Media Retreat

The Center held an annual retreat for members of the print and broadcast media from 2002 through 2018. The retreat brought reporters, editors and producers together with speakers for an intense four-day seminar on policy issues. This intense, interactive seminar examined the role that numbers, statistics, and data analysis play in news, public policy, and politics.

Media Retreat Past Attendees

2018

Kimberly Atkins, Boston Harold

Nick Baumann, Huffington Post

Lisa Brown, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Taylor Kate Brown, BBC

Tim Craig, Washington Post

Craig Gilbert, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Maureen Groppe, Gannett Co.

Alex Hannaford, Independent Journalist

Sahil Kapur, Bloomberg Politics

Alison Kodjak, NPR

Viveca Novak, McClatchy

Chris O’Donnell, Tampa Bay Times

Molly Olmstead, Slate

Dan Rivero, WLRN

Maryam Saleh, The Intercept

Aaron Gould Sheinin, WebMD

Nicquel Terry, Detroit News

Harriet Torry, Wall Street Journal

Ben Wieder, McClatchy

 

2017

Jacob Barker, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Thomas Burr, Salt Lake Tribune

Sylvia Davis, WebMD

Linda Gasparello, White House Chronicle-PBS

Dan Gorenstein, Marketplace

Ryan Grim, The Intercept

Maddie Hanna, Philadelphia Inquirer

John Harwood, CNBC

Laura Juncadella, Fusion

Llewellyn King, White House Chronicles

Ed Krayewski, Reason Magazin

Stuart Leavenworth, McClatchy Newspapers

Jessica Lussenhop, BBC

Christine MacDonald, Detroit News

Jason Noble, Des Moines Register

Osita Nwanevu, Slate

Rachana Pradhan, Politico Pro

Howard Schneider, Thompson Reuters

Jeffrey Sparshott, Wall Street Journal

David Wahlberg, Madison Daily Journal

Ben Walsh, Huffington Post

 

2016

Rachel Abrams, New York Times

Gilbert Bailon, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Jonathan Fischer, Slate

Ronald Hansen, Arizona Republic

Ashley Hayes, WebMD

E. Tammy Kim, The New Yorker

Cora Lewis, Buzzfeed

Eric Morath, Wall Street Journal

Nicholas Nehamas, Miami Herald

Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today

Ely Portillo, Charlotte Observer

Jason Rosenbaum, St. Louis Public Radio

Gardner Selby, Austin-American-Statesman

Kate Sheppard, Huffington Post

Robby Soave, Reason

Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun Times

Marisa Taylor, McClatchy Newspapers

Dan Vock, Governing Magazine

Alex Wayne, Bloomberg Business News

Anthony Zurcher, BBC

 

2015

Emily Badger, Washington Post

Mark Binker, WRAL

Patti Cohen, New York Times

Ariel Edwards-Levy, Huffington Post

Ambar Espinoza, Rhode Island Public Radio

Liz Farmer, Governing Magazine

Jason Huffman, Politico

Don Lee, Los Angeles Times

Thomas Lee, San Francisco Chronicle

Ben Leubsdorf, Wall Street Journal

Shirley Leung, Boston Globe

Emerald Morrow, WTSP

Casey Nolen, KSDK

Deon Roberts, Charlotte Observer

William Saletan, Slate

Stephanie Slade, Reason

Franz Strasser, BBC

Kirsten Tagami, WebMD

 

2014

Mark Binker, WRAL TV-Raleigh

Karen Bouffard, Detroit News

Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Reason Magazine

Aaron Bycoffe, Huffington Post

Neal Carruth, NPR News

Jeff Day, Bloomberg BNA

Moira Herbst, BusinessWeek

Lou Jacobson, Tampa Bay Times

Rebecca Kessler, Science and Environmental Journalist

Asma Khalid, WBUR – Boston’s NPR Station

Lothar Krause, TIME.com

Karen Langley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Ignazio Messina, The Toledo Blade

Jon Mintz, WebMD

Hilary Powell, Lakeshore Media (Northwest Indiana Public Broadcasting)

Sudeep Reddy, Wall Street Journal

Rick Rothacker, Charlotte Observer

Dionne Searcey, New York Times

Alana Semuels, Los Angeles Times

Nirvi Shah, POLITICOPro

Matthew Small, Associated Press Radio

Lam Thuy Vo, Al Jazeera America

J. B. Wogan, Governing Magazine

 

