What is a Journalist?

Thu, 09/14/2017 - 9:45pm

The Camden Public Library will host Matthew Storin on Tuesday, September 19 at 7:00pm when he will discuss “What Is a Journalist?” This event is free and open to all.

In this time of divisive politics and criticism of national media, what is the meaning of the term journalist?  Not so long ago there were far fewer news outlets and their character and basic principles were less varied.  For better or worse, today there are thousands more sources of information and they exist in many forms.

Matt Storin, former editor of The Boston Globe (1993-2001) tackles head on the questions of bias and “fake news,” and will discuss changes in the media landscape over the past decade.  He also will cite the work of major journalistic figures of the past 75 years as examples of legitimate accomplishments as well as scandalous failures.  Among the examples to be cited are Edward R. Murrow’s coverage of the London Blitz in the early days of World War II, the work of dozens of brave reporters and photographers who covered the Civil Rights Movement, the duping of New York Times journalist by Fidel Castro, the iconoclastic reporting on Vietnam by David Halberstam, Neil Sheehan, and others, and the work of Woodward and Bernstein in digging out elements of the Watergate scandal.

This presentation is hosted by the Camden Public Library and offered as a free community event in anticipation of the 31st Annual Camden Conference –New World Disorder and America’s Future, February 16-18, 2018.

The mission of the Camden Conference is to foster informed discourse on world issues. For more information, visit www.camdenconference.org, email info@camdenconference.org, or call 207-236-1034.