Final Video

If you are in Baton Rouge, the Free Spirits (including myself) will be on Channel 68 on Friday at 6:00PM on C-Span.
Here is the final video from the Al Neuharth Free Spirit Journalism Conference. Enjoy!

Off to Baton Rouge

The Freedom Foundation Gala that was held last night in the atrium at the Newseum was simply phenomenal. The Free Spirit Scholars were seated at tables mixed in with professionals in the field of journalism to help them network and make connections for the future in the field. I was seated with a wonderful group of people, and I hope to keep in touch with some of them.

(Above) Me in tux before ceremony, Newseum Atrium set for the Gala


The ceremony was elegant and featured the award of the $50,000 prize as well as the Free Spirit of the Year Award to a business professional, Cathie Black. I think this will probably be my last post on this blog, but I may be wrong. I am also posting the final video from the last couple of days of the trip. Like I said in my last post, this has been a once-in-a lifetime experience. I will remember it for the rest of my life.

(above) My roomates sporting our Free Spirit Medals (below) Some friends & myself after the Gala

The Final Day

As my tenure as a Free Spirit Scholar comes to an end, I begin to recognize the true value of the experience that my peers and I have had over the past few days. My preconceived notions of what this week would offer have been far surpassed by the conference. I think all of the Free Spirit Scholars would agree that the bonds of friendship we have formed will, in some cases, last a lifetime.

(left) Natalie & I showing off our Medals in the Newseum (right) Cathie Black and Charles Overby during the Q&A
Today was an exciting day. We received our medals in a ceremony where the four finalists for the $50,000 were announced. We heard from past free spirits Kevin Koo and Sean Tuohey. In a dynamic presentation, Tuohey vowed to give two of the Free Spirit Scholars who write him the best, "story" a free trip to Africa to assist with his non-profit programs focusing on AIDS awareness in South Africa. We also had a Q&A with Cathie Black, president of Hearst Magazines, publisher of The Oprah Magazine as well as Cosmopolitan.

Tonight we will leave at about 4:00 CST for the big finale to our scholarship week, The Free Spirit Gala at the Atrium in the Newseum. A slideshow and videos of the week will be presented and the finalist along with Cathie Black will be honored at the ceremony. We have our tuxedos and bow ties and the ladies have dresses ready for what will truly be a night to remember!
(left/right) My Free Spirit Medal
Saying goodbye tonight and early tomorrow morning will be sad, but I will never forget the fond memories and experiences of this amazing week.

Video Day 3&4

USA Today & more!

Hey Baton Rouge,
Today was truly an exciting day. The Free Spirit Scholars went to the Newseum this morning and heard first from Carol Knopes. Knopes focused on our rights as student journalists, she reminded me of my old English teacher, D. Parker. We also heard from Charles Haynes, a senior scholar with the First Amendment Program. Haynes seemed very passionate about his position.
(above) Maryland scholar looks at armor from the reporting field (right) Scholars eat lunch overlooking the Newseum Balcony
The second session featured speakers David Mazzarella, ombudsman of the Stars and Stripes publication. We were also visited by the dynamic Lisa Burgess and Leo Shane III, both of whom have reported from combat units in Iraq and abroad. Lisa Burgess was by far one of the most dynamic speakers, coming in full combat reporting regalia.

After another fancy catered lunch, We participated in one of the most exciting activities of the week called Newsmania. All of the scholars got a chance to participate in this trivia "gameshow". After the blue team was disqualified, the Red team was victorious and received free Newseum t-shirts.
(above) Newsmania gameshow (right) Paula & I at USA Today
We spent the rest of the day touring the USA Today facilities in Virginia. We got a personal Q&A session with editors Reid Cherner and Catalina Camia and reporter/blogger Ann Oldenburg. It was an illuminating session.

The Editor-in-Chief of USA today also spent time with the Free Spirit scholars. I was very impressed with Ken Paulson, he exceeded my expectations as a speaker. We ended the day with a presentation by the Freedom Sings program, created by Ken Paulson himself. It was fun to see the EIC of a huge national Newspaper like USA Today participate in such a dynamic program using music to highlight America's fight for personal liberties in the past and into the future.
(above) USA Today newsroom (right) Ken Paulson, EIC of USA Today (below) Lauren & I in front of the Washington Monument
Our last activity of the day was a night tour of the FDR presidential memorial in downtown D.C.

(from left to right) Snigdha with Betty Baye, Louisiana Newspapers, Me with Berlin Wall, Special C-Span Taping
4 d Movie, On the set of C-Span

Quick highlights from today:

• Personal tour of the Newseum
• Betty Baye, motivational speaker/amazing (we are starting a fanclub)
• C-Span Close Up Taping to air this Friday on C-span 2
• Some of us got to be interviewed for other C-Span shows/ the AP Editor's Meeting
• We got to see pieces of the Berlin Wall!