2013

Alexander Ames, Charlotte Observer

Rob Booth, Moyers

Zoe Chace, NPR

Ben Casselman, Wall Street Journal

Tim Cavanaugh, Reason Magazine

Niraj Chokshi, National Journal

Emily Drew, CCTV

Tom Fitzgerald, Philadelphia Inquirer

Garrance Franke-Ruta, Atlantic

Kate Giammarise, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Moira Herbst, Business Week

Marty Kady, POLITICAL PRO

Chris Mihill, KMOX

Dawn Needham, Detroit News

Joseph Neff, News & Observer

David Nicklaus, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Mike Ricci, STOSSEL

Nelson Schwartz, New York Times

Emily Swanson, Huffington Post

Sean Swint, WebMD

Lindsay Wise, McLatchy Newspapers

 

2012

Ron Bailey, Reason Magazine

John Barth, PRX – Public Radio Exchange

Valarie Basheda, WebMD

Melissa Burden, The Detroit News

Doris Burke, Fortune Magazine

Esther Cepeda, Washington Post Writers Group

Kenneth Cooper, Independent Journalist

Marilyn Geewax, NPR

Donald Gilliland, The Patriot-News

Zachary Goldfarb, The Washington Post

Adam Goodman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Ryan Grim, The Huffington Post

Louis Jacobson, Tampa Bay Times

Lori Montgomery, The Washington Post

Joe Neff, The News & Observer

Curt Nickisch, WBUR – Boston’s NPR News Station

Franco Ordoñez, McClatchy Newspapers,

Tinker Ready, Freelance Health & Science Writer

Patrick Reis, Politico

Katy Steinmetz, TIME Magazine

Amy Worden, The Philadelphia Inquirer

 

2011

Janet Adamy, Wall Street Journal

Pamela Babcock, Freelance Writer

Jayhree Bajoria, Council on Foreign Relations

Wayne Barrett, USA Today Magazine

Annie Baxter, Minnesota Public Radio

Graham Brink, St. Petersburg Times

Collin Campbell, Freakonomics

Christina Rogers, Detroit News

Dave Denison, Freelance Writer

Kevin Hall, McClatchy Newspapers

Michael Kanell, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

David Lieberman, USA Today

Bill Mahoney, Radio Journalist

Lori Montgomery, Washington Post

Arnie Robbins, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Allison Silver, Politico

Gita Sitaramiah, St. Paul Pioneer Press

Peter Suderman, Reason Magazine

Amanda Terkel, The Huffington Post

Troy Thibokeaux, AP

Shawna Thomas, NBC

Kirsten Valle Pittman, Charlotte Observer

David Whitford, Fortune

Sarah Wildman, Freelance Writer

 

 

2010

Nancy Albitton, Associated Press

Charis Anderson, The Standard Times

Erika Bolstad, McClatchy Newspapers

Becky Bowers, St. Petersburgh Times

David Brancaccio, NOW on PBS

Kate Brannen, Defense News

Miranda Hitti, WebMD

Erica Johnston, Washington Post

Kim Kozlowski, Detroit News

Claude Marx, Credit Union Times

John Perry, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Shawna Thomas, NBC News

Patrick Scott, Charlotte Observer

Becky Solakian, KPLR/KTVI

Dustin Stephens, Fox News Channel

Bara Vaida, National Journal

Andrea Walker, Baltimore Sun

Jesse Walker, Reason Magazine

Roya Wolverson, Council on Foreign Relations

 

2009

Halimah Abdullah, McClatchy Newspapers

Valarie Basheda, Features

Sue Davis, Wall Street Journal

John Derbyshire, NRO

Brian Gaffney, Fox News

Marc Gunter, Fortune

David Gura, National Public Radio

Monica Hatcher, Miami Herald

Jeremy Hobson, American Public Media

Toni Johnson, Council on Foreign Relations

Stacy Kaper, American Banker

Rona Kobell, Environmental Freelance

Steve Lewis, CNBC Washington

Katherine Mangu-Ward, Reason Magazine

Catherine Rampell, New York Times

Christina Rexrode, Charlotte Observer

Derek Thompson, The Atlantic

Kirk Victor, National Journal

Heather Vogell, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Jon Wolman, Detroit News

