NEWS RELEASES AND MEDIA CONTACTS
National Media Figures to Highlight Kent State's Second Democracy Symposium
Contact: Ron Kirksey or
Carole Harwood
As part of a series of conferences exploring democracy and democratic values, Kent State University will host its Second Annual Symposium on Democracy, Media, Profit and Politics: Competing Priorities in an Open Society, on April 11 and 12, at the Kent State Student Center.
The symposium will feature 20 participants from the United States and Canada. The media experts will discuss the merits of "civic" journalism in fostering a more engaged American public and the role of the mass media -- particularly political campaign coverage -- in discouraging voter turnout.
They will focus on possible roles for new communications technologies to reverse those tendencies toward disengagement. The symposium's four sessions will also address the socio-political effects of the increasing concentration of ownership of mass media outlets.
In addition, three distinguished national media figures will discuss the role of mass media in today's society.
- Hodding Carter III, former assistant secretary of state in the Carter administration, is currently president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Winner of four national Emmy Awards and the Edward R. Murrow Award for public affairs television documentaries, Carter has served as a host, anchor, panelist, correspondent and reporter for a variety of other public affairs television shows on PBS, ABC, CBS, BBC and CNN.
- Oscar Gandy, Jr., a media scholar at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communication, is an expert in the political economy of communication and information, public policy issues in privacy and new technologies and communication as a vehicle for political and social change.
- Nancy Hicks Maynard, former co-owner and publisher of The Oakland Tribune and currently president of Maynard Partners Inc., covered domestic policy for The New York Times in New York and Washington, and education for The New York Post. She also has been a panelist on "Face the Nation," "Meet the Press" and "Washington Week in Review."
The symposium is the second of a permanent, annual symposium series on democratic values held as part of the University's observance of the events of May 4, 1970, when a confrontation between the Ohio National Guard and demonstrators left four Kent State students dead and nine students wounded.
"We have come to realize that our university's unique history has important lessons for the future," said Dr. Carol A. Cartwright, Kent State president. "The annual symposium is an ongoing and forward-looking way to teach the nation the values of civility, tolerance and public duty that are the basis of our democracy."
Attendance to symposium events is free but advance reservations are required. Register online at http://dept.kent.edu/democracy-symposium/form.html or call the University Conference Bureau at (330) 672-3161 for a brochure.
For more information about the program, check the Symposium Web site or contact symposium co-chairs Thom Yantek, Department of Political Science, tyantek@kent.edu, (330) 672-8929; and Joe Harper, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, jharper@kent.edu, (330) 672-8285.
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03-14-01
RON KIRKSEY
Director of Media Relations
University Relations and Marketing
(330) 672-2727 (ph)
(330) 672-2047 (fax)
rkirksey@urd.kent.edu
CAROLE HARWOOD
Coordinator of Public Relations
University Relations and Marketing
(330) 672-2727 (ph)
(330) 672-2047 (fax)
charwood@urd.kent.edu
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Symposium Web site created October 2, 2000
Updated April 10, 2001
Web site contact:
Margaret Garmon at mgarmon@kent.edu
