School Of Journalism And Mass Communication Hosts CNN Journalists, Town Hall Meeting At CU-Boulder

Two veteran CNN journalists will participate in a town hall meeting on the topic "Are You Getting What You Want from the News" hosted by the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Journalism and Mass Communication on Thursday, Sept. 20.

The event will begin at 5:15 p.m. in Hale Science Building room 270. The panel discussion also will feature Joanne Ostrow, television critic for the Denver Post. The public is invited to attend.

"The audience for news is growing increasingly elusive, as newspapers see their readership slide and television newscasts see their audiences shrink," said Meg Moritz, associate dean of the school and organizer of the event. "CNN is acutely aware of this viewer erosion as Fox and MSNBC continue to make significant inroads into what had been almost their exclusive territory.

"The town hall meeting format is designed to encourage a broad discussion about what audience members want from news coverage," she said. "I'm particularly happy to have Joanne Ostrow interact with our visitors who have so much experience with CNN. It should be a fascinating discussion."

The panel will include David Bernknopf, who formerly served as CNN's vice president of news planning, and Ted Rubenstein, an award-winning news and documentary producer.

Bernknopf and Rubenstein are among three CNN journalists who will be visiting the School of Journalism and Mass Communication Sept. 17-25. Bernknopf is a Hearst Professional in Residence and has visited the school for a week each fall for the past five years. He will be in residence Sept. 17-25.

Rubenstein will visit Sept. 18-20 and Stephanie Oswald, CNN's travel reporter, will be on campus Sept. 17-18.

According to Moritz, the CNN news experts will give guest lectures, workshops and seminars, in addition to meeting individually with students, during their on-campus visits. For more information on scheduled events, call Lynn Householder at (303) 402-5007.

CU-Boulder's School of Journalism and Mass Communication provides a variety of degree programs for students interested in journalism and media careers. Undergraduate program offerings include advertising, broadcast news, broadcast production management, news-editorial and media studies.

Graduate degree programs are offered in mass communication research, newsgathering, integrated marketing communications, environmental journalism and communication. For more information call (303) 492-5007 or visit the school's Web site at www.colorado.edu/Journalism.