Seminar to Help Journalists 2006 Press Release [PDF]
Center on Congress Offers Seminar to Help Journalists Inform Citizens About the Federal
Budget Process
BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Feb. 1, 2006 — To encourage the media to pay more attention to the federal budget's impact on every American, the Center on Congress has brought together prominent experts to explain the complicated budget process to journalists, and to give reporters tips on producing stories that will help citizens see how spending and taxing decisions in Washington, D.C., affect local communities.
"Our representative democracy cannot function well unless Americans understand what's happening in Washington with their money," said Lee Hamilton, Director of the Center on Congress.
The Center partnered with the National Press Foundation and the Regional Reporters Association to host a half-day seminar, "Covering the Federal Budget," in Washington on Jan. 23. The seminar drew a capacity crowd of journalists, and to share the information with a broader audience, the Center has posted video of the seminar presentations and Q & A sessions below.
Please note that the videos below are large files and require a broadband connection.
 Part One
Center Director Hamilton opens the seminar with an admonition that "the legislative branch should play a more active role in shaping the budget, rather than ceding so much influence to the executive branch." He says "the Founders would be flabbergasted with the way we operate today. Mindful of "taxation without representation," they were quite explicit in giving Congress, rather than the President, the authority to tax and spend." Now, Hamilton says, "We have become accustomed to the President laying out the agenda for how the federal government ought to raise and spend money." Hamilton issues this challenge: "You in the media have a special responsibility to expose and explain the budget process and other workings of government to a general audience. Why? Because good journalism is at the heart of making democracy work. It can educate the people, help them make better-informed and more discerning judgments."
Part One Videos: [Quicktime] [Windows Media] |
 Part Two
Nolan Walters, Director of Programs for the National Press Foundation and seminar moderator, introduces presentations by two veteran insiders of the budget process on Capitol Hill, Joseph Minarik and Keith Kennedy. Minarik is Senior VP and Director of Research at the Committee for Economic Development, and he is a former top staffer with the House Budget Committee and the Office of Management and Budget. Kennedy is Staff Director for the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Part Two Videos [Quicktime] [Windows Media] |
 Part Three
This segment features a presentation by and audience Q & A with David Rogers, staff reporter in The Wall Street Journal's Washington bureau and probably the media's foremost expert in covering the budget.
Part Three Videos [Quicktime] [Windows Media] |
 Part Four
The final segment focuses on helping reporters get a local angle on the national budget story. Speakers are Samantha Young, President of the Regional Reporters Association and a reporter with Stephens Media; Michael Bird, Senior Federal Affairs Counsel of the National Conference of State Legislatures; and Alysoun McLaughlin, Associate Legislative Director with the National Association of Counties.
The budget seminar is part of the Center's continuing effort to reach out to journalists. In April 2005 in Indianapolis, the Center brought together reporters and editors from around Indiana for a seminar on how to improve the quality of local media coverage of Congress. The National Press Foundation also collaborated with the Center on that seminar.
Part Four Videos [Quicktime] [Windows Media] |
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