MEDIA ETHICS: WHAT DO AMERICANS WANT TO KNOW? National Summit Feb. 27-March 2 at MTSU to Address Credibility Issues

The second U.S. Media Ethics Summit Conference will convene at Middle Tennessee State University from February 27 ? March 2. This round-table gathering of American professional and academic leaders in media ethics is by invitation only but will also feature special presentations open to the public: on Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. Harvard film-maker Robb Moss will screen and discuss his new film SECRECY; on March 1 at 7:30 p.m. Adam Clayton Powell III will demonstrate new technology ethics issues of the future; on March 2, 10:30 a.m. a panel of participants will summarize the participants? recommendations to the U.S. government, education, and media industries. Sponsored by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, MTSU, and other donors, the Summit II marks the twentieth anniversary of the first Media Ethics Summit Conference co-sponsored by the Times Mirror Foundation and Emerson College in 1987.

Approximately forty delegates from primary media organizations (e.g. the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the International Radio and Television Society, the Society of Professional Journalists, etc.), and from related academic organizations (the National Communication Association, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, etc.), will gather with ethics leaders from related institutes, foundations, and publications to consider 1) ?the last twenty years? of media ethics issues, 2) ?the next twenty years? and 3) what should be done to effect change whether in ethics education, policy, or practice. A group of ?wise elders? who are veteran professional and academic leaders in media ethics will also provide an overview of the direction and issues within media ethics.

Honorable Al Gore, Jr., among others will hold a conversation with the delegates and elders. Following the summit their representatives will speak with the FCC, relevant members of Congress, the White House and with media industry and educational leaders about the state of the field and recommendations for change. Dean Anantha Babilli of MTSU?s College of Mass Communication is host for the event while Dr. Clifford Christians of the University of Illinois and Dr. Tom Cooper, Ethicist-In Residence at MTSU and professor at Emerson College, are co-conveners. Further information is available via Cooper at twcooper@comcast.net and Gina Fann (for press relations) at gfann@mtsu.edu.

More info at MTSU