The Burness Effect Blog

Burness Communications Announced as New Member of Community Profits Montgomery

Burness Communications today announced its acceptance into Community Profits Montgomery, a program that promotes companies that give back to the community and inspire others to do the same. The initiative stems from a simple idea: to create a platform that recognizes local businesses for giving back to the community, inspiring them to continue their good work—and encourage others to do the same.

Andy Burness: “We all have THAT teacher who shaped our purpose as a human being. Dr. Cook is mine.”

On February 19, 2013, Andy Burness offered the following words at the Samuel Dubois Cook Society Awards Dinner in Durham, N.C. Dr. Cook, a close personal friend of Dr. Martin Luther King’s, was the first African American professor at Duke University and has the distinction of being the first African American to hold a tenured faculty appointment at any predominantly white college or university in the South. He has also had a tremendous impact on Andy’s life as a professor, mentor, and friend.

Remembering Jeff Haskins

Burness Communications remembers, Jeff Haskins, our personal friend and extraordinary colleague of nearly nine years.

A Call for More (Strange) Bedfellows

Two politicians—one very progressive and the other very conservative—joined forces, and took their advocacy on the road, all over the country. Their message was simple: we may agree on very little, but we agree on the need for opportunity for all our children, and there’s no opportunity for anything if your child is sick or living with an untreated chronic condition.

Andy’s Aspen Adventure: The Live Blog

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, two prominent journalists (Joe Klein and David Brooks) joined with two prominent former politicians (Republican Vin Weber and Democrat Tom Daschle) to give their respective takes. My three takeaways: (1) they agree on a lot, far more than their disagreements; (2) there was general agreement on the wisdom of the decision; and (3) the discussion had none of the vitriol and venom that has characterized every exchange I’ve seen between Democrats and Republicans since the President’s bill was first introduced.

10 ‘Big Ideas’ from Day One of the Aspen Ideas Festival

One of the great perks of working at Burness is the range of topics we encounter– from fighting the scourge of neglected diseases around the world and improving the health care system at home to improving our nation’s community colleges. Experts from a number of different fields came together in the mountains of Colorado at the Aspen Ideas Festival– many whose work relates to the organizations we support--and discussed some thought-provoking ideas for us to ponder.

Last week, Burness Communications marked its 25th anniversary as a company. We started in 1986, supporting The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Council on Foundations, working out of an accountant’s office in the Landow Building in Bethesda, Maryland. Twenty-five years … Continue reading Reflecting on 25 Years →

The Frank Karel Chair in Public Interest Communications

Andy Burness shares his thoughts on Frank Karel Chair in Public Interest Communications at the University of Florida.

Ann Christiano has assumed the Frank Karel Chair in Public Interest Communications at the University of Florida, the nation’s first professorship with this particular focus.

In a digital world, are investigative reporting and hard-hitting journalism endangered, or just evolving?