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Johnson, Raasch highlight Chamberlin Lecture program Oct. 2

Sandy Johnson, the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for the Associated Press, and her spouse, Chuck Raasch, the national political writer for Gannett News Service, will speak on the theme of "Covering the 2008 Election" at the Sun Room of the Memorial Union on the ISU campus at 8 p.m.

The lecture is sponsored by the Chamberlin Lecture Fund, the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, and the ISU Committee on Lectures.

"We are honored, especially since we are not even Iowans, though Chuck spends enough time there to be considered an honorary Iowan," Johnson said.

Johnson and Raasch are no strangers to the Great Plains. Both are graduates of South Dakota State University. Johnson started her journalism career working for the AP in North Dakota and later worked in Sioux Falls, S.D., bureau. She has been in Washington, D.C., since 1981 and leads the AP’s coverage of national politics. In 1999, she and her team of AP photographers won the Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Raasch worked for newspapers in South Dakota before joining the Gannett News Service in 1986. In 1989, he was named Gannett’s chief political correspondent.

A pair of nationally prominent journalists will be the first speakers for the inaugural Chamberlin Lecture to be held at Iowa State on Oct. 2.

Chuck Raasch
Courtesy of Gannett News Service, Jeff Franko

"It’s an honor to be associated with such pillars of journalism in Midwestern communities," Raasch added.

Johnson’s Oct. 2 lecture, "Politics and the First Amendment," covers "the turbulent times we live in, from war to politics." She commented that student journalists interested in pursing a career in political reporting ought to cover student or local government for a school paper or local news media.

"Read the work of the best political reporter in the state and try to figure out how they get their stories," Johnson suggested.

Raasch, whose lecture is titled "Defending the Mainstream Media," said that while there have been major changes in technology in the last decade, the principles of journalism remain the same.

"With so much attention being paid to the information superhighway, we must remember that it's the cargo—what is said and debated and reflected—that is the true value of journalism," he said. "And in that regard, the concepts of fairness, objectivity and asking questions that need asking remain constant."

Raasch said journalists have a valuable job in our society and that journalism students need to believe in the necessity of providing information to society. Journalism students must understand the profession's "role in a civil and democratic society, and pursue it with passion."

The Chamberlin Lecture is made possible by a donation from Margaret and Gene Chamberlin, the retired publishers of the Mobridge, S.D., Tribune. Both are ISU alumni. Gene Chamberlin graduated in 1954, majoring in agricultural journalism.

Brian Cooper named this year's Chamberlin/Iowa Newspaper Foundation Fellow

Brian Cooper
Courtesy of Telegraph Herald, Brian Cooper

In addition, the Greenlee School, the Chamberlins and the Iowa Newspaper Foundation are naming a distinguished state journalist to work with students during the week of the Chamberlin Lecture. This year's Chamberlin/INF Fellow is Brian Cooper, the executive editor of the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. Cooper will work with Greenlee students and the Iowa State Daily staff.

"I know it sounds cliché, but I was surprised and honored to have been selected the Iowa Newspaper Foundation's representative for the inaugural Chamberlin program," Cooper said. "Building and maintaining connection and communication between professional journalists and journalism students is vital to our industry’s future."

Cooper said he hoped his stay in Ames would be mutually beneficial.

"While sharing some of my experiences and observations with ISU students and professors, I hope to learn even more from them—starting with how they report for the Internet and print products, and how they themselves consume news," he said.

The public is encouraged to attend the inaugural lecture to learn first-hand the strategies and issues of political coverage in the Internet age and how professionals like Johnson and Raasch apply journalism principles to inform the electorate about candidates and their stances.