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To Oslo for Peace
By Anthony Ganzer (2008)

The transformation of sleepy Oslo to fortified Nobel host city was tangible. There was anxiety on the sidewalks as citizens walked carefully by concrete barricades, policemen with machine guns and bomb-sniffing dogs—all in place for the arriving VIPs.  Even manhole covers were welded shut as a security measure—the official sign that a U.S. president is or has been to a city.

Oslo, Norway

The anxiousness on the streets was a mixture of excitement and curiosity for residents and guests alike.  On one hand, stars were descending on Oslo—Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, country-singer Toby Keith, Wyclef Jean, and the soon-to-be Nobel Laureate Barack Obama.  But with the pomp came curious circumstances around President Obama’s award.  Many observers asked what he had done to deserve such a prize for peace, and how the Nobel jury could have been so overwhelmingly wooed by a man who had campaigned longer than he had governed.

Before I arrived in Oslo, my colleagues at Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) asked me to explain why Mr. Obama was nominated.  I was stationed there as a guest journalist through a Robert Bosch Stiftung fellowship, and had been anointed as expert of all things American.  "I don’t know why he would win such a thing," I said perplexed.  "I don’t think he has done much, but I will see what the U.S. press is saying." I thought it was a joke, at first—my colleagues had seen one-too-many episodes of Punk'd and wanted to gauge my reaction, but that was not the case.

In scouring personal and professional sources, I quickly realized my confusion about the award was shared by others.  The Nobel committee had noted Mr. Obama’s efforts on climate change, nuclear proliferation and diplomacy as reasons for their decision. But pundits and papers criticized the Norwegians for cheapening the award, and passing over candidates much more worthy of the prize.  My WDR colleagues pressed me further for answers, and I knew Mr. Obama would have to address the controversy directly in his speech.  I offered to provide live analysis from Oslo, following the acceptance ceremony.  I wanted to be there and experience the President’s answer myself.

Anthony Ganzer in front of the White House

This Nobel ceremony was met with American cynicism and European intrigue alike.  Some journalists took the event as another page in Mr. Obama’s evolving public image and mystique.  People dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Obama with over-sized heads descended on the press room, lending an air of unreality to the prize.  But this was not a campaign rally, and a sitting war-time U.S. president was about to offer context to his undesired, and arguably undeserved, Nobel Peace Prize.

The President’s acceptance speech was a difficult one, which tried to reconcile an award for peace given in a time of struggle and war for much of the Western world. Following the ceremony my colleagues at WDR interviewed me, and I spoke to the American perspective of the President’s award. I tried to explain that the President had to be careful in accepting the Peace Prize—he had to be honest in explaining wants and realities, and that Americans are waiting to see how Mr. Obama’s policies and visions pan out. 

Norwegians, and arguably most Europeans, had split reactions.  On one hand they were eager and proud to bestow their prestigious prize, and share their fresh and welcoming landscapes, with what they thought was a hopeful enigma.  But Mr. Obama could not swoop in and cherish the prize for a job well-done.  He played down the award—cancelling many traditional events and doing only the minimum.   There was no talk of hope and change.  There was no "Yes We Can."

President Barack Obama receives the Nobel Peace Prize

On that day there was just an American president, fighting two wars, trying to manage a financial crisis, while furthering a challenging domestic agenda.  Mr. Obama was raw and honest in his acceptance of the prize, as the realities of a complicated world sat heavily on his shoulders.  And perhaps most surprising of all, he used his speech to justify the use of force in the pursuit of peace.

"Whatever mistakes we have made, the plain fact is this: the United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens, and the strength of our arms," Mr. Obama said.
 
Mr. Obama tried to deny the fanfare, while still representing his ideals and his role as Commander in Chief, and without embarrassing his hosts.  This speech was probably not what the Norwegian royals and Nobel jury members expected, but it was the only way to accept the award.  And with that dose of honesty and reality, the peace prize festivities and Mr. Obama’s 26-hours in Oslo quickly came to a close, while new challenges in Washington beckoned.

Tony Ganzer is currently living in Munich where he works for Westdeutscher Rundfunk as a Robert Bosch Fellow. Previously he worked for NPR affiliate KJZZ 91.5 FM in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Northwest News Network. He has freelanced for numerous news outlets including the BBC, NPR, Public Radio International, Deutsche Welle and others.

