Department of Communication
Contact: Valerie Endress (401) 456-4781
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Apr. 4, 2013
Rhode Island College Hosts Panel Discussion of Top Reporters on the "Shifting Tides of Investigative Reporting" on April 8
PROVIDENCE, RI–Five of the region’s top investigative journalists will discuss “The Shifting Tides of Investigative Reporting: Perspectives from Leading Practitioners,” during a panel discussion at Rhode Island College on Monday, April 8.
The forum, which will be held in Alger Hall, Room 110, at 11 a.m., is sponsored by the American Democracy Project (ADP), a campus initiative that promotes political engagement throughout the state.
The forum initially was scheduled to be held last month, but the presentation was cancelled due to poor weather conditions.
Jim Taricani, an I-Team investigative reporter for NBC 10 WJAR-TV, will moderate the discussion. Panelists include a number of distinguished and award-winning journalists who will reflect on their roles in changing the political dynamic and offer their perspectives on how investigative journalism has been shaped by the forces of increased rancor and partisanship, shrinking budgets and the explosion of social media.
As seen with the breaking stories of Iran-Contra, Watergate and even Rhode Island’s own Plunder Dome, investigative journalists have played a critical role in forcing transparency and accountability on governmental, corporate and public-sector institutions. The importance of these modern-day whistleblowers will be the topic of (the) discussion.
Panelists include:
Mike Stanton—Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and investigative reporter for the Providence Journal
Mark Curtis—investigative reporter and political analyst for ABC-6, WLNE-TV
Lisa Chedekel—senior writer and co-founder of the Connecticut Health Investigative Team
Jim Hummel—executive director of the “Hummel Report”
Josh Israel—senior investigative reporter for ThinkProgress.org
“Representing both the familiar platforms for investigative reporting (newspaper and television) as well as the new forms spawned through innovative partnerships, our panelists are a mix of old and new paradigms,” said Valerie Endress, ADP director and associate professor of communication at Rhode Island College.
“We’ll ask the panelists to assess both the state of their art and to speculate on what investigative journalism might look like for the next generation,” she said.
According to Kay Israel, associate professor of communication at Rhode Island College, one of the coordinators of the ADP, “The world today has seen both the explosion and implosion of investigative journalism. There are more sources and sites providing information, but those doing the legwork are limited by an audience with shorter attention spans and media organizations with diminished resources.”
RIC faculty, staff, students and alumni are invited to the forum, as well as members of the greater Rhode Island community. This event is offered with the support of the Rhode Island College Committee on College Lectures.
For more information, contact Valerie Endress at (401) 456-4781 or email vendress@ric.edu
