February 2010 Archives

In conjunction with the Off-Broadway debut of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, conversations spotlight journalists, scholars, jurists and public policy leaders

With the nation involved in two wars and facing continuing threats of terrorism, USC Annenberg’s Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) presents TOP SECRET TALKS, a timely examination of the tension between the government’s need for secrecy and the public’s right to know, in conjunction with the New York production of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers.

As issues of government classification—and declassification—confront the current administration and as the Internet opens new frontiers for the disclosure of confidential information, Top Secret Talks promises a month long series of conversations with leading journalists, scholars and policymakers about the modern lessons of the Pentagon Papers story.

Individual programs are presented by organizations such as the Columbia Journalism Review, Human Rights Watch, NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service, the Asia Society, The New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU and the Center for Public Integrity. Speakers will include Daniel Ellsberg, the former Defense and State Department official who gave the Pentagon Papers to the Washington Post; legendary Washington Post investigative reporter  Carl Bernstein; Leslie Gelb, who led the Department of Defense project that produced the Pentagon Papers; New York Times managing editor Jill Abramson; Washington Post editor Marcus Brauchli; and playwright Geoffrey Cowan; among others. Continue reading for a more detailed schedule.

 USC Annenberg's Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) presents Top Secret Talks, a series of conversations among journalists, scholars, and public policy leaders exploring the tension between the government's need for secrecy and the public's right to know. Guests include Geoffrey Cowan, USC university professor and CCLP director, and other special guests. The series is presented in conjunction with the New York production of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, co-written by Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons.

8:00 p.m. performance. 9:30 p.m. discussion. New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. 4th Street, New York, N.Y.

USC Annenberg's Center on Communication Leadership & Policy  (CCLP) presents Top Secret Talks, a series of conversations among journalists, scholars, and public policy leaders exploring the tension between the government's need for secrecy and the public's right to know. Guests include William E. Buzenberg, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity; Sheila Coronel, director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, Columbia University and the founder of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism; and Bill Kovach, chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists. Their topic:  “Investigative Journalism: Then and Now.” Co-sponsored by the Center for Public Integrity. The series is presented in conjunction with the New York production of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, co-written by Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons.

8:00 p.m. performance. 9:30 p.m. discussion. New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. 4th Street, New York, N.Y.

USC Annenberg's Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) presents Top Secret Talks, a series of conversations among journalists, scholars, and public policy leaders exploring the tension between the government's need for secrecy and the public's right to know. This special program celebrates the legacy of Leroy Aarons, acclaimed journalist, author, activist, and co-writer of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers. Guests include Charles Kaiser, author of Full Court Press and founder and former president of the New York Chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. Co-sponsored by Joshua Boneh and Millie Harmon Meyers. The series is presented in conjunction with the New York production of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, co-written by Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons.

2:00 p.m. performance. 3:30 p.m. discussion. New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. 4th Street, New York, N.Y.

To listen to an audio recording of this discussion, please click here.

 

USC Annenberg's Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) presents Top Secret Talks, a series of conversations among journalists, scholars, and public policy leaders exploring the tension between the government's need for secrecy and the public's right to know. This special program includes a panel discussion with Jill Abramson, managing editor of the New York Times; Carl Bernstein, legendary investigative reporter, Norm Pearlstine, chief content officer, Bloomberg, L.P.; moderated by Geoffrey Cowan, USC university professor and CCLP director. Welcoming remarks by Stephen Graham, founding trustee of New York Theatre Workshop and son of Katharine Graham. The series is presented in  conjunction with the New York production of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, co-written by Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons.

8:00 p.m. performance. 9:30 p.m. discussion. New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. 4th Street, New York, N.Y.

To listen to an audio recording of this discussion, please click here.

USC Annenberg's Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) presents Top Secret Talks, a series of conversations among journalists, scholars, and public policy leaders exploring the tension between the government's need for secrecy and the public's right to know. Carroll Bogert, associate director of Human Rights Watch, moderates a panel with Marcus Brauchli, executive editor of The Washington Post and Tim Weiner, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. Their topic: “An Evening with Human Rights Watch.” Co-sponsored by Human Rights Watch. The series is presented in conjunction with the New York production of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, co-written by Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons.

8:00 p.m. performance. 9:30 p.m. discussion. New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. 4th Street, New York, N.Y. 

To listen to an audio recording of this discussion, please click here.

USC Annenberg's Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) presents Top Secret Talks, a series of conversations among journalists, scholars, and public policy leaders exploring the tension between the government's need for secrecy and the public's right to know. Steve Wasserman, fellow at NYU’s New York Institute for the Humanities, moderates a panel with Todd Gitlin, author and journalist, and David Rudenstine, author of The Day the Presses Stopped: A History of the Pentagon Papers and former dean of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Their topic: “The Language of Torturers: The Pentagon Papers, Then and Now.” Co-sponsored by the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU. The series is presented in conjunction with the New York production of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, co-written by Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons.

8:00 p.m. performance. 9:30 p.m. discussion. New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. 4th Street, New York, N.Y. 

To listen to an audio recording of this discussion, click here.

USC Annenberg's Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) presents Top Secret Talks, a series of conversations among journalists, scholars, and public policy leaders exploring the tension between the government's need for secrecy and the public's right to know. Guests include Jonathan Schell, author and journalist, in conversation with Orville Schell, Arthur Ross director of the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations.  Their topic: “The Learned and Unlearned Lessons of the Vietnam War and the Nixon Administration.” Co-sponsored by the Asia Society. The series is presented in conjunction with the New York production of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, co-written by Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons. 

7:00 p.m. performance. 8:30 p.m. discussion. New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. 4th Street, New York, N.Y.

To listen to an audio recording of this discussion, click here.

 CCLP hosted Alec Ross, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Senior Advisor for Innovation, for a visit to Los Angeles in February 2010 for a series of discussions about the impact of technology – current and potential – on key issues on the U.S. foreign policy and development agenda. 

CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan and USC Annenberg Dean Ernest J. Wilson III brought together entertainment, media, and academic leaders to explore ways in which their experience and expertise might facilitate the application of mobile, web and other rapidly evolving technologies in areas like human rights, economic development and women’s empowerment.

USC Annenberg's Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) presents Top Secret Talks, a series of conversations among journalists, scholars, and public policy leaders exploring the tension between the government's need for secrecy and the public's right to know. Guests include Geoffrey Cowan (right), USC University Professor and CCLP director and Bob Shrum, veteran political consultant and senior fellow, NYU Wagner. Cosponsored by the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. The series is presented in conjunction with the New York production of Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, co-written by Cowan.

8:00 p.m. performance. 9:30 p.m. discussion. New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. 4th Street, New York, N.Y.

To listen to an audio recording of this discussion, click here.

Everyone knows from American history class that the First Amendment is the great protector of press freedom in the United States, barring Congress from "abridging" the sacred right to publish what you want to publish.

So does that means there's a constitutional wall that separates government and the press, just as it separates church and state?

Not exactly. Contrary to popular perception, the Constitution has not prevented the government from being a supporter of the press, and in fact it has been a generous benefactor since the founding of the country.

In a report issued at USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, my colleague Geoffrey Cowan and I concluded that federal, state and local governments have contributed billions of dollars a year to the commercial news business.