Reception in Berlin

Over the first weekend in March, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany, Philip D. Murphy, hosted a reception at his home in Berlin for Burns alumni and 30 finalists for the 2010 fellowship.

Alumni Fred Pleitgen (2005), CNN correspondent just returned from Afghanistan, Christian Meier (2005), and Georg Matthes (2007), Deutsche Welle

Alumni Dr. Inga Michler (2006), Stephan Millies (1995), Elisabeth Pongratz (1999) and Anke Plättner (1993)

Ambassador Phil Murphy addressing the crowd

U.S. alumni Steve Kettmann (1999) and Andrew Curry (2003), both working in Berlin, and a guest

Gerald Corrigan of Goldman Sachs

A crowd of about 100 alumni, trustees, staff and friends gathered for the annual Arthur F. Burns Fellowship alumni dinner at the Ritz Carlton in New York on February 23. They battled a fierce rainstorm to hear keynote speaker E. Gerald Corrigan, a managing director of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and chairman of the firm’s regulated bank subsidiary.

As Burns chairman Frank Loy noted in his introductory remarks, it would be hard to find a more relevant speaker than Mr. Corrigan. Goldman Sachs, which sponsors the annual alumni dinner, has attracted attention from the news media amid the global financial crisis and more recently its alleged role in helping Greece conceal its debt levels to meet euro zone requirements. Corrigan joined Goldman in 1994 after serving nine years as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Damaso Reyes (2007), Nik Deogun, CNBC, John F.W. Rodgers, Goldman Sachs

Corrigan’s remarks at the dinner were off the record. However, on Feb. 22, he became the first executive at Goldman to speak publicly about the swaps arrangement with Greece that reduced the nation’s national debt by $3.2 billion. "[The swaps] did produce a rather small, but nevertheless not insignificant reduction, in Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio," Corrigan told a panel of U.K. lawmakers. The deal was "in conformity with existing rules and procedures."

A lively question-and-answer period followed his remarks. Guests welcomed the timeliness of the speech. "[Corrigan] was cautious when outlining Goldman’s position," said Anne Marie Kelly, a 2000 Burns alumna, now working in Washington, D.C., for Booz Allen Hamilton’s Financial Intelligence group. "That’s understandable considering what’s been in the news."

Moira Herbst (2009), Calvin Sims, Ford Foundation and Gerald Corrigan

Kelly says she attends all Burns events she is able to, including the annual dinners in New York and the receptions at the German ambassador’s residence in Washington to welcome each new class of fellows. "[The gatherings] are rewarding both personally and professionally," says Kelly. "You never know who you’ll come across."

Following the dinner, attendees gathered for a dessert reception. "I’m impressed by how much alumni stay actively involved," said Wolfgang Pordzik, executive vice president for corporate public policy at DHL North America and a Burns trustee. "There’s a palpable sense of enthusiasm here."

Guests lingered for several hours, talking with friends and making new acquaintances. "Allowing journalists to report from another country’s perspective is critically important," said Guido Auen, president of the Intercultural Institute, a New York-based consulting group, following the dinner. "I really support the Burns’ mission."

Moira Herbst is currently a reporter for Bloomberg News and was previously a staff writer for BusinessWeek. She lives in New York City. She spent her fellowship in 2009 at Der Spiegel magazine in Berlin.

You could call it a "post-Copenhagen" climate forum.  In January, a month after the world climate summit in Denmark, a diverse group of nearly 50 journalists, experts and entrepreneurs traveled to Berlin, Hamburg and Copenhagen to discuss climate change, energy and their global economic impact.  Most of us were alumni of transatlantic exchange programs like those sponsored by the Bosch Foundation, the Rias Berlin Commission, the German Marshall Fund and Fulbright Commission.  Four of us were Burns alumni.  We were brought together by the Round Table USA for a week of lectures, tours and discussions with local and national leaders from both the private and public sectors.

Participants of Round Table USA forum on climate change

Many of the environmentalists and politicians we spoke to during the week were disappointed with what was not accomplished at the December summit in Copenhagen.   But while the long sought after global approach to climate change is still evolving, our group saw firsthand some of the innovative steps that individual nations and local communities are taking to promote sustainability.