 

2008

Nancy C. Albritton, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Jonathan Allen, Congressional Quarterly

Mark Bentley, Fox News

Autumn Brewington, Washington Post

Bay Fang, Chicago Tribune

Kris Frieswick, Freelance

Kevin Hall, McClatchy Newspapers

Christopher Lee, Washington Post

Joan McGrath, Council on Foreign Relations

Patrick McMenamin, ABC News

Susan Lund, NPR

Laura Petrecca, USA Today

Alisa Roth, Marketplace

George Russell, Fox News

Bill Salisbury, St. Paul Pioneer Press

Steven Sloan, American Banker

Niall Stanage, Freelance

Amy Worden, Philadelphia Inquirer

 

2007

Julie Appleby, USA Today

Harold Brubaker, Philadelphia Inquirer

Dan Collins, CBS

Bennie Dinardo, Boston Globe

Danielle Dreilinger, Freelance

Mary-Jo Feldstein, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Roger Fortuna, Good Morning America

Alison Grant, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Dana Greenspon, Nightly Business Report

Jennifer Haley, CNN

Cheyenne Hopkins, American Banker

Catherine Kim, CBS Evening News

Bob Moon, Marketplace

Michelle Peltier, CBS Evening News

Jeremy Peters, New York Times

Stacy Shelton, Atlanta Journal Constitution

Nitya Venkataraman, ABC

Mark Whitehouse, Wall Street Journal

 

2006

Paul Adams, Baltimore Sun

Nancy Albritton, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Vikas Bajaj, New York Times

Penny Britell, CSB News

Christie Bertelson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Nils Bruzelius, Washington Post

Arian Campo-Flores, Newsweek

Mary Carmichael, National Public Radio/Newsweek

Andrea Coombes, MarketWatch, from Dow Jones

Geoff Earle, New York Post

Frederic Frommer, Associated Press

Stephanie Genkin, CNN

Frank James, Chicago Tribune

Colleen King, MSNBC

Sue Kirchhoff, USA Today

Laura Meckler, Wall Street Journal

Quinn O’Toole, National Public Radio

Derek Rose, New York Daily News

Jack Speer, National Public Radio

Neil Swidey, Boston Globe

Anissa Wells, CNN

Robin Wood, CBS

 

2005

Martha Bebinger, WBUR

Lionel Beehner, Council on Foreign Relations

Louise Branson, USA Today

Lisa Chow, National Public Radio

Daniel Cusick, Greenwire

Jason Dorn, Chicago Tribune

Bob Fernandez, Philadelphia Inquirer

Patty Hartwell, Independent Producer

Bob Hillman, Dallas Morning News

Lori Knight, 60 Minutes

David LaGesse, U.S. News & World Report

Bill McClellan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Terry Neal, Washingtonpost.com

Stephanie Palewski-Brumbach, 60 Minutes

Jodi Schneider, Congressional Quarterly

Ellen Silva, National Public Radio

Evelyn Thomas, CBS News

Amy Walter, Cook Political Report

Jill Zuckman, Chicago Tribune

 

2004

Chris Arnold, NPR

Penny Britell, CBS

Diane Connolly, Religion Link: Resources for Reports

Ceci Connolly, Washington Post

Jennifer Dixon, Detroit Free Press

Kevin Enochs, CNN

Dar Haddix,  UPI

Fawn Johnson, Bureau of National Affairs

Jeffrey Katz, NPR

Deborah Lagomarsino, Dow Jones Newswires

Kevin McDermott, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Jennifer Meerow, CBS

Natalie Pawelski, Freelance

Erik Stokstad, Science

Peter Thomson, Freelance

Debbie Van Tassel, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Odile Weissenborn, CNN

 

2003

Beth Belton, Business Week

Uri Berliner, National Public Radio

Kathy Best, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Gena Binkley, ABC News

Charlie Brennan, KMOX

Jennifer Cohen, ABC News

Johanna Conterio, New York Sun

Jack Date, CNN

Melissa Harmon, Nightly Business Report

Marika Lynch, Miami Herald

T.K. Maloy, UPI

John Merline, USA Today

Kathy Schalch, National Public Radio

Wendy Wolfson, Freelance science writer

Gabrielle Zuckerman , Minnesota Public Radio

 

