JACKSON, Tenn. — April 15, 2009 — The changing media environment will be the topic for the next Town and Gown series at 51社区 on Thursday nights from April 16-May 14.
The Town and Gown series is an opportunity for community members interested in various topics to attend lectures and participate in discussions in a classroom setting. The classes are free and open to the public.
The upcoming series, 鈥淢ass Media in a Changing World,鈥� will include addresses from professionals in various media outlets who will discuss changes in the media and how those changes are affecting their audiences.
鈥淚n a democratic society news is important, and informed people make the best choices,鈥� said Union journalism professor Michael Chute. 鈥淲ith changes in communication, moves to partisan press, losing some media outlets and the buying up of others by big corporations, that really can impact the flow of information and the way citizens can make good decisions.鈥�
Scheduled topics and speakers for each week are:
- April 16, journalism: Art Toalston, news editor of Baptist Press in Nashville, Tenn., and Steve Coffman, executive editor of The Jackson Sun.
- April 23, broadcasting: Fred Jackson, news director of American Family Network, and Keli McAlister, news anchor and executive producer at WBBJ in Jackson.
- April 30, public relations and advertising: speakers to be determined.
- May 7, photojournalism: Dave Harrison, director of photography at the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., and Helen Comer, multimedia editor for The Jackson Sun.
- May 14, media ethics: Tom Cooper, professor of media and visual arts at Emerson College in Boston, Mass.
Classes will run from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and will meet in room D-52 in the Penick Academic Complex. For more information, call Chute at (731) 661-6594.