, an international association of nonprofit organizations that support, promote, and produce accountability and watchdog reporting.

The vote on March 2 means the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative is now part of the GIJN efforts to foster investigative journalism through training, conferences and other resources.

The National Security Journalism Initiative’s membership will provide Medill students with the opportunity to participate in collaborative international projects with fellow GIJN organizations, as well as give students and faculty access to an unprecedented network of global reporting contacts and resources.

“I’ve been watching GIJN’s rapid global growth and the excellent work of its many member organizations since it was first established, and in recent years it has become increasingly clear that it is one of the most important players in the world of international investigative reporting,” said Josh Meyer, the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative’s director of education and outreach, who first reached out to GIJN last year. “We’re honored and humbled to be accepted as one of its members.”

The 2015 cohort of inductees extends GIJN’s reach to include 114 reporting groups in 53 countries, according to its announcement. Other prominent GIJN members include the Center for Investigative Reporting, the Center for Public Integrity and the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.

“It’s an honor and a great opportunity for Medill to be part of the Global Investigative Journalism Network,” said Ellen Shearer, co-director of the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative and William F. Thomas Professor of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University. “We look forward to participating in the network of great journalists.”

To learn more about the Global Investigative Journalism Network’s work in support of investigative journalists around the world, visit http://gijn.org/.

For more information about the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative, visit http://www.nationalsecurityzone.org.