International journalists to discuss experiences reporting in India

Collaborating with the School of Journalism and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, the India Studies Department will host a conference next week titled “Reporting India” in the Indiana Memorial Union’s State Room East. \nOn Monday and Tuesday, several prominent journalists will recount their experiences reporting during India’s evolution as an independent nation. Speakers are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Monday and from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Tuesday.\nSumit Ganguly, director of the India Studies Program, said the conference will inform people of India’s transformation through the eye of journalists.\n“This (conference) will enable Americans to learn how American journalists over time have reported on India, and what it was like to report from India,” Ganguly said. \nConference attendees will learn how the journalists reported on particular issues throughout India’s development, Ganguly said, from foreign policy to the evolution of Indian society. \n“All of these (journalists) are very able, very thoughtful people who reported with considerable skill and sensitivity and knowledge,” he said.\nThe conference will begin with former New York Times and Washington Post editorialist Karl Meyer, who will present a lecture titled “The Changing Faces of India as seen from the U.S.” Meyer has also been the editor of the World Policy Journal since 2000.\nSpeaking on the political struggles of India during the 1990s, Barbara Crossette will present “India as a Regional Power: Reporting on External and Internal Political Crises.” \nCrossette is a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times and author of several books about Southeast Asia. She is currently a freelance writer and travel journalist on international affairs. Her lecture will be presented at 3 p.m. Monday.\nSadanand Dhume, a former Indonesia correspondent and New Delhi bureau chief for the Far Eastern Economic Review, will wrap up the conference lecture. Dhume, who also writes for Wall Street Journal Asia, will give a lecture titled “The Challenges of being a Foreign Correspondent in India” at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday.\nAlthough Ganguly said the idea for the “Reporting India” conference was his own, he credited the School of Journalism and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research with financial and organizational support. \n“(Their support) has been critical, and the conference could not have happened without them,” Ganguly said. “Here is an opportunity for students, faculty and the larger community to be here to hear (the journalists) over the course of two days. All are highly skilled and noted journalists, and did extraordinary reporting of India for their magazines and stations.” \nFor more information about the conference and the full list of speakers, call the India Studies department at 855-5798.