Don’t Miss: The Institute for Honor When: Friday, 4:00 p.m., Where: Lee Chapel

By Eric Owsley
September 5, 2016

The 15th annual Institute for Honor Symposium, “The Press and the Presidency: The Battle for Public Opinion in War, Peace, and the Digital Age,” will take place Friday, March 18, and Saturday, March 19. The keynote address on Friday, which is free and open to the public, will be delivered by one of the most famous journalists in American history, Carl Bernstein.

Here, courtesy of W&L Class of 1960 Professor of Ethics and Politics Lucas Morel, are five reasons it would be a travesty to skip Bernstein’s lecture:

1. If you liked the Academy Award-winning “Spotlight,” then you’ll love hearing from the reporter who helped define investigative journalism.
2. You’ll hear an expert’s observations on how well the press is reporting the presidential campaigns.
3. As the author of a major biography of Hillary Clinton, Bernstein will offer unique insights on a candidate who may become the next American president.
4. What you learn will give you another reason to see another award-winning film about the press, “All the President’s Men.” The film is based on Bernstein’s book of the same title, about his work with fellow journalist Bob Woodward to investigate the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post.
5. You’ll see why honor and integrity remain essential attributes for a free people and their government.

The Institute will continue on Saturday, with talks by Harold Holzer, winner of the 2015 Lincoln Book Prize for Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion, and Toni Locy, professor of journalism and mass communications at W&L, on the press and the possibility of balance in the Age of Obama. While advance registration is required for all sessions but Friday’s keynote, both Holzer’s and Locy’s talks will be broadcast live online.