The McGill Report

The McGill Report is a journalistic experiment in global citizenship. I'm a journalist in Rochester, MN who is trying to practice my craft in a way that helps me and my fellow citizens understand our place in the wider world.

My journalistic aim is to write stories that illuminate the links between my community in southeast Minnesota and the world beyond American borders. My personal philosophy, if I may use so grand a word for something plain and simple, is described in this little essay.

A former reporter for The New York Times, and a London and Hong Kong bureau chief of Bloomberg News, I now teach journalism and media courses at the Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs in Minneapolis, and at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. I also write articles for the Rochester Post-Bulletin in my home town of Rochester, Minnesota, and assorted other journalism.

I call myself a worldplace reporter. That lovely new word, which I explain here, connotes regular reporting and commentary on the threads of connection linking all localities to the wider world beyond. The McGill Report contains my collected work as a worldplace reporter.

From 1989 to 1998, I lived and worked as a journalist in Tokyo, London, and Hong Kong. From each of those places, I traveled widely. From London I traveled in Europe and the Middle East, and from Hong Kong I traveled throughout China and southeast Asia.

Returning to the United States in 1998, I was powerfully impressed at how little we Americans know about the world beyond our borders. After 9/11, the possible, and indeed likely, terrible consequences to our country if we continue our worldly ignorance became frighteningly clear, and I started The McGill Report as a personal response.

Here in Minnesota, one way I learn more about the world is to talk to immigrants who have recently moved from such places as Mexico, Russia, and Laos. I write essays such as one about immigration trends in Rochester, and another about U.S. policy on Iran that was suggested to me by an Iranian friend who works as a medical researcher here.

Some economists say that Rochester, MN is the most globalized town in the United States because it deals with globalization issues more than any other city its size. This is because the Mayo Clinic, a major provider of international health services, is located in Rochester, as is the server division of IBM at a plant that employs more than 5,000 workers. One in ten Rochester residents was not born in this country.

If you would like me to speak to your group or would like to share information, contact me at: doug@mcgillreport.com. My work phone is 507-535-0951.