TED KOPPEL MODERATES A PANEL OF LEADING JOURNALISTS ON COVERING WAR FOR AMERICA

On Wednesday, November 13, 2002, four renowned journalists – Dexter Filkins, The New York Times, Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker, Johanna McGeary, TIME, and Bob Simon, CBS News – will participate in a panel discussion on a topic of increasing relevance and urgency: the role of the press and the First Amendment during wartime. In an evening intended to honor the countless journalists who have covered modern wartime, the panelists will talk about the challenges and perils of reporting on military actions in the farthest-flung and often most perilous corners of the world.

"In the Trenches: War Reporting and the First Amendment," is sponsored by the Media Law Resource Center, formerly the Libel Defense Resource Center (LDRC). It is a part of MLRC’s twenty-second annual dinner celebration and will take place at 7:30pm at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, 811 Seventh Avenue at 52nd Street in the Imperial Ballroom.

War correspondents and photo-journalists are known for their courage and ingenuity, as well as in_depth knowledge of world crises. But as modern news gathering meets head on with modern warfare, often aerial and diffuse, where access is forbidden or altogether forbidding, how do journalists continue to bring home accurate reports from the front – or even from our government’s press room? Come hear how some top journalists tackle these and other issues that confront them when our nation faces battle.

Dexter Filkins is a reporter for The New York Times. He began covering the conflict in Afghanistan last fall for the foreign desk and was nominated as a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for his work there. Prior to joining The Times, Mr. Filkins was the New Delhi bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times for three years, where he was responsible for coverage in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan among other countries.

Seymour M. Hersh writes for The New Yorker. As one of America’s premier investigative reporters, Mr. Hershhas been covering the politics of the Middle East and South Asia for years. His high-profile career began in 1969 when he exposed the My Lai massacre in South Vietnam. He has won more than a dozen major journalism prizes, including the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting and four George Polk awards.

Johanna McGeary is the Senior Foreign Correspondent for TIME. Ms. McGeary has been reporting for the magazine since 1974 and has covered events in Serbia/Bosnia as well as the current situation in Afghanistan. She has served as TIME’s Jerusalem bureau chief and as world editor and a senior editor of TIME International .

Bob Simon is a correspondent for "60 Minutes II." A 35-year CBS veteran, Mr. Simon has covered virtually every major international story over the last three decades. He has received recognition – including several Emmy Awards, two George Foster Peabody Awards and two Overseas Press Club Awards – for his coverage of war-torn Sarejevo, the Gulf War, genocide in Bosnia and the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Ted Koppel, the moderator, is Anchor and Managing Editor for ABC News’ "Nightline." Mr. Koppel has won every major broadcasting award, including 33 Emmy Awards, six George Foster Peabody Awards, ten duPont-Columbia Awards, nine Overseas Press Club Awards, two George Polk Awards, and two Sigma Delta Chi Awards, the highest honor bestowed for public service by the Society of Professional Journalists. Before his "Nightline" assignment, Mr. Koppel worked as an anchor, foreign and domestic correspondent and bureau chief for ABC News.

The Media Law Resource Center is a non-profit information clearinghouse organized in 1980 by leading media groups to monitor and promote First Amendment rights in libel, privacy, and related fields of law that affect the press and individuals.

For additional media or reservation information, contact MLRC, 212-337-0200 or through our website, www.ldrc.com.

# # #