Ripon College Days

Meet the press. Tim Russert will open the Institute for Ethical Leadership media conference. [Click to enlarge]

In response to the rapidly changing face of world media, Ripon's Ethical Leadership Program will host a three- day conference next week that will explore the ethics of the media and its role as both a public trust and a private enterprise.

The conference, which has already drawn an overwhelmingly positive response from students, faculty, alumni and community members, will feature three keynote speakers and four panel discussions. The list of panelists has yet to be finalized, but Ripon alum and former CBS news correspondent Richard Threlkeld will moderate. The line-up of keynote speakers consists of the nationally-renowned Tim Russert, Peggy Noonan and Fred Barnes.

Doug Northrop, executive director of the college's Ethical Leadership Program and conference coordinator, has been working on this event since fall of 2004. The subject of media was determined in part because of its social significance, but also due to the college's connection with Threlkeld and continuity with a similar conference held on campus in 1989.

Northrop has worked closely with both faculty and trustees and the All-Star Agency-an organization that boasts access to "virtually every speaker and celebrity in the marketplace"-to make arrangements for the speakers. "We asked faculty and trustees to suggest people who would come and to support our invitations to them, and they have been very forthcoming," Northrop comments.

The first three panels will focus on the areas of government and media, corporate ownership and consolidation and the role of the public. The final panel will serve as a conclusion to the weekend's discussions and panelists will offer suggestions for action.

Junior Drew Davis, an active member of the Ethical Leadership Program, understands the importance of discussing media-related issues as they relate to ethics. "To pass this up would simply be foolish," he says. "The media has become such an important [link] between us and our political leaders and the happenings of the world. We should take the time to better understand its intricacies-its goals and tactics-and how we can identify a truthful and legitimate report from mere speculative and opinionated ones."

Northrop hopes students will take advantage of this conference. "First and foremost I want students to have an exciting insight into the nature and problems of the media," he says. "We tend to get the news we ask for. We as the public have an enormous responsibility and if we're going to have a successful democracy we need to care about the kind and quality of the information we get through the media."

He is confident the speakers and panelists will provide insight into the issues revolving around the media. "We've got good people and topics to stimulate them, and they're going to run with it," he says. "These are not people who read the news; these are people who are investigative reporters who have their own views and things to say."

Organizers hope the conference will not only stimulate debate on these issues, but also help to establish the Ethical Leadership Program's place in the campus community. "Certainly I hope attendees will take away a greater sense of responsibility as media consumers and of the general public responsibility for media scrutiny," says David Seligman, professor of philosophy, who helped guide the event's direction, "but I would be remiss in not hoping that participants will also come away with a sense of Ripon College and the Ethical Leadership Program as places where a lively and stimulating ferment of ideas and conversations are occurring on a regular and continuous basis."

All three keynoters will address the high entertainment content of news and the role of the media in the public's views. They will also explore whether ethical leadership is an attainable goal for the media.

"This conference will provide those in attendance a first-hand look at the media and the opportunity to ask questions of some of the top journalists in the country...We welcome the gathering of people with alternative opinions, meeting together for reasonable inquiry and a search for truth," says President David Joyce. "One of our main goals at Ripon College is to provide an effective educational experience for our students and, I believe, this conference serves as an avenue to reach that goal."

The conference begins Thursday, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. in Great Hall and will run through Saturday afternoon. The event is free of charge and open to both the campus and community. Due to public response, tickets will be required for admission and will be on a first come basis. Ticket information will be announced this week.

Ethics of the Media Conference line-up: A who's who of the weekend's headliners

The conference will provide the campus and community members with the chance to listen and interact with a group of top journalists and political analysts. Read on for a brief biography of each of the speakers and the alumnus moderator.

Tim Russert

The first keynote speaker is Tim Russert, managing editor of "Meet the Press" and political analyst for NBC's Nightly News and Today programs. Russert has been on "Meet the Press," the longest running program in the history of television and the most quoted news program in the world, since 1992.

He's received a host of awards for his work and was dubbed "America's Best Interviewer" by Reader's Digest in 2004 and the most influential journalist in Washington, D.C., by Washington Magazine in 2001.

Russert earned his bachelor's degree at John Carroll University in Ohio and went on to study at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University.

Peggy Noonan

Friday's activities include a lunchtime speech by Peggy Noonan. Noonan is a contributing editor to the Wall Street Journal and a former aide to President Reagan. She has written extensively on political issues over the course of her career. In addition to penning five best-sellers, Noonan writes a weekly column for the Wall Street Journal's editorial page web site and has been published in Forbes, Time and Newsweek, among others. Noonan was the special assistant to President Reagan from 1984-6 and the chief speechwriter for George H.W. Bush during his 1988 campaign.

Fred Barnes

The final keynote speech will come from Fred Barnes, executive editor of the Weekly Standard and co-host of "Beltway Boys" on Fox News. Barnes served as the senior editor and White House correspondent for the New Republic from 1985 to 1995. He was a panelist on "the McLaughlin Group" from 1988 to 1998 and has appeared on Fox's "Special Report," "Nightline," "Meet the Press," "Face the Nation" and "The NewsHour" with Jim Lehrer.

Richard Threlkeld

A member of the class of 1959 with a degree in history and political science, Richard Threlkeld will moderate the weekend's four panels.

Threlkeld's list of credentials stem from his work with local television and radio stations in Kentucky and Iowa after his graduation from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern. He went on to spend 16 years as a correspondent for CBS News in Los Angeles, Singapore, Saigon, San Francisco, Rome and New York. He was the chief foreign correspondent for ABC from 1980 to 1989 and then returned to CBS where he covered the Clinton presidency and was the Moscow correspondent.

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