New York Times reporter and former Jerusalem bureau chief James Bennet will visit the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum on Thursday, Feb. 2, opening a series of spring semester lectures by prominent members of the media on the challenge of objectivity in news reporting. Bennet's discussion, "Reporting from the Middle East: Whose Truth?" will focus on the difficulty of reporting objectively, and of being perceived as reporting objectively. The public portion of the program begins at 6:45 p.m. Seating is free, on a first-come basis.
Bennet began his career at the Washington Monthly in 1988, researching the impact of foreign policy on press relations. In 1994 he joined The New York Times, covering crime, before being named a White House correspondent in 1997. Bennet relocated to the Middle East in 2001, serving as Jerusalem bureau chief and reporting on a broad span of politically sensitive issues related to the Arab-Israeli conflict. In spring 2004, while trying to cover a story, he was the subject of an attempted kidnapping by Palestinians in Gaza.
In 1996, Bennet was named by News Bio as one of "30 under 30," recognizing him as one of the most influential journalists under the age of 30. He has served as a political commentator for Fox News, Larry King Live, and the Charlie Rose Report.
For more information, visit the current Fortnightly: http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/mmca/temp_fn.asp?volumeFN=21&issueFN=05&typeFN=f.