We started in Berlin where we spent time at the Bundestag with members of Germany’s Foreign Affairs Committee.  We met with Burns alumnus, Dr. Robert von Rimscha, who was recently named Germany’s deputy head of policy planning for the Federal Foreign Office.  Dr. Klaus Töpfer, Former Under Secretary General of the United Nations, talked about the evolution of the environmental movement in Germany. 

Dr. Frank-Dieter Freiling with Burns alumni at Round Table USA forum

A ninety-minute train ride took our group to Hamburg where our discussions, tours and workshops took on a more local bent.  Hamburg, an industrial hub boasting Europe’s second largest port, was recently named the Greenest City in the European Union.  City officials, environmental activists and local business leaders talked with us at length about what it took to win that distinction and what is still on the city’s agenda.  

At our final stop in Copenhagen, we spent our days meeting with the head of the local Chamber of Commerce, the European Environment Agency, members of Greenpeace, and Anders Eldrup, CEO of DONG Energy, Denmark’s largest power producer.  Eldrup explained how Denmark went from almost exclusive dependence on oil in the 1970s, to a renewable energy leader.  He described his company’s large scale investments in off shore wind power, biomass and new ventures with electric cars.  Our group toured one of DONG Energy’s biomass, wind and coal burning power plants for a firsthand look.

Nina Keck in Hamburg

While I found the local experts informative and gracious, the added input from our group made this trip especially memorable.  In addition to the many German and American journalists, there were environmental lawyers, energy policy analysts, engineers, professors, transportation and energy planners, international trade experts and entrepreneurs.  Our group’s diversity, curiosity and expertise sparked some fascinating discussions, and gave the weeklong program a wonderfully nuanced depth. 

My sincere thanks go the staff of the Körber Foundation (a member of the Round Table USA) which handled the logistics of the trip, and to the Burns Fellowship for inviting me to participate.

Nina Keck has worked for Vermont Public Radio since 1996. Previously she worked for the Voice of America and Wisconsin Public Radio. She has won two national Edward R. Murrow Awards for her reporting on VPR.

To read some of the stories that the Burns alumni produced after the trip, please click on the links below:

Alexander Haig, a longtime Burns trustee, passed away Saturday, Feb. 20, at the age of 85. He was a four-star Army general, and served as Secretary of State under President Reagan and White House chief of staff under President Nixon, among other top posts in the government. He served on the Burns Fellowship board of trustees for five terms, from its inception. His humorous background talks to the fellows and his presence at the annual D.C. receptions will be greatly missed.

The Arthur F. Burns Fellowship News is published four times a year by the International Center for Journalists.

Burns Program Staff:

Frank-Dieter Freiling, Director, IJP
Mario Scherhaufer, Program Director, ICFJ
Maia Curtis, ICFJ Consultant
Michelle Mathew, Program Officer, ICFJ

Named in honor of the late former U.S. ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany and former Federal Reserve Board chairman, the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship Program fosters greater understanding of German–U.S. relations among future leaders of the news media.

The Burns program was established in 1988 in Germany by the Internationale Journalisten-Programme (formerly the Initiative Jugendpresse) and was originally designed for young German journalists. In 1990, the fellowship expanded to include American journalists, making it a true exchange.

Each year 20 outstanding journalists from the United States and Germany are awarded an opportunity to report from and travel in each other’s countries. The program offers 10 young print and broadcast journalists from each country the opportunity to share professional expertise with their colleagues across the Atlantic while working as “foreign correspondents” for their hometown news organizations.

Fellows work as part-time staff members at host newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations. In addition to covering local news, fellows report on events for their employers back home, while learning more about
their host country and its media.

This competitive program is open to U.S. and German journalists who are employed by a newspaper, news magazine, broadcast station or news agency, and to freelancers. Applicants must have demonstrated journalistic talent and a strong interest in U.S.–European affairs. German language proficiency is not required, but is encouraged.

The Burns Fellowship program
is administered jointly by:

March 2010 | Vol. 19, No. 1

Dr. Frank-Dieter Freiling

Dear Friends,

We were happy to see many of you at the Burns Dinner in New York on February 23. Gerald Corrigan, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a managing director at Goldman Sachs, gave a remarkable analysis of the causes and consequences of the world financial crisis. The event was another example of our emphasis on keeping alumni involved in the program. More money is now spent annually on alumni activities than on the actual fellowships. Not only do we offer research trips, such as the recent USA Round Table tour to Germany and Denmark focusing on climate change, but we also have increased the number of individual research grants offered. All alumni can apply for these grants to cover a reporting project in the former partner country.

