adam b. ellick

about adam

"I know of no human being who has a better time than an eager and energetic young reporter." - HL Mencken

You can call me a Reporter. I'm fine with that, really.

But frankly, there is not yet a title that describes my job as a newspaper journalist who also shoots, edits, writes, and produces videos for the web. The media industry enjoys hyping its evolving status with phrases like Innovation, Integration, and Multimedia. Still, few reporters SIMULTEANEOUSLY and SOLEY practice print and broadcast journalism in the field. This website evidences my work as a modern day New Journalist, whatever that means, and with all respect to Tom, Truman, Hunter, and Norman.

I spent 2004 as a Fulbright Scholar in Jakarta, Indonesia, where I examined how Indonesian journalists report on terrorism. I also taught journalism and critical thinking at several Indonesian universities and at two national newspapers. My favorite students were the feisty Bataks, or North Sumatrans who verbally assaulted me with questions like "Who the hell are you? You are American. You're bombing Iraq, and now you come here to teach us about journalism."

In summer 2004, I worked as a Visiting Professor at the Russian American Journalism Institute, a month long study abroad program jointly administered by New York University, Ithaca College and Rostov State University in Rostov, Russia. The program is funded by the U.S. State Department. My classroom was not bugged.

From 2000-2004, I lived in Eastern Europe where I founded EllickNewsLink, an international freelance news service selling journalism to media outlets worldwide.

My introduction to foreign lands came in January 2000 when I took up a fulltime reporting job at The Prague Post, a weekly in the Czech Republic. In 1999, I was awarded the Pulliam Journalism Fellowship at the Indianapolis Star daily newspaper.

I'm a victim of journalism school, having graduated with honors from Ithaca College in 1999. Fortunately, a minor in Emerging Transnational Issues made college vaguely worthwhile.

Mark Twain once said, "Never let schooling get in the way of education." So as a senior, and with free access to Ithaca College's fancy equipment, I wrote and produced a 25-minute, award-winning (1999 CINE Eagle award) documentary that aired on local television and was presented as civic journalism at a public screening, followed by a panel debate. The documentary, "Ready or Not, Here they Come," examines a controversial New York State law that enables junior high students to play varsity sport. The documentary exposes more than 60 students in one county alone who are bumped to high school sports, even though the program was designed only for "exceptional" athletes. Liberals say the regulation is robbing kids of their childhood. Conservatives claim "Be all you can be" and "mediocrity is a bunch of bullshit."

Some personal tidbits: I grew-up in a dark room and enjoy photography. Reading is fun, too. My favorite magazines are Skeptic, Skeptical Inquiry, and The New Yorker. I collect quotations, globes, and old foreign posters. I'm also an adventurous eater and will down anything once. I love meaty Eastern European foods such as Cepelinai (Lithuanian zeppelin-shaped potato dumplings filled with minced beef) and Czech goulash. But I also love the spiciest of Asian cuisine, like food from Padang and Manado, including lethally spiced bat.

But traveling is my most tested hobby. I have visited the following nations:

USA • Canada • Mexico • United Kingdom • Ireland • Spain • France • Luxembourg • Holland • Belgium • Portugal • Monaco • Italy • Vatican • Switzerland • Austria • Greece • Sweden • Denmark • Finland • Czech Republic • Slovakia • Poland • Hungary • Romania • Estonia • Latvia • Lithuania • Belarus • Russian Federation (Western, Urals, Siberia and Far East)• The Ukraine • Mongolia • South Korea • Japan • The Philippines • Indonesia • Lao • Cambodia • Thailand • Vietnam • Singapore • Uganda • Rwanda • Democratic Republic of Congo • Venezuela • Colombia