ON THE FRONT LINES: JOURNALISTS ASSESS THE NEW CENSORSHIP. The Keynote Speaker will be Tom Toles, Editorial Cartoonist, The Washington Post. Pulitzer Prizewinner, Editorial Cartooning. This is the second program in a three part series on profound current developments in censorship. Program 1 which took place on May 13, 2006 – Read It While You Can: Challenging the New Censorship and Celebrating Free Speech – introduced the topic and discussed censorship from the 1950s (Edward R. Murrow & the McCarthy Hearings) to the Present.
The main thesis: We live in a time of historic developments in censorship. These developments have been rapid and in some cases, unprecedented. From the collaboration of information technology companies with the Chinese government and others, to the US government investigation of the media for leaks of classified material, coincident with US government sanction of leaks of classified material, to riots over cartoon images, to the editing of official scientific studies by non-scientists, to new emphasis on government propaganda and surveillance, the future of free speech and truth appears to be facing historic threats. This series will examine what is happening and why–and consider where we may be headed.
“Librarians stand tall on the front lines opposing censorship. Sometimes considered staid matrons of order and civility, today’s librarians are guerilla fighters for information freedom and access,” said Michael Mahaney, Director of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. “We not only respect the public’s right to know… We are prepared to fight for it!”
This event is Free and Open to the Public
WHERE: Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, Mason O. Damon Auditorium, 1 Lafayette Square, in downtown Buffalo, NY.
WHEN: 1:00 PM, Saturday, Sept 30, 2006
1:00pm Tom Toles, Keynote Speaker
1:45pm Panel Discussion
Lee Coppola, J.D., Dean, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, NY
Geoff Kelley, Editor, Artvoice
Margaret Sullivan, Editor, Buffalo News
Tom Toles, The Washington Post
Moderator: Patrick Martin, Senior Partner, Kennedy, Stoeckl, and Martin, Buffalo, NY
Participants Biographies:
TOM TOLES, editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post and winner of the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. For years Toles was closely associated with Buffalo where he worked for the Buffalo Courier-Express (1973-82) and then The Buffalo News (1982-2002). In 2002 he moved to the Washington Post. His cartoons appear in more than 200 newspapers throughout the country and on several websites. He received the national Cartoonist Society Editorial Cartoon Award for 2003.
LEE COPPOLA, J.D., dean of the Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication, St. Bonaventure University since 1996. He is a veteran newspaperman, television investigative reporter and federal prosecutor, having won more than 30 local, state and national awards, including the George Polk Award, the National Press Club Award, and the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award.
GEOFF KELLEY, editor of Artvoice, Buffalo’s leading alternative weekly newspaper. His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including The San Francisco Bay Guardian, The Boston Phoenix, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Arabies Trends, and Qatar Today.
MARGARET SULLIVAN, editor in chief of The Buffalo News since 1999. She is the first woman, and only the sixth person, to serve as chief editor of The Buffalo News in its history. In 2001 she was named the company’s first female vice president. Under her leadership, The Buffalo News has won three national journalism awards and, for two consecutive years, earned the Distinguished Public Service award from The New York State Publisher’s Association in competition with the largest downstate newspapers.
Moderator:
PATRICK MARTIN, Senior Partner, Kennedy, Stoeckl, and Martin, general legal counsel Buffalo and Erie County Public Library and a literary agent of the Mark Twain Foundation of New York City and the Mark Twain Papers of U. Cal. Berkeley; President, riverrun, Inc.; Executive Director, Cinegael Buffalo; Producer and Director of films on Nelson Mandela and James Joyce.
Program 3: Censorship and the Future of Information Technology will be held in the Spring of 2007:
www.buffalolib.org
A UB Humanities Institute ‘Celebration of the Book’ Event
This event is sponsored by: Arethusa, The Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences