SITE: John Seigenthaler Center • 1207 18th Avenue South • Nashville, Tennessee 37212 • 615/727-1306

HOTEL: Embassy Suites Nashville at Vanderiblt • 1811 Broadway, Nashville, Tennessee 37203 • 615/320-8899

Thursday, April 30, 2009

6:30 p.m.

Reception Commodore Room A, Embassy Suites Hotel

7:15 p.m.

Dinner Commodore Room B, Embassy Suites Hotel

8:00 p.m.

This seminar: Its tradition and its history

Doug Lyons, seminar director, senior editorial writer, South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale,
1997 graduate of Minority Writers Seminar

Friday, May 1, 2009

Complimentary continental or cooked-to-order breakfast at Embassy Suites Hotel

8:00 a.m.

Embassy Suites Hotel shuttle leaves on first of two trips to John Seigenthaler Center (615/727-1306)

8:30 a.m.

Welcome Conference Room

John Seigenthaler, The Tennessean chair emeritus and founder of First Amendment Center

9:15 a.m.

Nuts and bolts of opinion writing

Speaker:  Chuck Stokes, editorial/public affairs director, WXYZ Channel 7, Detroit, past NCEW and NCEW Foundation president

9:45 a.m.

Break

10:00 a.m.

Finding your voice

Speaker: Alvin Bessent, editorial writer, Newsday

10:30 a.m.

Simulated editorial board meetings in small groups

Leaders: Alvin Bessent, editorial writer, Newsday

Linda Campbell, editorial writer/columnist, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Tommy Denton, retired editorial page editor, past NCEW and NCEW Foundation president


Ricardo Pimentel, nationally syndicated columnist and editorial page editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Chuck Stokes, editorial/public affairs director, WXYZ Channel 7, Detroit, past NCEW and NCEW Foundation president

11:30 a.m.

Lunch Diversity Institute Student Lounge

12 noon.

Writing session Newsroom

2:30 p.m.

Group photo

3:00 p.m.

Hot-Button First Amendment Issues

Gene Policinski, vice president/executive director, First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University

3:30 p.m.

Shuttle picks up participants for return to Embassy Suites Hotel

Afternoon and evening free: dinner on your own

Saturday, May 2, 2009

8:00 a.m.

Embassy Suites Hotel shuttle leaves on first of two trips to John Seigenthaler Center

8:30 a.m.

“Are You Ready for Your Close-up?” Opinionizing with cameras and microphones—
the words that work in print may not do the trick in video Conference Room

Speaker: Rick Horowitz, syndicated columnist and Emmy-winning TV commentator based in Milwaukee

9:30 a.m.

Small group critique session with leaders

10:15 a.m.

Break

10:30 a.m.

Simulated editorial board meetings in small groups with leaders

11:15 a.m.

Writing session Newsroom

11:45 a.m.

Lunch Diversity Institute Student Lounge

12:15 p.m.

Writing session Newsroom

1:45 p.m.

Break

2:00 p.m.

Moving opinion online and into new media Conference Room

Moderator: Rick Horowitz, syndicated columnist and Emmy-winning TV commentator

Panelists: Linda Campbell, editorial writer/columnist, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Anjuman Ali, interactive editor and editorial writer, Wisconsin State Journal

3:30 p.m.

Embassy Suites Hotel shuttle picks up participants for return to Embassy Suites Hotel

6:30 p.m.

Embassy Suites Hotel shuttle leaves for first of two trips

7:00 p.m. Reception and dinner

Nashville City Club, 201 Fourth Avenue North, 615/244-3693

8:15 p.m.

Speaker: Les Payne, Pulitzer prize-winning reporter, editor and former Newsday columnist

9:30 p.m.

Shuttle picks up participants for return to Embassy Suites Hotel

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Complimentary continental or cooked-to-order breakfast at Embassy Suites Hotel

8:30 a.m.

Group critique session with leaders Titan Room, Embassy Suites Hotel

10:00 a.m.

Evaluation of seminar

11:00 a.m.

Dismissal