Presented By: Wallace House Center for Journalists
The 39th Graham Hovey Lecture with Christopher Baxter of Spotlight PA
“Keeping the Promise: A Free Press in the Age of Distrust”
"Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that can not be limited without being lost." - Thomas Jefferson
Two hundred fifty years ago this summer, a group of delegates in Philadelphia signed a document that risked everything on a single conviction: that ordinary people, given truthful information about those in power, could govern themselves. But that promise is harder to keep every year. The Information Age has transformed into information overload; it’s more difficult than ever to know what to trust, and in cities and towns across America, there are far fewer independent reporters demanding government transparency and holding our officials to account.
Join Christopher Baxter, 2016 Knight-Wallace Fellow and founder of the Pennsylvania nonprofit newsroom Spotlight PA, for a discussion on how local news lost its way, why the future of our free society and the future of a free press are inextricably linked — as the founders understood in 1776 — and what journalists and the public can do to ensure the press can fulfill its constitutional role in service to "We the People."
This is an in-person event and will not be live-streamed. However, a recording of the lecture will be available on our website following the event.
About the Speaker
Christopher Baxter is the CEO, president and founding editor of Spotlight PA, a nonpartisan, nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania, where he oversees all aspects of the organization. His work as an investigative reporter and editor has prompted meaningful change, prompting new laws and regulations, criminal investigations, resignations and legislative hearings. He received the 2014 Livingston Award for local reporting for an investigation that exposed how weak oversight allowed New Jersey private schools for students with disabilities, despite being fully funded by taxpayers, to engage in questionable spending practices. As a 2016 Knight-Wallace Fellow, Baxter explored how to support, promote and integrate enterprise journalism in digital-first newsrooms.
About the Graham Hovey Lecture
The annual Graham Hovey Lecture recognizes a Knight-Wallace journalist whose career exemplifies the benefits of a fellowship at the University of Michigan and whose ensuing work is at the forefront of our national conversations. The event is named for the late Graham Hovey, director of the fellowship program from 1980 to 1986 and a distinguished journalist for The New York Times.
Two hundred fifty years ago this summer, a group of delegates in Philadelphia signed a document that risked everything on a single conviction: that ordinary people, given truthful information about those in power, could govern themselves. But that promise is harder to keep every year. The Information Age has transformed into information overload; it’s more difficult than ever to know what to trust, and in cities and towns across America, there are far fewer independent reporters demanding government transparency and holding our officials to account.
Join Christopher Baxter, 2016 Knight-Wallace Fellow and founder of the Pennsylvania nonprofit newsroom Spotlight PA, for a discussion on how local news lost its way, why the future of our free society and the future of a free press are inextricably linked — as the founders understood in 1776 — and what journalists and the public can do to ensure the press can fulfill its constitutional role in service to "We the People."
This is an in-person event and will not be live-streamed. However, a recording of the lecture will be available on our website following the event.
About the Speaker
Christopher Baxter is the CEO, president and founding editor of Spotlight PA, a nonpartisan, nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania, where he oversees all aspects of the organization. His work as an investigative reporter and editor has prompted meaningful change, prompting new laws and regulations, criminal investigations, resignations and legislative hearings. He received the 2014 Livingston Award for local reporting for an investigation that exposed how weak oversight allowed New Jersey private schools for students with disabilities, despite being fully funded by taxpayers, to engage in questionable spending practices. As a 2016 Knight-Wallace Fellow, Baxter explored how to support, promote and integrate enterprise journalism in digital-first newsrooms.
About the Graham Hovey Lecture
The annual Graham Hovey Lecture recognizes a Knight-Wallace journalist whose career exemplifies the benefits of a fellowship at the University of Michigan and whose ensuing work is at the forefront of our national conversations. The event is named for the late Graham Hovey, director of the fellowship program from 1980 to 1986 and a distinguished journalist for The New York Times.
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