August 20, 2003

Why is Franken a Harvard Fellow?

A couple of posts down I wondered why Al "Fair and Balanced Except When I Lie to John Ashcroft" Franken was a paid fellow at the Shorenstein Center at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. I've gone straight to the source and am still confused.

According to the Shorenstein Center's website "[f]ellows are domestic or international journalists, scholars, and/or policymakers who are interested in the influence of the press on public policy and politics."

Then there's the fellowship program's objective:

The purpose of the Fellows Program is to advance existing research in press/politics and to provide an opportunity for distinguished experts to reflect on their discipline. Our goal is to foster a collegial and intellectual environment that will enrich and complement one’s knowledge of the field. The primary focus for a fellow in residence is a paper (approximately 25 pages in length) on a topic examining and analyzing the influence of the press on politics and public policy in the domestic or international arena.

How does Franken fit into this? His background includes performing and writing for Saturday Night Live, co-writing the movie When a Man Loves a Woman, and writing the books like Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations and Why Not Me: The Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency. He is neither a journalist, scholar, nor policymaker. And last time I heard just because you can make fun of the news doesn't mean you're any good at examining the "influence of the press on public policy and politics." The closest I can see for Franken being qualified is he's a Harvard graduate and had a daughter studying there. It looks like Harvard's "old boys network" in action.

With the $17,500 stipend wasted on Franken 35 people could attend BloggerCon in October. Franken's new book isn't even out yet and it already looks like there would be more intellectually stimulating from a weblogger gathering than Franken's attempt at humor. If I were a Harvard alumni or donor I'd be upset in how school officials are wasting away research money on a dishonest comedian.

[via OTB]