Media and community life explored

Kansas journalists, educators and community leaders will join a former U.S. assistant secretary of state in discussing the changing nature of journalism and community life during an April 9 conference at the Rhatigan Student Center.

Hodding Carter III, an award-winning PBS producer who served in President Carter’s administration, will give the keynote talk during the Media and Community Life Conference, which meets from 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

Carter will talk about “The Changing Nature of Media Technologies and Journalism in the late 1990s.” He is currently president of the Knight Foundation and has been a chief correspondent for the PBS documentary series “Frontline.” A Washington-based opinion columnist for The Wall Street Journal, Carter is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and many other newspapers and magazines. He’s also worked for ABC, CBS and CNN. During the Carter administration, he was the State Department’s spokesman during the Iran hostage crisis.

Other presenters at the conference are Davis “Buzz” Merritt, former editor of The Wichita Eagle and consultant on public journalism; Jay Rosen from New York University’s department of journalism and mass communication; Dave Seaton, publisher of The Winfield Daily Courier; Rick Thames, editor of The Eagle; Marion Cott, executive director of the Kansas Humanities Council; and Gayle Davis and Sharon Iorio, WSU faculty members.

The conference will include an interactive discussion on “What do we need to ask ourselves about the future of community relationships in a global world?”

The conference is sponsored by WSU and supported by the Kansas Humanities Council and Knight Foundation.

Registration is $10; call ext. 6493 by April 5.