Women reporters will discuss covering the Trump presidency next Wednesday, March 28 in an event hosted by TWU’s Jamison Lecture titled Covering the Trump Presidency: Perspectives from Women Journalists. This is the third annual TWU lecture of its kind which since 2016 has strived to “bring nationally and/or internationally recognized scholars or civic leaders to TWU to promote and raise awareness on subjects related to history,  government, and politics,” according to Dr. Jonathan Olsen who is a part of the event’s planning committee.

It’s been a little over a year under President Trump and the conversation of  “fake news”, “dishonest media” and “attack on press” hasn’t lost its hype. After much brainstorming, this hot topic paired with the evident need to be geared towards TWU’s 87 percent undergraduate female makeup gave life to this germane event.

“We wanted something very topical this year and it occurred to us that looking at the relationship between the media and the Trump White House would be a topic with broad appeal,” Olsen said. “And because of who we are at TWU, we thought that a topic focusing specifically on women journalists and the White House would be especially interesting.”

In 2014, TWU was gifted $1.7 million from the Jamison estate for the lecture and other university needs. The estate from the since passed couple comprised of Alonzo Jamison, who was a former state legislator turned TWU faculty and eventually department member along with his wife Elizabeth Jamison who was a TWU alumna. Both longtime supporters of TWU’s mission have made this integral lecture series possible

“Our goal is for the annual Jamison Lecture to be on par with other speaker series at area universities [...] and by doing so, TWU’s name recognition and stature will continue to grow,” Olsen said. “We feel this year’s lecture will resonate with a wide and diverse audience. We’re quite proud to have created and organized this year’s event.”

Olsen said into this high profile event came a lot of work from the committee’s team of seven to secure quality speakers, organize schedules and coordinate several other nitty-gritty details from stage setup to catering.

Along with returning moderator Krys Boyd who hosts “Think” on KERA, White House reporter Ashley Parker of the Washington Post and political reporter Sabrina Siddiqui of The Guardian will speak on the topic and Olsen said they are excited to join the lecture and do so.

“We think the event will be very interesting and informative for the TWU campus community as well as the greater Denton community and the entire metroplex,” Olsen said. “This topic, in particular, will likely hold special interest for students, academics, and professionals in both politics and journalism. However, gaining a deeper understanding of the relationship between the media and the White House holds value for all of us.”

It is free to the public and will be held in the Multipurpose Classroom Lab. The lecture starts at 7 p.m.

Header image courtesy of Lizbeth Sanchez
Header image layout design by Christopher Rodgers.