IJPM, Carnegie Legal Reporting Program host Constitution Day event Sept. 17 on assessing coverage of 2008 presidential campaign

IJPM, Carnegie Legal Reporting Program host Constitution Day event Sept. 17 on assessing coverage of 2008 presidential campaign September 11, 2008Jaime Winne Alvarezjlwinne@syr.edu

The Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics and the Media at Syracuse University (IJPM) and the Carnegie Legal Reporting Program in SU’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications will host a Constitution Day event, “Bloggers, Pundits and Journalists: Assessing Coverage of the 2008 Presidential Campaign,” on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 4 p.m. in the Bond, Schoeneck & King Courtroom, Room 300 of the SU College of Law‘s MacNaughton Hall.

Matthew Dickinson, a political science professor at Middlebury College, will present an assessment of the dominant themes animating media coverage of the 2008 presidential election to date, focusing primarily on the nominating phase. The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in SU pay lots.

Dickinson has been a professor at Middlebury College since 2000. His teaching interests are concentrated in American politics, the presidency and the politics of Congress. His recent publications include “Presidents, Responsiveness and Competence: Revisiting the ‘Golden Age’ at the Bureau of Budget” in Political Science Quarterly and “The President and Congress” in “The Presidency and the Political System” (CQ Press, 2002).

Dickinson earned a bachelor’s degree at Boston College and a master’s degree and Ph.D. at Harvard University. He operates the blog “Presidential Power,” http://blogs.middlebury.edu/presidentialpower, targeted to students who are interested in learning more about presidential politics.

For more information on this event, contact Keith Bybee from IJPM at (315) 443-9743 or kjbybee@syr.edu.

Launched in September 2006, IJPM is an academic institute devoted to the interdisciplinary study of issues at the intersection of law, politics and the media. A collaborative effort of SU’s College of Law, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and Newhouse School, the institute sponsors lectures, conferences and symposia designed to foster discussion and debate among legal scholars, sitting judges and working journalists. For more information, visit http://jpm.syr.edu.

The Newhouse School launched the Carnegie Legal Reporting Program in 2006 to educate future journalists about covering the justice system. The program is supported by a grant from the Carnegie Journalism Initiative of the Carnegie Corp. of New York and collaborates frequently with IJPM on symposia and lectures. For more information, visit http://newhouse.syr.edu/legal.