History of the National Journalism Center

Robert Novak always took time for NJC students.

“To any follower of the media, it is obvious that sensationalism rather than facts dominates news coverage today. Some institutions, thankfully, are working against that trend. One of the most renowned is the National Journalism Center.”

Robert Novak
Syndicated Columnist and Author

Founded by M. Stanton Evans, more than 1,600 alumni have graduated from NJC’s 12-week training sessions. We estimate some 900 of these work in media and media-related positions at organizations such as The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, C-SPAN, Time, Newsweek, New Yorker, Harper’s, Esquire, National Geographic, Readers’ Digest, Wired, George, Details, Stuff, Forbes, AP, UPI, Dow Jones Newswire, Bloomberg News Service, Copley News Service, Knight Ridder News Service, and hundreds more. In addition, NJC alumni have written more than 100 books among them, many of which developed from projects at the NJC.

One reason NJCers do well in the outside world is the rigorous training they receive while in the program. This combines hands-on experience at more than four dozen cooperating media locations with in-depth reporting of key topics at the direction of our editors. NJC stresses not only the technical skills of journalism but the understanding of the issues reported on in today’s media. To this end, the NJC sponsors a series of seminars and workshops in writing, research, economics, current events, and the media, all of which are essential to becoming an informed and responsible reporter.

Interns at the NJC also hear numerous speakers from the world of public policy and the media -- many of the latter themselves alumni of the program. As in all other facets of our training, the focus in these discussions is on the practice of the trade, not academic theory. Past speakers included Paul Mirengoff of the Powerline blog , economist Dr. Walter Williams, syndicated columnists Robert Novak, Washington Examiner’s Mark Tapscott, and a number of NJC alumni that are working at outlets including CNN, Fox News, and Human Events.

Our hope is to have still greater impact in the future. In 2001, NJC became a project of Young America’s Foundation and celebrated its 30th anniversary in late 2007. The National Journalism Center hosted its largest class ever--40 interns--during the summer 2008 session. If you would like to become a part of this esteemed program, we encourage you to get in touch.