Access to government information around the world will be the focus of this year’s conference on Media and Democratic Governance at the Newark campus of Rutgers University. The conference, which takes place Friday, April 12, 2013 from 10am to 3pm, is jointly sponsored by the Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration and by an international journalists’ organization, the Center for Media and Peace Initiatives. The event is free and open to the public, however registration is required: http://www.formstack.com/forms/?1424415-WHFSyF6wfp.
Keynote speaker Daniel J. Metcalfe (left) is a Washington attorney specializing in freedom of information law. He is also executive director of the Collaboration on Government Secrecy and an adjunct faculty member of the American University Law School in Washington.
The morning session will focus on government secrecy in countries and regions of the world that lack democratic governance and free press, such as China, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union. There will be a break at noon for a brown bag lunch, when Metcalfe will speak. The afternoon session is a panel on U.S. freedom of information laws – fact or faction – which includes Ronald Miskoff, president of the Foundation for Open Government; John Paff, a Libertarian Party leader who is an outspoken advocate of open government, and others.
This conference is invaluable for American and international journalists, and practitioners, scholars and students of public affairs and administration, political science and journalism.
The Rutgers-Newark campus is only a half hour from lower or midtown Manhattan by public transportation. For those who drive, parking is available. The conference location is the Center for Urban and Public Service, 111 Washington Street, Newark, in Room 203. For further information, contact Professor Michael Gershowitz at
(973) 353-3703 or mgersh@andomeda.rutgers.edu or Professor Robert Shick at (973) 353-5336 or rshick@andromeda.rutgers.edu.
About Rutgers-Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA)
http://spaa.newark.rutgers.edu
The School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at Rutgers-Newark educates and motivates students to choose careers in public service and administration through its innovative and comprehensive Public Service (BA), Master of Public Administration (MPA), Executive MPA, PhD, and professional and graduate certificate programs. The school’s faculty generates knowledge and best practices in public service and administration, and collaborates with public and nonprofit sector organizations and professionals throughout the U.S. and the world. Guided by the principles of knowledge, competence, diversity, and service – with an emphasis on public service values and competencies for effective performance – SPAA promotes accountability, transparency, and performance in the public and nonprofit sectors.
U.S. News & World Report ranks Rutgers SPAA in Newark:
- 4th nationally in Information and Technology Management
- 7th nationally in Public Management/Administration
- 10th nationally in Public Finance and Budgeting
- 11th nationally in City Management and Urban Policy
- 18th nationally in Nonprofit Management
- 23rd nationally in Public Affairs
- 24th nationally in Public Policy Analysis
About the Center for Media and Peace Initiative (CMPI)
http://cmpimedia.org
The Center for Media and Peace Initiative (CMPI) is an independent, international, nonprofit organization dedicated to the highest standards in journalism, primarily through the further training of journalists and media professionals. With a great reliance on its extensive international network, the center operates as a facilitator and partner in a wide variety of training projects, publishes and disseminates significant communication scholarship and advances the communication discipline through meaningful research, teaching and service. CMPI shares a commitment to make better sense of the role that communication plays in global politics and explores the connection between communication and conflict.
