This spring, the Humanities Council’s Program in Journalism presents a series of events that will explore critical issues in today’s media landscape.
The program’s lineup includes two signature events, beginning with How to be a Journalist in an Age of Autocracy on February 13 at 4:30 pm in the Chancellor Green Rotunda. The event will feature Jelani Cobb, dean of the Columbia Journalism School and staff writer for The New Yorker, and Steve Coll, former Columbia Journalism School dean and visiting senior editor for The Economist. Together, they will review lessons journalists learned during Donald Trump’s first presidency and consider ways the media are dealing with his return. The discussion is co-sponsored with the Department of African American Studies.
On April 1, Jodi Kantor, investigative reporter for The New York Times, and Patrick Radden Keefe, staff writer for The New Yorker, visit Princeton for “Getting the Un-gettable:” A Conversation on Black-Box Reporting. The conversation, co-sponsored with Princeton Public Lectures, will examine strategies for reporting inside seemingly impenetrable organizations, governments, and corporations.
Eliza Griswold, director of the Program of Journalism, will moderate both events, which are open to the public.
This semester’s distinguished visiting journalists will engage in conversation with University faculty during two lunchtime talks, also presented by the program. These informal discussions will be held in 16 Joseph Henry House from 12:00 – 1:15 pm, and are open to Princeton faculty, graduate students, and staff. Registration is required.
The lunch talks begin on February 20 with Uncovering Corruption in the 2020s featuring journalist, author, and podcast host Andrea Bernstein (Journalism) in conversation with Razia Iqbal (SPIA), former BBC news anchor. The pair will discuss investigative reporting in an increasingly relativist culture, and the recent January 6 pardons. On February 27, Vinson Cunningham (Journalism), staff writer for The New Yorker, will explore the relationship between oratory and nonfiction prose with Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (African American Studies) during Writing from the Podium. Cunningham will also discuss his debut novel “Great Expectations” at a book talk with author A.M. Homes (Lewis Center for the Arts) on February 19 at Labyrinth Books.
For more information about these events, please visit the Program in Journalism website.
Princeton’s journalism courses were inaugurated in 1957 by a bequest from former New York Herald journalist Edwin F. Ferris. They have since become some of the nation’s most respected journalism seminars—as well as some of the University’s most highly rated classes. In 2018, the faculty voted unanimously to approve transforming the seminars into a formal academic program. Visit the website to learn more about the Program in Journalism.
