News Story

CNN senior national correspondent Sara Sidner, who led the network’s coverage of the George Floyd case in Minneapolis, will deliver the keynote address at the upcoming symposium presented by the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism. The event will take place Feb. 10 in Franklin Hall, and it will be livestreamed on the center’s Facebook page.

The symposium, open to all students and the public, also includes two afternoon panel discussions. The moderated panels, titled “Investigative Journalism in Sports” and “Investigative Journalism in a Polarized World,” will take place at 1:45 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. Sidner’s address will begin at 5:45 p.m.

The symposium is a free event. Registration is requested.

Kathleen Johnston, BA’82, director of the Arnolt Center, said the event has been specifically tailored to meet the interests of students, sharing important insight from some of the best in the business.

“We’re really appreciative and excited about the panels,” Johnston said. “What an opportunity for students to have a talk with them about everything they did in the industry.”

Students like junior Mitchell Tiedman, a student member of the Arnolt Center board, have helped create the afternoon-long symposium.

“I’m super excited for the keynote because of what Sidner covered last year.” Tiedman said.

Sidner covered the murder trial of Derek Chauvin and the Minneapolis protests after the death of George Floyd for CNN. She has reported on a wide range of subjects throughout her career, including the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, and other events in Libya, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Cambodia and more.

The symposium will also provide networking opportunities for Arnolt Center and other Media School students, said Emma Uber, a sophomore and Arnolt Center board member.

“It’s amazing that we get to listen to all these fantastic and accomplished journalists who I really admire and respect,” Uber said.

The first panel, “Investigative Journalism in Sports,” will feature Marisa Kwiatkowski, an investigative reporter for USA Today, Steven Rich, database editor for the Washington Post and Tisha Thompson, investigative and enterprise reporter at ESPN. Erica Henry, vice president of news for CNN, will moderate the discussion.

Johnston said this panel is important because of the many sports media-focused students within the Media School. Investigative sports journalism, Johnston said, is also something that can often be overlooked, so it was important to have a panel that brings awareness to the field.

The second panel, “Investigative Journalism in a Polarized World,” will feature Walt Bogdanich, a journalist at New York Times, Ellen Glover, BAJ’18, a reporter for Built In and the Invisible Institute, and Tom Powell, assistant news director at NBC News Fort Wayne. It will be moderated by Media School associate professor Gerry Lanosga, MA’99, PhD’10.

Johnston said she hopes students understand that a career in investigative reporting is meaningful for everyone around them because the work is vital to democracy and society.

“Our audience is first and foremost the students, so we want to be able to do this for them and provide them with meaningful opportunities,” Johnston said.

Johnston said she looks forward to making the symposium an annual event showcasing the importance of investigative journalism and the Arnolt Center’s resources, which help student gain more exposure to the field.

The symposium is sponsored by the Scripps-Howard Foundation, the Lumina Foundation, the Hoosier State Press Association, the Hoosier State Press Association Foundation, the Indiana Citizen, Gannett, the Indiana Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and Hutton Honors College and held in partnership with the Bloomington Press Club, Gray TV, the Indianapolis Press Club Foundation, the Indiana Broadcasters Association, the Indiana Chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists and The Media School at Indiana University.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan Arnolt Center conducts multimedia investigative reporting on issues of importance to the residents of Indiana, including matters that reach beyond the state’s borders. The center’s work is available at no cost to local, regional and national news outlets and seeks to supplement their reporting at a time when many are losing newsroom staff.

Initially funded by a $6 million gift from alumnus Michael Arnolt, BA’67, the center is editorially independent from Indiana University and The Media School.