Inaugural Taricani Lecture features John King
The Harrington School of Communication and Media is pleased to present our featured speaker of the Taricani Lecture on First Amendment Rights to honor the memory of James Taricani.
John King streams live from 5 – 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, April 21. The discussion honors the work of respected journalist, James Taricani, who worked tirelessly in support of first amendment rights. It will be moderated by Laurie White-Taricani, and is a free, virtual lecture open to the public, entitled “From Taricani to Trump: Lessons Learned on a Journey from Rhode Island to Washington and Beyond“.
About John King
Photo courtesy of CNN
John King is CNN’s chief national correspondent and anchor of Inside Politics, an hour-long program featuring a panel of top-tier political correspondents that airs weekdays at noon.
An award-winning journalist, King has covered the past nine presidential elections and has reported from all 50 states and more than 70 countries.
King is pivotal to the network’s daily reporting and breaking news coverage and participates in major events such as CNN’s 2020 Election Night in America coverage. Past campaign experience includes moderating three presidential primary debates in 2012. This past election was the fourth cycle in which King’s reporting included use of CNN’s “Magic Wall,” which was first introduced in 2008 and was also integral part of the network’s Emmy award-winning 2012 election night coverage.
King joined CNN in May 1997 and became chief national correspondent in April 2005. He served as CNN’s senior White House correspondent from 1999 to 2005, where his duties included reporting on the Iraq war and the September 11th terrorist attacks. Before joining CNN, King was an Associated Press correspondent for 12 years. His AP duties included several major international events, including the Persian Gulf War, and serving as lead political correspondent for the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections.
Laurie White-Taricani invites us to participate, stating: “The basic tenets of responsible journalism – accuracy, fair-mindedness and context, will be reinforced for today’s generation of college students as part of the Taricani Lecture Series on First Amendment Rights. We are honored that John King, whose roots are deep in local newspapering, will share his insights on why a free press has never been more important – locally and globally.”
King is a native of Boston and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Rhode Island. He also has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from URI (2010), American University and Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
Jim Taricani, H’18, the husband of Laurie White, ’81, was a veteran Rhode Island journalist and nationally respected investigative reporter for nearly four decades with WJAR-TV and a valued member of the URI family. Shortly after he passed away in 2019, Jim’s family announced the creation of the Taricani Lecture Series on First Amendment Rights to honor his memory and his work. As a champion of the news media’s First Amendment rights, Jim was dedicated to protecting those rights, which he saw as critically important to society.
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