Following the recent death of Advisory Board member Daniel Ellsberg, a beloved and active member of the school, the Investigative Reporting Program has established a Daniel Ellsberg Whistleblower in Residence program. The program will bring a whistleblower into the school for a week every year to teach students how to work hand in hand with whistleblowers to make sure their stories are told and they are protected.
Geeta Anand, dean of Berkeley Journalism, said the hope is to spur journalists to look critically at how we treat whistleblowers and to explore best practices in the way whistleblowers are protected by news organizations. “All journalists in the world need to learn from people like Dan Ellsberg about the importance of courageous truth-telling,” Anand said. “There are some things that are worth fighting for — truth, freedom and justice are high on that list. And journalism, good journalism, needs to be based in truth, in freedom and in justice.”
Each spring, Berkeley Journalism will invite a whistleblower to meet with students, visit classes and speak at the Logan Symposium.
“The word “whistleblower” is so inadequate to describe the Dan Ellsberg’s of this world,” Prof. David Barstow, chair of the Investigative Reporting Program, said. “It doesn’t even come close to capturing the radical courage it takes to divulge abuses of power at the highest levels of government or business or anything else. In my own dealings with whistleblowers, it amazes me how often they...
Foley partner Lisa Noller, Chair of the Firm’s Litigation Department, will be speaking at the American Bar Association’s Qui Tam & Civil False Claims and Healthcare Fraud Institute in Washingt...