Covering Conflicts in a Modern World

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 7, 2010) - Top journalists, public policy experts, film stars, historians and military officials will all be on campus this week, bringing their experiences and expertise to share with the UK community.

These visitors have all come to UK as part of a conference on war, journalism and history being held on campus April 8-11. The theme of the conference is "Covering Conflicts in a Modern World," and is sponsored by the University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications, in cooperation with the University of Edinburgh's Centre for the Study of Two World Wars.

The conference will include various topics for discussion such as the role of media in foreign policy, military and media relations, media ethics in conflict reporting, U.S. war reporting from an international perspective, and representations of war in film.

The conference will open with the annual Creason Lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 8, in Room 118 of the White Hall Classroom Building. This year's lecture will feature Tom Curley, president of the Associated Press. His lecture is titled "The Story Behind the Story of the Afghan War."

Participants will include former ambassador and special Middle East envoy Ryan Crocker; Robert Fisk, foreign correspondent and columnist for the London Independent; John Daniszewski, international editor of the Associated Press; film star Steve Zahn; Dale Dye, film producer and military consultant; Ahmed Rashid, Pakistani author and journalist; Molly Bingham and Steve Connors, journalists and documentary makers; Yvonne McEwen of the University of Edinburgh's Center for the Two World Wars; Wadah Khanfar, director general of Al-Jazeera; John Walcott, Washington bureau chief of McClatchy newspapers; Col. Mike Meese, head of the history department at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point; historians George Herring of UK and Clarence Wyatt of Centre College, and Tom Lindlof of the UK School of Journalism and Telecommunications.

The conference is a follow up to a similar event the University of Edinburgh held in November 2007, titled "War, Journalism & History." UK journalism instructor Terry Anderson served as a guest presenter at the conference, sharing his story as a former chief correspondent for the Associated Press and the seven years he spent held hostage in Lebanon. Anderson has organized this week’s conference with the help of the University of Edinburgh.

"The Edinburgh conference was brilliant – a grand success for the university and a fascinating examination of important subjects," Anderson said. "With the help of UE’s Yvonne McEwen and all of our participants, this one should be just as fascinating. Our students, students from area universities and the public will hear some great people from journalism, history, politics and film discussing vital subjects."

A film series that began April 5 and will continue until April 10 will lead up to a public forum on "War in Film" to discuss portrayals of war and history that will be held Sunday, April 11 at 2:30 p.m. in the UK Student Center's Center Theater. The forum will feature actor Steve Zahn ("National Security" and "Rescue Dawn"), producer and military adviser Dale Dye ("Saving Private Ryan," "Platoon," and the new HBO series "The Pacific"), documentary producers Molly Bingham and Steve Connors ("Meeting Resistance"), and UK Telecommunications Professor Tom Lindlof.

To view a full schedule of events, visit warconference.uky.edu.

For more information, contact Terry Anderson at terry.anderson@uky.edu or call (859) 257-6336, ext. 86216.