What Will We Tell Peoria? Forum at National Press Club

What Will We Tell Peoria?

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB FORUM: WHAT WILL WE TELL PEORIA? THE DISAPPEARANCE OF WASHINGTON BUREAUS AND WHAT COMES NEXT

WASHINGTON — As newspapers are forced to close their Washington bureaus, the National Press Club, the world’s leading professional organization for journalists, will hold a forum May 13 to examine what impact this has on how the folks back home get information about the federal government.

The forum is free and open to the public. It begins at 6:00 p.m. with a reception. The panel will start at 6:30. Seating is limited. Please reserve by calling the Club’s reservation line, 202-662-7501.

Speaking on the panel are:

• Andrew Alexander, former Cox Newspapers bureau chief and now Washington Post ombudsman;
• Clark Hoyt, former Washington editor for Knight-Ridder and now New York Times public editor;
• John Walcott, McClatchy bureau chief;
• Jim VandeHei, co-founder of Politico; and
• Cynthia Dizikes, Washington reporter for the MinnPost, an independent online news service based in Minneapolis.

The forum will be moderated by Gil Klein, director of the National Press Club’s Centennial Forums Project and a former national correspondent for the Media General News Service.

“Since the Civil War, the Washington bureau has been an essential part of getting news about Washington to the folks back home,” said Club President Donna Leinwand. “With these bureaus disappearing, Americans are losing a watchdog of their congressional representatives, and they no longer will have inside information on how actions in Washington affect their communities.”

This event is part of a year-long, nationwide series of forums the National Press Club launched in its centennial year to examine the First Amendment, freedom of the press and the future of journalism. These forums reached 40 audiences in 35 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. They brought together leading local journalists to talk about where the news business is going and how to protect its core values.

A report of the findings of those forums, as well as summaries of each one and video clips from many of them can be found at www.press.org/juncture.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Gil Klein — National Press Club Centennial Forums Project director, 703-338-2721. E-mail gklein@press.org.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB:

The National Press Club is the world’s leading professional organization for journalists. Founded in 1908, the Club has 3,500 members representing most major news organizations. Each year, the Club holds more than 2,000 events including news conferences, luncheons and panels, and more than 250,000 guests come through its doors.

Tagged as: Clark Hoyt, Journalism, Media, National Press Club, National Press Club Centennial Forums Project, The New York Times Company, Washington DC, washington post