Veteran journalist visits campus to discuss 2012 campaign

Contact: Cheryl Roland

KALAMAZOO--The role of media in the 2012 presidential campaign will be the topic when nationally renowned journalist Steven V. Roberts takes the podium at 6 p.m. Monday, April 2, in the Fetzer Center's Kirsch Auditorium at Western Michigan University.

Photo of Steven V. .

Roberts

Roberts, the Shapiro Professor of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, has covered 11 presidential campaigns during his 45-year career as a reporter for such organizations as the New York Times, U.S. News & World Report and ABC. He will discuss "Politics, Democracy and the Fourth Estate: The Role of the Media in Campaign 2012," when he speaks as part of the Communication and Community Distinguished Lecture Series sponsored by WMU's School of Communication.

The event is free and open to the public, and parking is available in the Fetzer Center lot.

Roberts attended Harvard University and was editor of the Harvard Crimson. Upon graduating, he was hired by the New York Times as a research assistant to the legendary James Reston. Roberts spent the next 25 years at the Times, where he rose to assignments as bureau chief in Los Angeles and Athens, and as congressional and White House correspondent. A senior writer at U.S. News for seven years, he specialized in national politics and foreign policy.

Today, in addition to his teaching duties, he appears as a political analyst on the ABC radio network and is a substitute host on NPR's "Diane Rehm Show." He also regularly appears as a pundit on CNN and on "Washington Week in Review" and "Hardball with Chris Matthews."

Roberts and his wife, television journalist Cokie Roberts, write a nationally syndicated newspaper column together. The column, which appears in more than 500 papers across the nation, has been named one of the 10 most popular columns in America by Media Matters.

Roberts is the recipient of several awards for his reporting, including the Dirksen Award for covering Congress and the Wilbur Award for reporting on religion and politics. He also is a best-selling author. His books include "From This Day Forward," co-written with Cokie Roberts; a childhood memoir titled "My Fathers' Houses;" and his most recent book, "From Every End of This Earth," which is about the immigrant experience in America.

For more information, contact Dr. Leigh Ford, director of the School of Communication at leigh.ford@wmich.edu or (269) 387-3133.