Some of the world's leading journalism and mass communications scholars will gather in Central New York this week for a symposium sponsored by Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The event, which will be held April 25-26 at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel and Conference Center, will focus on the results of a 10-country study on how news is defined. It will also include a special session to discuss how the events of Sept. 11 were covered by news media around the world.
One of the primary investigators in the study, Dr. Pamela J. Shoemaker, is the John Ben Snow Professor--an endowed research chair-at the Newhouse School. The 10-country study is based on her 1996 suggestion that human beings are hard wired for news, monitoring their environment for deviant occurrences that can be both positive and negative. "In these turbulent times, understanding how our daily lives are shaped by news, and how conceptions of news differ across cultures, is critical to resolving our differences," says Shoemaker.
Throughout the symposium, scholars from Russia, Australia, China, Germany, the United States, Chile, India, Israel, Jordan and South Africa will present their findings on how journalists, public relations practitioners and news consumers define what is news in their own countries.
News appearing on television, in newspapers, and on radio will also be discussed.
More information on the symposium and its program can be found at:
http://web.syr.edu/~snowshoe/symposium.html