We are also starting to develop regional chapters for alumni. Hamburg-based alumni made a start with a recent informal dinner attended by more than 20 former fellows. Anne Marie Kelly (2000) will head a Washington chapter and set the pace for other regional chapters in the U.S. to follow—ideally in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and Chicago. In all of these cities we are looking for former fellows who want to initiate more contact between the other alumni in their city or region. Through these activities, you will have the opportunity to meet other colleagues in the media business, as well as listen to interesting speakers on transatlantic affairs or just do a wine tasting together. This will help fill the gap between the annual dinners in New York and Berlin and the summer reception in D.C., which are sometimes difficult for everyone to attend.

I hope that you will have a careful look at the opportunities we offer to all alumni and that you will get involved with future local chapter events and consider applying for one of the IJP research grants. The spirit of the Burns alumni network depends on every single member. So, stay in touch and have a great spring!

Best for now,

Frank

1991
Maren Niemeyer left journalism to become head of audiovisual media at the Goethe Institute’s headquarters in Munich.

1993
Margaret “Peggy” Kim recently started a new position as vice president of programming at Alloy Media & Marketing where she will head up programming strategy and content development for Alloy’s various digital platforms. Anke Plättner left her job as anchor for the TV network Phoenix to return to reporting as the Berlin correspondent for regional TV network WDR.

1995
Jan-Eric Peters, previously head of the Axel Springer Academy, returned to his earlier position as editor-in-chief for the daily Die Welt, the weekly Welt am Sonntag and the daily Welt Kompakt, out of Berlin. Wulf Schmiese and his wife had a second child, a boy named Claas Ola. Also, Wulf is leaving his position as political correspondent for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and will start at ZDF’s morning news program in April. Dominik Wichmann, editor of Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, is the proud father of daughter Romy, born in January.

1996
Elke Ahlswede published her third novel, Papa @ Home, a humorous story about a German working mother in Chicago with a husband on paternity leave. Jochen Buchsteiner has left India to become the new Asia correspondent for Frankfurter Allgemeine, reporting out of Jakarta, Indonesia.

1998
Carter Dougherty left his job as Frankfurt correspondent of the International Herald Tribune, to return to Washington, D.C., as a freelance journalist.

1999
Steve Kettmann now writes a regular column on the editorial pages of the daily Berliner Zeitung.

2000
Oliver Becker published his book Voodoo im Strafraum, about football and voodoo magic in Africa. Michael Kolz was promoted to vice program director at the German TV channel Phoenix, and will also anchor the daily news show "Der Tag."

2001
Robert Jacobi published Die Goodwill-Gesellschaft, a book about the often secret world of the non-profit sector—donors, sponsors and the effectiveness of the goodwill business.

2002
Amy Braunschweiger is now the Web communications manager at Human Rights Watch in New York. Jim Hagengruber became a foreign service officer at the U.S. Department of State in August 2009. He will deploy to his first assignment in July 2010 as assistant cultural attaché in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Petra Krimphove moved from Berlin to Washington, D.C., where she freelances as a correspondent for several German publications. Megan Mulligan is the new executive editor of The Daily Caller in Washington, D.C.

2004
In November 2009, Sebastian Rudolph became the spokesman and head of communications at the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development in Berlin. Andrew Wallmeyer has enrolled in a full-time MBA program at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, where his studies focus on corporate strategy and finance. He will graduate in May 2011.

2005
Leigh Dyer had a daughter, Avery June, on November 24, 2009.



2007
Lara Fritzsche moved to Hamburg and now works for the Gruner & Jahr magazine, Neon. Damaso Reyes’ photos were featured in a solo show in January at the Works on Paper gallery at the Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. Also, several of his images are currently in a show called “Searching for God” at the Kuhn Fine Arts Gallery at Ohio State University in Marion.

2009
Clay Risen moved to New York to become an editor for the op-ed pages of the New York Times. Eric Ulken is currently a visiting professor at the graduate school of journalism at the University of British Columbia.

Moira Herbst and Eric Ulken (2009)

German Alumni Dinner
Deutsche Bank: June 2, 2010, Berlin (Speaker TBA)

Click here to log into the Alumni Portal. To register, please fill out this short form.

