School of Journalism announces spring speaker series

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists and one of America’s premier media commentators will highlight the IU School of Journalism’s lecture series this spring.

The lecture series, which began in fall 2006, includes Pulitzer Prize-winners Sheryl WuDunn and John F. Burns as well as author and The New Yorker media columnist Ken Auletta.  

WuDunn will speak March 8 at the Indiana Memorial Union Alumni Hall. Her speech is cosponsored by Union Board. She has reported from Myanmar, North Korea and China. Her background is in banking, and she has done long-term coverage of the Chinese economy.

She and her husband were the first married couple to win a Pulitzer for journalism, and she was first Asian-American woman to win a Pulitzer. WuDunn has also co-authored three best-sellers and worked in strategic planning at The New York Times to develop new business opportunities as well as marketing for the circulation department.

Second in the series, Burns will speak March 29 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times chief foreign correspondent and was London bureau chief. Burns, the longest-serving foreign correspondent for The New York Times, was bureau chief in Baghdad until July 2007 and has covered the siege of Sarajevo as well as events in China, India and the Soviet Union. He has also appeared on news programs such as “The Newshour” and  “The Charlie Rose Show.”

Auletta is an author and media columnist for The New Yorker. He will speak April 19 at the Union’s Wittenberger Auditorium. His award-winning profiles have uncovered the inner workings of famous media personalities such as Rupert Murdoch, Michael Eisner and Bill Gates. Auletta is also the author of five best-selling books, including “Googled: The End of The World As We Know It.” He was also the chief political correspondent for the New York Post and a contributing editor of New York Magazine.

All the lectures in the series are at 7 p.m. and open to the public.