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Last modified: Monday, September 10, 2012

Weekly Standard's Andrew Ferguson to open IU School of Journalism lecture series

CBS' Byron Pitts and Washington Post's Rajiv Chandrasekaran also speaking this fall

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 10, 2012

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University School of Journalism will welcome a national news magazine editor, a Washington Post correspondent and a "60 Minutes" contributor as part of its lineup of fall speakers.

Andrew Ferguson

Andrew Ferguson

Print-Quality Photo

Andrew Ferguson, a senior editor at The Weekly Standard, and "60 Minutes" correspondent Byron Pitts will be the two Speaker Series guests. Rajiv Chandrasekaran, senior correspondent at The Washington Post, is the inaugural guest for the journalism school's Faculty Lectureship. All talks are free and open to the public.

Ferguson will kick off the Speaker Series at 7 p.m. Sept. 24 in the auditorium of Ernie Pyle Hall, 940 E. Seventh St. In addition to his work at The Weekly Standard, he is the author of "Crazy U: One Dad's Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College," which New Line Cinema is developing into a motion picture starring Will Ferrell.

He also is author of "Land of Lincoln," which was named by The Wall Street Journal and the Chicago Tribune as a "Favorite Book of the Year." He'll talk about the Lincoln book during his visit.

Formerly a senior writer for Washingtonian magazine, Ferguson has been a contributing editor to Time magazine and a columnist for Fortune, TV Guide, Forbes FYI, National Review, Bloomberg News and Commentary. He frequently appears as a commentator on network and cable television, and on NPR.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran

Rajiv Chandrasekaran

Print-Quality Photo

The first of the school's faculty lectureship speakers, Chandrasekaran will talk at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 24 in the Ernie Pyle Hall auditorium. He is a senior correspondent and associate editor of The Washington Post, where he has served as national editor and as an assistant managing editor.

Previously, he was the Post's bureau chief in Baghdad, where he was responsible for covering the reconstruction of Iraq and supervising a team of Post correspondents. He also was the newspaper's bureau chief in Cairo and was a correspondent in Southeast Asia.

From 2009 to 2011, Chandrasekaran reported on the war in Afghanistan and relied on that experience in writing his new book, "Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan." He also is author of the award-winning "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," an account of the American effort to reconstruct Iraq.

Pitts will wrap up the Speaker Series at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave., in downtown Bloomington. He is a contributor for CBS' "60 Minutes" and chief national correspondent for "CBS Evening News." His work for "60 Minutes" includes war reporting in Afghanistan, where he was embedded with troops; celebrity profiles; and reports on innovations such as educational approaches for at-risk youth.

Pitts' honors include two national Emmys, one for his coverage of a Chicago train wreck and one for his Sept. 11 reporting. His work also has won four Associated Press awards and six regional Emmys.

His book, "Step Out on Nothing," recounts his childhood struggles to overcome illiteracy and a persistent stutter, and his eventual graduation from college and pursuit of a broadcast journalism career.

The School of Journalism Speaker Series gives students and area residents the opportunity to meet with some of the top media professionals in the country. The School of Journalism Faculty Lectureship brings to campus an exemplary media professional or a distinguished media scholar. The lecturer is nominated and chosen by the School of Journalism faculty.