From Our Archive
Feb. 5, 2001
Scripps Howard Foundation National Roundtable to explore roles of media businesses, journalism
CINCINNATI -- The annual Scripps
Howard Foundation National Roundtable will convene in
Washington D.C. Feb. 17 to explore the increasingly complex
relationship between the ethical practice of journalism and
the media industry’s drive for stronger profits and sounder
business principles.
Titled “Collision Course?
Business and Journalism,” the roundtable discussion will be
held from 7-8:30 p.m. at the National Press Club in
Washington. John Lansing, vice president of television station
operations for The E. W. Scripps Company, will be this year’s
moderator. Scripps Howard Foundation, the Scripps company’s
philanthropic arm, began hosting the National Roundtable in
1998 to examine issues of ethics and integrity in journalism.
Admission to the event is free and open to the public.
Panelists at this year’s roundtable will discuss such
as issues as:
-- How the media, as a business,
responds to external pressures from advertisers who seek to
influence coverage of the news.
-- What impact the profit motive may be having on the practice of journalism.
-- The theory,
including case studies, that good journalism is good business.
“Faced with an explosion of competition, new
technology and consolidation of ownership, the dynamic between
the practice of journalism and the business of journalism has
changed,” said Judith G. Clabes, president and CEO of the
foundation. “The mission for this year’s roundtable will be to
explore how this dynamic is effecting the current state of
journalism.”
Participating in the roundtable will be:
Roberta Baskin, senior producer,
consumer investigations, ABC News “20/20”; Nancy
Cassutt, vice president, content, Internet
Broadcasting Systems; Colleen C. Conant,
editor and publisher, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.;
Kevin Cosgrove, editor in chief,
Oregonlive.com, Portland, Ore.; and Mike
Devlin, vice president/news, KHOU-TV, Houston.
Ric Harris, vice president and
general manager, WEWS-TV, Cleveland; Jane E. Kirtley,
Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law, and director
of The Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law,
University of Minnesota; Pam Luecke, editor
and senior vice president, Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader;
Robert Rivard, senior vice president and
editor, San Antonio (Texas) Express-News; and Al
Tompkins, group leader, Broadcast and Online, The
Poynter Institute, St. Petersburg, Fla.
The roundtable
can be viewed live on the Internet beginning at 7 p.m., (EST),
at www.scripps.com/foundation.
Videotape of the discussion and a study guide will be made
available to college and university schools of journalism,
libraries, and organizations interested in media issues.
Videotape copies and study guides can be obtained by calling
Vickie Martin of the Scripps Howard Foundation at 513-977-3034
or contacting her by email at vlmartin@scripps.com.
Dedicated to excellence in journalism, the Scripps
Howard Foundation is a leader in industry efforts in
journalism education, scholarships, internships, literacy,
minority recruitment/development and First Amendment
causes.
Contact: Patty Cottingham, Scripps Howard Foundation, 513-977-3847, cottingham@scripps.com