Journalist Charles Lewis to speak on public discourse, political dysfunction

Marshall University’s Amicus Curiae Lecture Series will continue its Fall 2018 series with a presentation by veteran investigative journalist Charles Lewis, speaking on the topic of “Twist and Shout: Public Discourse, Political Dysfunction and Democracy in America.” He will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9, at Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall on Marshall’s Huntington campus. Lewis will discuss the importance of having an informed American public to maintain a healthy democracy, and the challenges that arise when so many facts are considered debatable or matters of opinion.

Lewis is a tenured professor of journalism and founding executive director of the Investigative Reporting Workshop at the American University School of Communication in Washington. He is a former producer for ABC News and CBS News 60 Minutes and founder of two Pulitzer Prize-winning news organizations, the Center for Public Integrity, which has earned more than 30 national journalism awards, and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a global network of leading investigative reporters developing online pieces that cross borders.

Lewis also is the author of 935 Lies: The Future of Truth and the Decline of America’s Moral Integrity. He received the MacArthur Fellowship in 2004 and, in 2018, was the recipient of the I.F. Stone Medal of Independence in Journalism from Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation.

The Amicus Curiae Lecture Series is free and open to the public, with sponsorship from the Simon Perry Center for Constitutional Democracy and additional support from the West Virginia Humanities Council.

Next month, the series will present Charles Smith, speaking on “Gerrymandering in America: Revenge of the Anti-Federalists.” He will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, in Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall.