Cal Poly to Host Jim Hayes Journalism Ethics Symposium Oct. 10

The Cal Poly Journalism Department will host the inaugural Jim Hayes Symposium: Advancing Integrity in Journalism and Communication from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, Oct. 10, in Chumash Auditorium on campus.

The forum will bring together journalists, communications professionals, scholars, students, educators, and the public to address challenges to ethical communication and how to set the example. 

“In an era when anyone with a smartphone and a Facebook page can become a publisher, it’s more important than ever to recommit to the values that drive trustworthy news and information,” said Journalism Department Chair Mary Glick.

Karen Miller Pensiero, newsroom standards editor of The Wall Street Journal, will give the keynote address. Pensiero is responsible for upholding and teaching journalism standards and ethics at the paper’s headquarters in New York and its bureaus around the globe. She has focused on standards and ethics since 2004. Prior to that, she held a variety of positions throughout the company, beginning her career as a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund intern in 1984.

Kevin Riggs, senior vice president of Randle Communications and former KCRA-TV reporter and anchor, will moderate the event. The speaker lineup includes:

• David Kerley, ABC news correspondent, Washington, D.C.
• Peter King, media director, Office of the President, University of California 
• Patrick Lin, director, Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group and associate professor of philosophy, Cal Poly
• Robert Logan, senior staff, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Washington, D.C.
• Judy Muller, professor, communication and journalism, University of Southern California and former ABC news reporter and NPR commentator

Individual tickets are $70 and include entry to the symposium, breakfast, lunch, parking, and a copy of the symposium summary report. 

The symposium is hosted by Cal Poly’s Journalism Department and members of the Journalism Advisory Board. Corporate and private sponsorship opportunities are available for purchase online. For more information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Susan Houghton at usan.houghton@aol.com or 925-321-5757.

For more information on the symposium, visit https://journalism.calpoly.edu/jim-hayes-symposium.