Three media professionals, Fred de Sam Lazaro, Gerould Kern and Jad Abumrad, will share their experiences delivering news and information to local and international audiences as a part of the Media School’s spring speaker series, according to an IU press release.
De Sam Lazaro will be the series’ first speaker this month with his talk “Making the Foreign Less Foreign: The Under-Told Stories Project.”
Having served as a PBS “NewsHour” correspondent since 1985, De Sam Lazaro has reported from more than 60 countries, covering topics frequently under-reported in mainstream media, according to the release.
De Sam Lazaro is the director of the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota’s Under-Told Stories Project, which is supported by PBS and engages students in international reporting and media production.
He is also a contributor and substitute anchor for PBS’s “Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.”
Kern will speak in February, presenting “Does Mission Matter? Journalism on the Digital Front Line.”
Kern, senior vice president and editor at the Chicago Tribune, graduated from IU in 1971 with a degree in journalism, according to the release.
With Kern’s leadership, the Tribune has emphasized “watchdog” reporting of issues in Illinois including political corruption, government mismanagement and consumer health and safety. Kern has also overseen the Tribune’s expansion and redesign of print and digital content.
Abumrad will be the final speaker in the series, presenting “Gut Churn,” in March.
Abumrad’s radio show, Radiolab, reaches more than a million people each week, according to the release. In his show, Abumrad combines his interests in music and storytelling.
Abumrad founded Radiolab in 2002 after studying creative writing and music composition at Oberlin College with a background in audio, radio and multimedia.
Radiolab has won two George Foster Peabody Awards, and in 2011, Abumrad was named a MacArthur Fellow. .
All Media School Speaker Series lectures are free and open to the public.
Carley Lanich
