Schieffer Symposium: "Obama and the Press: Is the media doing its job?"

Fort Worth, TX

4/2/2009

TCU’s Schieffer School of Journalism held its fifth annual Schieffer Symposium Wednesday, April 1 in the Brown-Lupton University Union Ballroom. Bob Schieffer, CBS Face the Nation moderator, CBS News chief Washington correspondent, and 1959 TCU graduate moderated this year’s Symposium, titled “Obama and the Press: Is the media doing its job?”

“The traditional process of delivering news is changing. No one understands that more than President Obama,” said David Whillock, dean of the College of Communication.  “The President’s use of the Web to reach out to the American public is precedent-setting. Traditional media outlets must adapt to the technology-driven 21st century audience.”

Panelists included David Brooks, columnist for The New York Times; Gwen Ifill, moderator and managing editor of PBS’ Washington Week and author of The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama; Trish Regan, Emmy-nominated correspondent and co-anchor of CNBC’s The Call; and Mark Shields, nationally syndicated columnist and commentator on PBS’ NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

Schieffer moderated the discussion and then allowed questions from the audience. The Schieffer Symposium began five years ago when TCU named its journalism department in Schieffer’s honor.
On Friday, April 3, portions of the symposium be available online at www.newsevents.tcu.edu.

Last year’s symposium panelists included Al Neuharth, founder of USA Today and chairman of the Freedom Forum; Robert Novak, syndicated columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and commentator for Fox News and Bloomberg News; and Roger Mudd, former correspondent for CBS News and NBC News and author of a new book titled The Place to Be: Washington, CBS and The Glory Days of Television News.