War and Journalism Highlight UK Conference

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 23, 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."

The conference will feature top journalists, public policy experts, historians and military officials.

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.

"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."

Conference 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.

A film series consisting of the feature films "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Killing Fields," as well as the award-winning documentaries "Meeting Resistance" and "The Control Room" will be shown the week of the conference in campus theaters, then discussed at the "War in Film" public forum on Sunday, April 11.

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.