Athens, Ga. – A talk on resisting the retreat from foreign news reporting will open an all-day discussion of journalistic courage at the fifth annual McGill Symposium Oct. 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Drewry Room.
John Schidlovsky, founding director of the International Reporting Project, will discuss the steps he’s taken over the last 12 years to encourage more international coverage in the U.S. media. Annie Murphy, an IRP Fellow who reported from Mozambique last year, will join Schidlovsky.
The McGill Symposium brings together students, faculty and leading journalists to consider what journalistic courage means and how it is exemplified by reporters and editors. The McGill Symposium is not a public event. Limited seating is available to Grady students and faculty.
Besides Schidlovsky and Murphy, the McGill Visiting Journalists who will participate are:
• David Handschuh, staff photographer, “The New York Daily News,” New York
• Jeff Roberts, staff photographer, “Birmingham News,” Birmingham, Ala.
• Mark Fainaru-Wada, reporter, ESPN, San Francisco, Calif.
• Lance Williams, reporter, California Watch, San Francisco, Calif.
• Jan Schaffer, director, J-Lab, Washington, D.C.
• Erich Schwartzel, project editor, Pipeline, “Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,” Pittsburgh, Pa.
Schidlovsky and Murphy will discuss “Resisting the Retreat from Foreign News.” Professor of journalism Lee Becker will moderate the discussion.
Photojournalists Handschuh and Roberts will show their work and discuss “Terrorism, Tornados and Telling the Visual Story.” Photojournalism lecturer Mark Johnson will moderate the discussion.
Fainaru-Wada and Williams will discuss “The Baseball Story No One Wanted Told.” Professor of journalism Patricia Thomas will moderate the discussion.
Schaffer and Schwartzel will discuss “The Courage to Collaborate, Cooperate.” Professor of journalism John F. Greenman will moderate the discussion.
For nearly 30 years, the McGill program has brought significant figures in journalism to UGA to honor Ralph McGill’s courage as an editor. Established in 1978, the annual UGA lecture series addresses major issues impacting the American press.
While editor and publisher of “The Atlanta Constitution,” McGill was regarded as the “conscience of the South,” using the newspaper’s editorial pages to challenge segregation in the 1950s and 1960s. McGill was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1958 for “long, courageous and effective leadership.”
The McGill Symposium is funded by the McGill Lecture Endowment. Contributors include the Gannett Foundation.
For more information on the Grady College, see www.grady.uga.edu or follow @UGAGrady on Twitter.
