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Jonathan Alter of Newsweek, NBC,
to speak Oct. 23 at journalism school

CHAPEL HILL - Jonathan Alter, Newsweek senior editor and NBC news correspondent, will speak on "Between the Lines: Politics, Media and Society" on Oct. 23 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication will present the free, public lecture, part of the Roy H. Park Distinguished Lecture Series, at 6 p.m. in the Hanes Art Center auditorium.

Alter has been a correspondent, columnist, editor, author and media critic for more than 20 years. For Newsweek, he writes "Between the Lines," a column examining politics, media, and social and global issues, and "Conventional Wisdom Watch," which assesses and comments on the news.

With Newsweek since 1983, Alter has covered six presidential elections and interviewed American presidents and other world leaders. Major stories he has broken included former federal official William Bennett's gambling habit and a shortage of U.S. military police in Iraq.

For NBC News, Alter has appeared on "Today," "NBC Nightly News," NBC News specials, MSNBC and CNBC. He has written for publications including The New Republic, Esquire, Slate and The New York Times.

Alter's books include "The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope," (Simon & Schuster, 2006). In 1995, he was named one of the nation's most influential media critics in a survey of leading media executives and scholars by the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University.

Alter's speech will be the 14th in the Park series of lectures by outstanding mass communication professionals. The Triad Foundation of Ithaca, N.Y., funds the lectures to enhance its Roy H. Park Fellowship Program in the school. Each year, the foundation provides fellowships for 14 master's and eight doctoral students.

The programs are named for the late Roy H. Park, who was founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Park Communications Inc., a multimedia company with broadcast and print properties throughout the United States. Park was on the school's foundation board from 1981 to 1993 and its board of visitors from 1989 to 1993. In 1989, he received the North Carolina Award, the state's highest civilian honor. He was inducted into the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame, headquartered in the school, in 1990.

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Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/visiting/alter_jonathan.jpg

School of Journalism and Mass Communication contact: Ashley Roukema, (919) 843-0472
News Services contacts: Print, L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589; broadcast, Karen Moon, (919) 962-8595