UK to Host Conference on War and Journalism

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 25, 2010) − 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, will present a conference on war, journalism and history in Lexington, Ky., April 8-11, 2010. The theme of the conference is "Covering Conflicts in a Modern World."

[IMAGE1]The conference will feature top journalists, public policy experts, historians and military officials. Actor Steve Zahn will be in attendance as well, discussing how war is portrayed in film.

 Other topics for discussion will include:

--The role of media in foreign policy

--Military and media relations

--Media ethics in conflict reporting

--U.S. war reporting from an international perspective

--Representations of war in film

The conference will open with the annual Creason Lecture April 8. This year's lecture will feature Tom Curley, president of the Associated Press.

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 is now organizing the upcoming April conference with the help of the University of Edinburgh.

Conference participants will include 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; former ambassador and special Middle East envoy Ryan Crocker; John Daniszewski, international editor of the Associated Press; Robert Fisk, foreign correspondent and columnist for the London Independent; 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.

Seminars and paper presentations will take place April 9 and 10. A public discussion of the film series will be held Sunday, April 11.

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

Conference on war, journalism and history to feature film star Steve Zahn, top journalists, military officials and many more.