Troy University News

April 5, 2004

Contact:
Tom Davis :
(334) 670-3196; tomdavis@troy.edu

Office of University Relations
253 Adams Administration
Troy, AL 36082
(334) 670-3196
(334) 670-3274 (fax)

TSU journalism symposium to focus on presidential race

   Troy State University ’s Hall School of Journalism will conduct its annual Symposium on Thursday, April 8, covering the topic “The Presidential Race 2004: Is Past Prologue?”
   The symposium will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Claudia Crosby Theater. A reception will be held at 9 a.m. in the lobby of the theater.
   The symposium will consist of a panel discussion among professionals in the world of journalism and student leaders at TSU. The panelists are M. Stanton Evans, a syndicated columnist and author who since 1980 has served as a visiting professor for the Hall School; Ralph K. Bennett, contributing editor for TechCentralStation and former assistant managing editor for Reader’s Digest; Terry Jones, assistant editor for politics for Investor’s Business Daily and Allan Ryskind, editor at large for Human Events in Washington, D.C.
   The student panelists are Griffin Pritchard of Alexander City, co-editor for the Tropolitan and Holly Peters of Ozark, news director for TSU-TV. The moderator will be Chris Warden , assistant professor of Hall School of Journalism at TSU.
   The day will also feature the presentation of the Excellence in Alabama Journalism Awards at a luncheon in the Hawkins-Adams-Long Hall of Honor.
   Mr. M. Stanton Evans is president of the Education and Research Institute in Washington , D.C. and former director of the National Journalism Center . In addition to serving as a visiting professor at Troy State University for the last 21 years, Mr. Evans has published seven books, written a nationally syndicated column and served as a commentator for CBS Television and Radio. He also was the editor of the Indianapolis News for 14 years.
   Mr. Ralph K. Bennett, contributing editor for TechCentralStation and former assistant managing editor for Reader’s Digest. For over 30 years he wrote on a wide variety of subjects for the magazine. Prior to joining the Digest, he was a writer for The National Observer, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The New Haven Register.
   Mr. Terry Jones, assistant editor for politics for Investor’s Business Daily, overseeing the newspaper’s Washington bureau and editorial page. Mr. Jones started with the newspaper at its inception in 1983 and has covered the presidential races for the last 20 years. Prior to that, Mr. Jones worked for The Associated Press and for Business Week’s Pacific Basin Bureau.
   Mr. Allan Ryskind, editor at large for Human Events. As former editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper, Ryskind covered politics and Capitol Hill issues for more than 40 years. He is the author of several books and is currently working on a book on the influence of communism in Hollywood in the 1950s.