U.S. Trustees

Patron: Klaus Scharioth
German Ambassador to the United States
Joyce Barnathan
President, International Center for Journalists (ICFJ)
Elizabeth Becker
Journalist and Author
The Honorable J.D. Bindenagel
Vice President, Community, Government & International Relations, DePaul University
Kurt Bock
Chairman and CEO, BASF USA
Marcus W. Brauchli
Executive Editor, The Washington Post
The Honorable Richard Burt
Senior Advisor, McLarty and Associates (Honorary Chairman)
Dr. Martin Bussmann
Mannheim LLC
Nikhil Deogun
Managing Editor, CNBC
David W. Detjen
Partner, Alston & Bird, LLP
Dr. Frank-Dieter Freiling
Director, Internationale Journalisten-Programme (IJP)
Ronald Frohne
President and CEO,
GWFF USA, Inc.
Rick Goings
Chairman and CEO, Tupperware Brands Corporation
James F. Hoge, Jr.
Editor, Foreign Affairs (Honorary Chairman)
Fred Kempe
President and CEO, The Atlantic Council of the United States
The Honorable Henry A. Kissinger
Chairman, Kissinger Associates
The Honorable Frank E. Loy
Former Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs (Chairman)
Senator Richard G. Lugar
United States Senator (R-Ind.)
Wolfgang Pordzik
Executive Vice President, Corporate Public Policy, Deutsche Post DHL North America
Garrick Utley
President, Levin Institute, SUNY
Stanford S. Warshawsky
Chairman, Bismarck Capital, LLC
Legal Advisor:
Phillip C. Zane
Attorney at Law, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz

German Trustees

Patron: The Honorable Philip D. Murphy
U.S. Ambassador to Germany
Erik Bettermann
Director-General, Deutsche Welle
Prof. Dr. Reinhard Bettzuege
German Ambassador to Brussels
Dr. Martin Blessing
CEO, Commerzbank AG
Maria Böhmer
State Minister, Member of Parliament, CDU/CSU
Tom Buhrow
Anchorman, ARD
Sabine Christiansen
Journalist, TV21 Media
Dr. Mathias Döpfner
CEO, Axel-Springer AG
Thomas Ellerbeck
Chairman, Vodafone Foundation
Leonhard F. Fischer
Partner, RHJI Swiss Management
Rüdiger Frohn
Chairman, Stiftung Mercator
Emilio Galli-Zugaro
Head Group Communications, Allianz Group
Dr. Tessen von Heydebreck
Former Member of the Board, Deutsche Bank AG (Chairman)
Luc Jochimsen
Member of Parliament, Die Linke
Prof. Lars G. Josefsson
CEO, Vattenfall
Hans-Werner Kilz
Editor-in-Chief, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Dr. Torsten-Jörn Klein
Board member, Gruner + Jahr AG
Carsten Maschmeyer
Former Chairman, AWD Holding
Prof. Bascha Mika
Former Editor-in-Chief, Die Tageszeitung
Kerstin Müller
Former State Minister, Member of Parliament, Buendnis 90/Die Grünen
Prof. Markus Schächter
Director-General, ZDF German TV
Helmut Schäfer
Former State Minister, Foreign Office (Honorary Chairman)
Monika Schaller
Senior Vice President, Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Friede Springer
Publisher, Axel Springer AG
Franz Thönnes
Member of Parliament, Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD)
Tobias Trevisan
CEO, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Lord George Weidenfeld
Former CEO, Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Ulrich Wilhelm
Government Spokesman

The Arthur F. Burns Board of Trustees in the United States and Germany acknowledges with gratitude the support of the following organizations and individuals who have made the 2008 Arthur F. Burns program possible.

Sponsors in the U.S.
Alston & Bird, LLP
BASF
Robert Bosch Stiftung
The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation
Continental Airlines
DHL North America
The Dow Jones Foundation
The Ford Foundation
The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
GWFF USA, Inc.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The Ladenburg Foundation
Mars Incorporated
Tupperware Brands Corporation

Individual Contributions
Elizabeth Becker
John and Gina Despres
David Detjen
Marc Fest
The Hon. Frank E. Loy
Stanford S. Warshawsky

Sponsors in Germany
Allianz SE
Auswärtiges Amt.
Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend
Deutsche Bank AG
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Siemens AG