The Bliss Group Attends Knight-Bagehot
Fundraising Awards Dinner for Columbia Journalism School’s 49th Annual Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism supports education for the next generation of reporters
On a chilly Fall evening in Midtown this past October, business journalists and communications executives gathered to honor Columbia Journalism School’s 10 new Knight-Bagehot Fellowship recipients and celebrate the awards of the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship program, now in its 49th year, with over 400 former fellows working at news organizations across the world.
The fundraising event was held during a notably busy news week as hurricanes wreaked havoc across the country, Presidential election news coverage continued to churn, and Q3 corporate earnings were released.
The Bliss Group’s Bill Smith, Senior Vice President leading Integrated Earned Media, and Marisha Chinsky, Vice President and Media Relations Specialist, attended the gala to support the journalism community and celebrate the achievements of award recipients.
Despite the busy calendars of business journalists and public relations leaders, the ballroom on the 6th floor of the Times Square Marriott Marquis was packed. Dean of Columbia Journalism School Jelani Cobb started the evening with inspiring words regarding the purpose and importance of supporting education for the next generation of business, economic, finance and technology reporters. Cobb brought up the important skills that the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship Program instills in business and economic journalists, such as understanding the economy and reading a spreadsheet. He defined the briskness of journalism as crucial and the industry as vibrant.
Following Cobb’s remarks, attendees were on the edge of their seats in anticipation of the fireside chat with Founder and CEO of Citadel, Ken Griffin. Widely considered one of, if not the most successful hedge fund manager in history, Griffin engaged in a lively conversation with Alan Murray, former CEO of Fortune Media, now head of Dow Jones Leadership Institute.
Griffin started his company when he was just 22, a recent Harvard grad obsessed with the derivatives market. He described how his childhood dream was to be like businessman Henry Kravis of KKR, who he was familiar with via media coverage. Griffin and Murray discussed how the press plays an incredible role in the trajectory of our country. The fireside chat also focused on how Griffin is an advocate for in-person office environments due to the collaboration, mentorship, and mental health benefits, which he believes far outweigh the loss of employees who prefer a hybrid or stay at home arrangement.
Following the fireside chat, the 2024 Knight-Bagehot Prize Winners were announced. Brittany Jones-Cooper at Yahoo Finance, who as selected as part of the 2024 cohort, announced that the WERT Global Prize for outstanding business reporting by a woman went to Olivia Carville at Bloomberg News, for her series of stories that drove home the dangers that social media poses to the mental health and safety of young people. Carville showed readers the devastating – and sometimes deadly – effect that online sexual exploitation, AI-generated deep fakes and addictive algorithms have on teenagers and young adults. The WERT Global Prize honors excellence in business journalism by a woman for work that fosters a greater understanding of global business. Bjarke Smith-Meyer, POLITICO’s Senior Finance Correspondent in Europe, who joined the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship Program in August 2024, presented the 2024 Christopher J. Welles Memorial Prize to Douglas MacMillan at the Washington Post for his work on “Memory Inc.” The series investigated how more than 2,000 elderly people with memory problems had wandered away from the assisted living facilities that were paid to keep them safe. At least 100 of them died.
During the dinner event, Bill and Marisha met with communications executives from Natixis and Boston Consulting Group, and spent time with reporters from The New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal.
At a time when journalists are under attack and newsroom budgets are being cut, financial support and education are critical for the journalism profession. The Bliss Group wishes this year’s Knight-Bagehot fellowship recipients a successful academic year, recognizes Knight-Bagehot alumni for continuing their important missions, and applauds the new prize-winning journalists for their brave, tireless reporting. We look forward to joining the fundraising event in 2025 to honor the 50th anniversary of Columbia Journalism School’s Knight-Bagehot program!
By Marisha Chinsky
Photo via Marisha Chinsky