Newseum/Q&A with Al Neuharth

The highlight of tonight's evening was our first glimpse of the Newseum on 555 Pennsylvania Ave. We took a group photo in the lobby of the new building that features a humongous projection screen Television. We spent a long time looking in wonder at the fact that we could see ourselves on the screen.
(Above) The Newseum, and The Cap. from Newseum top floor balcony
We also had our one hour Question & Answer session with Al Neuharth himself! He was joined by Charles Overby and Peter Prichard, the president of the Newseum. Both were long time colleagues of Neuharth's. He was introduced by his daughter, Jan Neuharth. I am working on posting the video and transcript of the session. We had a nice dinner in the Front Page room at the Newseum, with guest speaker Kate Kennedy, front pages editor for the Newseum.
(Right) Al Neuharth
My favorite question from Montana :
As a self-proclaimed S.O.B., what would you say is the relationship between S.O.B.-ism and free spiritedness?

Well, if you're a free spirit and write a book entitled, "Free Spirit" you won't sell many. If you're a free spirit S.O.B. and write a book called, "Confessions of an S.O.B." you'll have a hell of a good best seller. That's a big difference. - Al Neuharth

Meet The Press & Day Trips!

Hey Louisiana,
Today has been a whirlwind of activity. The weather was gray and rainy when we first left but it turned out to be sunny and windy in the nation's cap.
(Left) Me with Tim Russert at NBC
(Right) Concepción protesting at the White House
We started the day off at NBC studios here in Washington, D.C. to sit in on a live taping of Meet The Press with Tim Russert. The guests on today's show were David Broder, David Gregory, Representative Nita Lowey and Bill Brudley. Former Senator Brudley represented Barack Obama against Nita Lowey for Clinton in what turned out to be a bit of an on-camera Democratic party nomination advertisement. Directly after the taping, Tim Russert fielded questions from all of the free spirits including myself. See today's video highlight for a bit of some of those questions. (Left) me at the White House
We also visited these memorials:

• The Washington Monument
• The Lincoln Memorial
• The Vietnam Memorial
• The Korean Memorial
• The White House (including meeting Concepción, who has been protesting in front of the White House for years.. again see video)

We had the pleasure of eating lunch on our own in D.C.'s own little Chinatown.

Lunch & a day at the museum

The Free Spirit Scholars piled into a charter bus today to make a visit to the Natural History Museum, The Holocaust Museum, and the American Indian Museum. I was lucky enough to be on the tour that went to both the History and American Indian Museum. We met some interesting people along the way.
(left) Free Spirits at the American Indian Museum
(Right) Free Spirits mingle at the mixer

We are all starting to get to know eachother. In the video, you can see my hometown and then clips from D.C. A few of us got to film our own "What is a free spirit?" quotes. I am going to add pictures ot the photo gallery shortly. We ate tonight at Bucco De Beppo italian restaraunt in D.C. We are going to be at NBC studios tomorrow morning for Meet The Press with Tom Russert. Wish us luck!

I've arrived!

(photos) from my bag to the plane, to Stamen the representative from Close Up
It's a chilly 50 degrees here in D.C. I am waiting at the airport for four other Free Spirits who have been delayed. I've met up with my tour guides, Stamen (From Bulgaria) and Jada. I am posting some interesting photos from my journey so far. In one, you can see that my bag weighed EXACTLY 50 lbs, one more ounce and I would've had to shell out $50 for an upgrade. That's providence!

I'm sporting my favorite Sherpa hat and am getting ready to hit the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

Making final preperations

Hey Guys,

I'll be flying out on US Airways flight 2284 at 7:45 AM from New Orleans. Whew, I have set 3 different alarm clocks to ensure that I will wake up early enough. I've been working hard to get everything packed and ready.

My checklist:

1. Video Camera : charging
2. Digital Camera : ready to go
3. Reporter's notepad : check
4. Portfolio for show : check
5. Ipod for audiobook reading (Tim Russert's Wisdom of Our Fathers) : check
6. clothes : check
7. Itinerary : check
8. extra pair of shoes : double check (bad experience w/ shoes last time in D.C.)
9. Flintstone Vitamins : check

I think I'm all set!

T-minus 21 hours!

Hey friends & family,

It's one day before I'm set to board a plane for Washington, D.C. I've created a blog to chronicle my trip for ya'll over the next week. For those of you out of the loop, I will be attending the Al Neuharth Free Spirit Journalism Scholarship Conference. I will be meeting famous people, seeing the sights in a wonderful town, going on a boat cruise on the Potomac and much more.
(above) The Marriott Residence Inn, D.C.
I was very excited to receive this scholarship, I was very proud of the journalism portfolio that I put together for the application. I am one of two kids from Louisiana who will be attending the conference in D.C.

We will be participating in a variety of events that I thought might be interesting to everyone. I will be meeting the NBC Anchor, Tim Russert. I will be meeting the founder of USA Today, Al Neuharth, who is behind the organization sponsoring the scholarship. I will also meet a few other names such as Betty Baye and Cathie Black, also well known in the journalism world.

We are staying at the Marriott Residence Inn about 3600 feet from the White House. That sure beats the 1138 miles away you guys in Baton Rouge will remain. We will also be at a magnificent new building called the Newseum. It is a state of the art facility devoted solely to journalism. (Right) The Newseum