WASHINGTON, JAN. 4,
2008 Heritage Foundation President Edwin Feulner today
issued the following statement on the death of Fred Guardabassi, a
Broward County conservative activist who established a media and
public policy fellowship at the think tank:
"Like his hero Ronald Reagan, Fred
Guardabassi was a man of principle. But, like Reagan, Fred also
believed in the future and its great promise. He made that vision a
reality in 2004 when he established a fellowship for media and
public policy studies at The Heritage Foundation.
"Because of Fred's generosity, our
Guardabassi Fellows have been able to use the latest in media
technology to communicate the conservative principles that stretch
back from Reagan to the Founding Fathers. His generosity continues
to allow Heritage to move forward on important First Amendment
fronts.
"Take Mark Tapscott. As Heritage's first Guardabassi Fellow, he
wrote and spoke extensively on freedom of speech and freedom of the
press, particularly the necessity of federal and state Freedom of
Information laws. Tapscott also dedicated himself to training a new
generation of journalists in computer-assisted reporting, and to
helping Heritage take its message of freedom, opportunity,
prosperity and civil society to the emerging 'blogosphere' and
other aspects of the Internet. Tapscott is now editorial page
editor of The Washington Examiner.
"Ken McIntyre, a former senior editor at The Washington
Times, last year became Heritage's second Guardabassi Fellow.
He, too, writes on First Amendment topics as well as preparing the
work of our policy experts for media outlets. McIntyre also
developed two initiatives intended to help ordinary Americans
understand how policy decisions and government actions affect their
lives. 'Heritage in Focus' features Heritage experts analyzing
topical issues in brief online videos. And 'à la chart,' an
information graphic sent electronically to newspaper editors, draws
on Heritage research to give readers rapid insight into hot policy
issues.
"Heritage and its members could not have achieved these and
other gains in the new media environment without Fred Guardabassi.
We will miss him."