February 28, 2006

NORMAN – With the advent of faster, more immediate news coverage via the Internet, cell phones and 24-hour a day cable news channels, information is passed on to a consumer and becomes public knowledge almost instantaneously.  One particularly hot topic of discussion in news coverage often includes public scandal – who is doing what, where and why. However, the question arises, does media coverage of scandal serve, or fail to serve, U.S. citizens?

Robert Entman will address this issue in a free, public presentation, “A Public Scandal: News Coverage of Official Misconduct,” at 3 p.m. Monday, March 6, in the Scholars Room of Oklahoma Memorial Union, 900 Asp Ave., on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus.  The lecture is being presented as part of OU Assistant Communication Professor Jill Edy’s Presidential Dream Course.

Entman may be best known for his theory of media framing, but in each of his publications, he addresses the key questions of how well our democracy works and how it might work better.  In this lecture, he offers a first glimpse at his latest research – an examination of the dynamics of news media scandal coverage and how it serves, or fails to serve, citizens.

Entman’s pioneering explorations of the relationships between media, government and citizens have resulted in numerous award-winning books, including Democracy Without Citizens, the multiple-award winning The Black Image in the White Mind with Andrew Rojecki and his most recent book, Projections of Power.  A former National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow and National Institute of Mental Health Post-Doctoral Fellow, Entman previously served on the faculties of Duke, Northwestern and North Carolina State universities. He co-edits the book series Communication, Society and Politics for Cambridge University Press with University of Washington media scholar Lance Bennett.

Entman earned his doctoral degree in political science from Yale University and his master of public policy in policy analysis from the University of California, Berkeley.  He currently serves as the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University.

The presentation is sponsored by OU’s Office of the President as part of the Presidential Dream Courses established in 2004 by President David L. Boren, which allows instructors to bring renowned speakers to campus in an effort to enrich the academic environment for students and the general public.

Five of the six Presidential Dream Courses for the 2005-2006 academic year were awarded to departments in the College of Arts and Sciences. The departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Communication, English, History of Science and Religious Studies all are recipients for this year’s special funding.

For more information or accommodations on the basis of disability, contact Edy at (405) 325-3111 or jedy@ou.edu.