2002

Ellen Beck, UPI

Robert Braile, Institutes for Journalism & Natural Resources

Les Cook, NPR

Dan Freedman, Hearst Newspapers

William Freivogel, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Jessica Harbour, Economist.com

Charles Jaco, KMOX (CBS Radio)

Joanne Jacobs, Freelance Writer

Sasha Johnson, CNN

Jessica Kaplan, WTTW-TV (PBS)

Samantha Levine, US News & World Report

Steven Litt, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Bellamy Pailthorp, KPLU (NPR)

Byron Pitts, CBS News

Dylan Rivera, The Oregonian

Lloyd Sachs, Chicago Sun-Times

John Yang, ABC News

Holly Yeager, Financial Times

 

The Weidenbaum Center Award for Evidence-Based Journalism

The Weidenbaum Center Award for Evidence-Based Journalism was initiated at the 2010 Media Retreat and awarded each following year. The award recognized a past participant whose work represented quality journalism on economics, business, and government and reflected the sophisticated use of research, number, and statistics.

 

Below is a list of the past award winners: 

 

2010: Catherine Rampell, New York Times. Rampell served as the Economics Editor at nytimes.com and the editor of the Times’s Economix blog. Before joining the Times, Rampell wrote for the financial section of The Chronicle of Higher Education and for the Washington Post editorial pages.

 

2011: Kevin G. Hall, McClatchy Newspapers. Hall has been the national economics correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers since January 2005. Prior to that, Hall worked as Knight Ridder’s Brazil-based Latin America bureau chief. During the 1990’s, Hall covered international trade from Los Angeles, Mexico City and Miami for the Journal of Commerce.

 

2012: Lori Montgomery, The Washington Post, and Valarie Basheda, WebMD. Montgomery was selected for “Reporting” and Basheda was selected for “Content Development.” Montgomery has been a reporter for The Washington Post since 2000. She covers U.S economic policy and the federal budget, focusing on efforts to tame the national debt. She has written extensively on about every major piece of legislation to pass Congress since 2008.

 

Basheda served as Managing Editor for news and content for WebMD and is responsible for assigning news and other content for the website. Previously, she worked at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as an editor for their award-winning Living section, a metro online editor, and a front-page editor.

 

2013: Joseph Neff¸ The News & Observer. Neff served as an investigative reporter at The News & Observer. His award submission was part of a five-part joint project investigation how North Carolina’s major nonprofit hospitals generate large profits and contribute to the high cost of health care.

 

2014: Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact and Tampa Bay Times. Jacobson is a senior writer for PolitiFact and the Tampa Bay Times. His publication, PolitiFact, is a fact-checking website based on original sources and first-generation, skeptical inquiry. Jacobson’s reporting often focuses on important claims about numbers and statistics that make the news, the accuracy of the use of those numbers and statistics, and the proper context for interpreting numbers and statistics.

 

2015: Mark Binker, WRAL-TV (North Carolina). Binker was a multimedia investigative reporter for WRAL-TV. His submissions illustrated how the Center’s 2014 Media Retreat contributed to his focus on interrogating numbers and how sources come into play. Binker has been recognized by The Washington Post as one of the best state capitol reporters in America. Sadly, Binker passed away in 2017.

 

2016: Michael Fletcher, ESPN. Fletcher won for his Washington Post articles dealing with the housing crash and subsequent recession and their devastating effect on Americas-especially African-Americans. Fletcher joined the staff of “The Undefeated,” ESPN’s site that provides in-depth reporting, commentary and insight on race and culture through the lens of sports in early 2016. Previously, he spent 21 years with The Washington Post.

 

2017: Neil Swidey, Boston Globe Magazine. Swidey, a staff writer for the Boston Globe Magazine, won for his writing on the student debt crisis. His piece was titled, “Hopes, Dreams, Debt.” His most recent book, Trapped Under the Sea, was a No. 1 Boston Globe bestseller. 

 

2018: Ben Leubsdorf, Wall Street Journal, covered the U.S. Economy. He won for five articles he wrote on looking at economic growth and how the U.S. might find lessons north of the border about helping women succeed in the workplace. He specifically referenced the 1980 Mariel boatlift as a critical talking point for both immigration advocates and skeptics.