ODU's St. John to Discuss Public Journalism on 'With Good Reason' Dec. 16

Burton St. John III, assistant professor of communication at Old Dominion University, will be a guest on an upcoming edition of the radio program "With Good Reason."

He will speak about a new book he co-edited, "Public Journalism 2.0: The Promise and Reality of a Citizen-Engaged Press," for the program, which will air at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, on WHRV-FM in Hampton Roads.

The show will ask the following question: Can Internet news gatherers who are not traditional, professional journalists help regenerate the movement called public or civic journalism that was first envisioned two decades ago by a loose-knit group of newspaper editors and academics? St. John's answer is a qualified yes.

St. John's ongoing research interests focus on the strains between the journalism and public relations industries about propaganda and how that tension affects the quality of journalism's connections with communities. More specifically, he explores how this tension surfaces in journalism and public relations ethics, the conventions of journalism and the public journalism movement.

Also on the Dec. 16 show, Matthew Wasniewski, a graduate of James Madison University who was recently appointed as the fourth official historian of the U.S. House of Representatives, will speak about his profession.

"With Good Reason" is produced for the Virginia Higher Education Broadcasting Consortium by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and is broadcast in partnership with public radio stations in Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Archive audio files of the full program can be found at http://www.withgoodreasonradio.org/2009/03/entrepreneurs-born-not-made.

Other broadcast times and stations for the program are available at http://www.withgoodreasonradio.org/when-to-listen.