Speaker Series Brings Prominent Media Professionals to Cronkite

A national public radio host, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, two Poynter Institute faculty members, a group of baseball writers and the former editor of The (Portland) Oregonian are among those headlining a speaker series this spring at Arizona State University. The events are part of the “Must See Mondays” speaker series at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, which kicked off on Jan. 23 with Cronkite Professor G. Pascal Zachary, author of “Married to Africa,” speaking about his experiences reporting on that continent. Following him are speakers including David Brancaccio, host of American Public Media’s “Marketplace Index”; Stephen Buckley, dean of faculty at the Poynter Institute; Jeff Leen, assistant managing editor of The Washington Post’s investigative unit; Regina McCombs, Poynter faculty member and former senior producer for multimedia at StarTribune.com; and Sandra Mims Rowe, the Cronkite School’s Edith Kinney Gaylord Visiting Professor in Journalism Ethics and former editor of The Oregonian. The speakers will touch on issues including business journalism, investigative reporting, use of social media in public relations, sports journalism and ethics in the digital age. The talks, which are free and open to the public, take place from 7-8 p.m. each Monday of the semester in the school’s First Amendment Forum on the Downtown Phoenix campus of ASU. Past speaker events can be viewed online here. “These award-winning journalists and communication professionals enrich both our students and the public with insights about critical topics in today’s news media,” said Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan. “The ‘Must See Mondays’ speaker series has become an integral part of the Cronkite School community.” The spring “Must See Mondays” events are: Jan. 30 “Journalism and an Economy that Better Serves More People” David Brancaccio Host, “Marketplace Index,” American Public Media Feb. 6 “Leadership Now: Making a Difference in a New Journalism World” Stephen Buckley Dean of faculty, The Poynter Institute Feb. 13 “Secrets of a Pulitzer Prize-winning Investigative Journalist” Jeff Leen Assistant managing editor, investigative unit, The Washington Post Feb. 20 “Making Sense of Social Media in Public Relations” Jennifer Hellum, formerly with azcentral.com Chris Kline, ABC15, KNXV-TV Ashley Oakes, Zion and Zion Feb. 27 “Baseball’s Brightest: Covering Spring Training” Tom Haudricourt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Gayle Jansen, Fox 10 News Janie McCauley, The Associated Press Scott Miller, CBSSports.com Bob Nightengale, USA Today March 5 “The Changing Role of the News Photographer in a Multimedia World” Dave Seibert Multimedia producer, The Arizona Republic March 12 “Phones, Tablets and the Future of News” Regina McCombs Faculty member, The Poynter Institute; former senior producer for multimedia, StarTribune.com April 9 “Student Showcase: Public Relations Lab” Cronkite public relations students April 16 “Ethics and Excellence in the Digital Age” Sandra Mims Rowe Edith Kinney Gaylord Visiting Professor in Journalism Ethics; former editor, The (Portland) Oregonian April 23 “Reporting Abroad: Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic” Cronkite depth reporting students