Scott Bittle is executive vice president and editor of Public Agenda Online (www.publicagenda.org), which has been twice nominated for a prestigious Webby Award by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

An experienced editor and reporter who has worked for both online and print publications, Mr. Bittle is involved in the production of citizen education guides and is lead author of Public Agenda’s Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index. Working with Executive Vice President Jean Johnson, he is now writing a book designed to help typical Americans understand the debate over the federal budget and national debt. Where Does the Money Go? (www.publicagenda.org/wheredoesthemoneygo) is slated for publication in Feburary 2008 by Harper Collins. He also served as an exit poll analyst for NBC News in the 2006 elections and blogs on budget issues at www.facingup.org.

Prior to joining Public Agenda, Mr. Bittle was editorial development manager/Internet for Reed Travel Group, a division of Reed Elsevier. As such, he oversaw and produced content for several Web projects. Prior to his involvement with online services, Mr. Bittle worked for eight years as a reporter, copy editor, bureau chief, and political coordinator for the daily newspaper The Press of Atlantic City. He twice won the Golden Quill Award for feature articles and was honored by the Philadelphia Press Association for daily newspaper writing.

Mr. Bittle holds a Bachelor of Arts in communications and journalism from Rowan University of New Jersey.


Jean Johnson is executive vice president of Public Agenda and has authored or co-authored Public Agenda studies on education, families, religion, race relations, manners and civility, retirement, welfare, and health care. With Public Agenda colleague Scott Bittle, she is co-author of a book designed to help typical Americans understand the debate over the federal budget and national debt. Where Does the Money Go? (www.publicagenda.org/wheredoesthemoneygo is slated for publication by HarperCollins in February 2008.

Ms. Johnson was instrumental in the design and development of Public Agenda’s Webby-nominate public policy web site, Public Agenda Online, and its online voter’s guide, First Choice. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she developed a series of experimental citizen education campaigns for local news outlets including Public Summit '88, designed to help citizens discuss U.S./Soviet relations; SchoolVote which focused on public school reform, and Condition Critical on health care reform. The health care project was the basis of a nationally telecast PBS special. Ms. Johnson also serves on the Research Committee of The Ad Council.

She has written articles for USA Today, National Institute of Justice Journal, and Education Week and prepared papers for major organizations including The Urban Institute, the National Institute of Justice and the National Education Summit of the National Governors' Association. She regularly represents Public Agenda in the media and has appeared on CNN, the Today Show, Lou Dobbs Tonight, and The O’Reilly Factor, among others.

Prior to joining Public Agenda in 1980, Ms. Johnson was Resource Director for Action for Children's Television in Boston, where she authored a number of articles on the effect of television on children and adolescents. In addition to her work at Public Agenda, Ms. Johnson is a director of Sugal Records, a small, New York-based classical music recording company. Ms. Johnson graduated from Mount Holyoke College, and holds master's degrees from Brown University and Simmons College.

Based in New York City, Public Agenda is a nonprofit organization dedicated to nonpartisan public policy research and civic engagement. Founded in 1975 by former U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and Daniel Yankelovich, the social scientist and author, Public Agenda is known for its influential public opinion surveys and balanced citizen education materials. Its mission is to inject the public’s voice into crucial policy debates.

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