A Letter from the President

William James once wrote, “A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” There is no better reason why our democracy needs a truly strong, independent and free press, one that challenges the status quo.

Our need for good journalism—synthesizing and analyzing information, separating the chaff from the wheat, challenging “spin” and providing context for news in an engaging and timely narrative—has never been greater. The Information Revolution is swamping us with megabytes of undigested information. Globalization has increased the interdependence and interlocking relationships of the world’s economies, cultures, conflicts and religions. And September 11th made it clear that our democracy’s security and health depend to a large degree on a free press that provides thought-provoking, worldwide coverage—and, thus, deters us from merely rearranging our parochial prejudices. The media, for example, has done much in the last year to shatter the stereotype of Islam as a monolithic, anti-Western religion. In-depth reporting has shed light on the complexities and divisions among Muslim nations as well as explaining to Americans that we need not look far to learn more about Islam, for Islam is this country’s fastest growing religion.

To discuss the state of America’s free press, last June, Carnegie Corporation of New York held a forum (see pg. 40) and invited a number of prominent journalists, publishers, news executives and deans of journalism and communications schools to share ideas on how to strengthen the journalism profession. Judy Woodruff, CNN’s anchor and Corporation trustee, said, “I know I speak for my fellow board members at the Corporation when I say that there is wholehearted, enthusiastic support for a look at American journalism at a time when we depend on journalism more than ever, and when we can be lifted up by it—as we were on 9/11 and in the aftermath—and, just as easily, be let down by it.” She opened the discussion by raising a number of important questions, including the following:

• With publicly traded companies now owning media outlets, does the bottom line dictate news coverage?

• Are journalists sitting at the table when business decisions about news coverage are being made by corporate executives?

• Is news coverage, and especially international news coverage, which increased in quality and quantity after September 11th, gradually reverting to prior norms?

• Is a thoughtful, deliberative discussion of important issues—like President Bush’s doctrine on pre-emptive strikes—possible in today’s environment of “24-hour news/political spin”?

• Why is diversity in the newsroom so difficult to achieve?

• Never before have journalists been as well-educated, but does the news business allow them to live up to their potential?
Journalists have served the nation well, as have many courageous publishers who put the national interest above their own parochial ones. Today, it is apparent that journalism is straining under increasing pressures—corporate, educational, societal and socioeconomic—and it is equally apparent thay it is in our democracy’s interest to confront these challenges and help solve as many as possible. Journalists, after all, are America’s eyes and ears and often the voice of its conscience. As Arthur Miller once wrote, “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.”

Contributing to the national dialogue about issues of importance to our country and our society is one aspect of the Corporation’s mission that we consider vital, even when, as is the case with journalism, we do not have a program focusing on a particular area of concern. The programs that are currently central to the Corporation’s work—the need to educate our citizens, to strengthen our democracy, to aid international development and to better understand ethnic conflict and face the dangers of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction—are those we have dedicated our resources to for the five years that I have served as president. Last year, after September 11th, we did ask ourselves, as did many Americans, whether the directions we were pursuing were clear enough, our work relevant enough, our efforts strong enough to help make sense of a world that had suddenly become infinitely more complex and confusing. What we decided, after much soul-searching, was that the challenges we try to address as a foundation are deeply intertwined with the life of our nation and our country’s role in the world, and it was necessary to keep on course, to rededicate ourselves to the goals we had set for ourselves and for the Corporation.

This belief in long-term aspirations is reflected even in the management of our endowment. When Andrew Carnegie established Carnegie Corporation of New York in 1911, he wrote to his trustees that his chief happiness was the thought that “even after I pass away the wealth that came to me to administer as a sacred trust for the good of my fellowmen is to continue to benefit humanity for generations untold.” Though our economy has gone through troubling fluctuations over the past months, as we move through the fall and into another year, we are confident that our investment strategy for both our programs and our endowment is sound. We are pleased that our strategies will enable us to continue to support our grantees at the same level as we did in our last fiscal year.

Overall, we are following the course that Carnegie set for us: to be steady, to be thoughtful, and to go the distance. After nearly a century of philanthropic work, that seems to be a philosophy we can steer by, no matter what changes lie ahead.

Vartan Gregorian
President

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