Skip to main content

WVU Reed College of Media to host panel discussion on covering the Trump Administration

Festival of Ideas.feature

Download full-size

Every administration has had its run-ins with the press, but the Trump Administration’s relationship with the media has been particularly rocky. West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media will take an in-depth look at that relationship as it hosts the panel discussion Journalism on the Frontlines: Covering the Trump Administration Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mountainlair Ballrooms. The event is part of the David C. Hardesty Jr. Festival of Ideas.

President Trump has called the media “fake news” and journalism the “enemy of the American people.” His administration has restricted access to the White House press briefings and limited the flow of information to the journalists. 

During the moderated-panel event, participants will get to the heart of what it’s like as a media professional to cover the Trump Administration, and discuss why it is now more important than ever for journalists to ask the tough questions and to be the watchdogs of democracy. 

Panelists

Mark Landler, The New York Times, is a White House correspondent. In 24 years at The Times, he has been a diplomatic correspondent, bureau chief in Hong Kong and Frankfurt, European economic correspondent and a business reporter in New York.

Tara McKelvey covers the White House for the  British Broadcasting Corporation. Prior to her current position, McKelvey was a correspondent for Newsweek/The Daily Beast and has reported on topics which include national security issues from the Middle East, South Asia and Russia.

Andrew Scritchfield, photo journalist, is based in Washington, D.C., working for NBC News. In his career at NBC, Scritchfield has interviewed former President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, President George W. Bush, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, among other major political figures. His video of Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly, taken during an Aug. 15 press conference concerning violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, went viral.

Katherine Skiba is the Chicago Tribune’s Washington correspondent. She writes about the White House, Congress, federal agencies, politics and campaigns, policy, political contributions and public corruption. She has been based in Washington since 2000 and has reported on four presidents: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Sarah Westwood, Washington Examiner, is a White House reporter. She previously covered local government for the Marietta (Georgia) Daily Journal. Westwood appears frequently on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN and many talk radio programs, including WMAL’s “Mornings on the Mall” and WTOP News in Washington.

Moderator Hoppy Kercheval, West Virginia MetroNews Network, served as news director until assuming the role of vice president of operations in 1991. In 1993, he created MetroNews Talkline, which has become a signature program of the network.

The event is co-sponsored by the Ogden Newspapers Seminar Series.

Festival of Ideas was created in 1995 by former University president David. C. Hardesty, Jr. It was inspired by events he organized as WVU’s student body president in the 1960s. Today, the lecture series spans the academic year and brings a diverse group of news makers, public figures and thought leaders—along with WVU’s own superstars—to campus to engage the community in important issues of the day.

Other events in the series include: The New Digital Era and the Implications for Education, Oct. 27; Blue Zones: Secrets of a Long Life, Nov. 2; and Cool It: the Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming, Dec. 3

Visit festivalofideas.wvu.edu for updated information on the 2017-2018 season.

-WVU-

cc/pp/09/06/17

CONTACT: Christa Currey
Communications Director
WVU Reed College of Media
304.293.7016; Christa.Currey@mail.wvu.edu

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.