LA Press Club, USC Annenberg, Discovery Times, New York Times Present Timely Seminar to Probe How the Media Sources News

LA Press Club, USC Annenberg, Discovery Times, New York Times Present Timely Seminar to Probe How the Media Sources News

LOS ANGELES, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the hottest issues in the world of media is the topic of a major upcoming journalism seminar. Leading print and broadcast journalists will look at the use of anonymous, unofficial, little known and questionable sources in investigative and political reporting during "Who Can Be Trusted? - A Seminar On Sourcing." It is set to take place on Friday, April 22, 2005 in the Annenberg Auditorium at the USC Annenberg School for Communication in Los Angeles.

The event was announced by Michael Parks, USC Annenberg School for Communication; Vivian Schiller, general manager and senior vice president, Discovery Times Channel; Michael Oreskes, deputy managing editor, New York Times; Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times columnist, KPCC radio host and president, Los Angeles Press Club; and Alex Ben Block, producer of the event.

"The question of how to source a story is more important than ever in this age of multiple news outlets, bloggers and news influenced by political agendas," said Alex Ben Block, who is also editor of TelevisionWeek. "We want help other journalists, and the public, better understand how to navigate the minefields that all serious journalists must traverse these days to get to the real story, and to provide facts as well as analysis."

"The ethical use of sources is at the core of strong and responsible journalism," said Michael Parks, the Pulitzer Prize-winning former Los Angeles Times editor who now directs USC Annenberg's School of Journalism. "We are pleased to partner with our colleagues at the Los Angeles Press Club to provide a forum to examine this critical issue."

The program will begin with a keynote address by Philip Taubman, Washington bureau chief for the New York Times. Taubman, an award-winning journalist, writer and editor, was chairman of a New York Times subcommittee that studied the issue of sources in news reporting.

Before his current assignment, Taubman was The Times' deputy editor of the editorial page, deputy national editor and Moscow bureau chief, among other assignments. He has received two George Polk awards, one for national reporting (shared with Jeff Gerth and Seymour M. Hersh) and one for foreign affairs reporting.

The broadcast panel will be moderated by Michael Oreskes, who oversees web content and New York Times television. Oreskes also formerly served The Times as a political correspondent, Metropolitan Editor and Washington Bureau Chief, among other positions. He has won many awards including three news Emmys and two Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University awards.

Broadcast panelists include Aaron Brown, anchor of CNN's News Night With Aaron Brown; Walt Bogdanich, a former "60 Minutes" producer now working for the New York Times and the Discovery Times Channel; KNBC-TV investigative reporter Ana Garcia; CBS News national investigative reporter Vince Gonzales; and KTLA-TV news director Jeff Wald.

The print panel will be moderated by Patt Morrison, and will include syndicated columnist Jill Stewart and Sue Horton, deputy editor/enterprise for the Los Angeles Times.

The program will include an innovative case study. It will dramatically explore how news organizations react when faced with a controversial case that includes numerous judgment calls and difficult ethical issues. The subject matter will be explored by teams of journalists representing a fictional major newspaper and a fictional major broadcast outlet. As information becomes available, each of the teams will react and decide what can be published or broadcast. This case study will be written and narrated by Alex Ben Block, and will include participation by a number of well-known individuals.

For tickets and information contact the Los Angeles Press Club at (323) 469-8180 or email info@lapressclub.org, or visit the web site http://www.lapressclub.org/. A very limited number of seats are available on a first come, first served basis. General admission, which includes a box lunch, is $40 ($30 for L.A. Press Club members). There are some reserved seats available for $100 each. All proceeds go the Los Angeles Press Club, which is a 501 c3 non-profit service organization.

Located in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California, the USC Annenberg School for Communication is among the nation's leading institutions devoted to the study of journalism and communication, and their impact on politics, culture and society. With an enrollment of more than 1,700 graduate and undergraduate students, USC Annenberg offers B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in journalism, communication, and public relations.

Source: LA Press Club

CONTACT: Geoffrey Baum, +1-213-821-1491, for LA Press Club

Web site: http://www.lapressclub.org/

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