This year's Poynter Kent State Media
Ethics Workshop will feature Rob King,
senior vice president, editorial, ESPN
print and digital media.

Tattoos, jerseys, scandal and secrets mean more in today’s headlines than ever before and at the Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop, top sports journalists and ethics professionals will discuss all of the “foul play” happening in athletics at the collegiate and professional levels.

The seventh annual conference on Thursday, Sept. 15, in Franklin Hall, home of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University, will feature speakers:

• Rob King, senior vice president, editorial, ESPN print and digital media
• Terry Pluto, Cleveland Plain Dealer sports columnist
• Brian Windhorst, Miami Heat/NBA reporter, ESPN, formerly of the Plain Dealer and the Akron Beacon Journal
• Ben Marison, editor, and Mike Wagner, investigative reporter, The (Columbus) Dispatch
• Steve Fox, editor of ESPN.com online discussions for the NFL and college football blog networks and developer of University of Massachusetts’ sports journalism concentration
• Melissa Ludtke, editor of Nieman Reports at Harvard University
• David Craig, professor and associate dean for academic affairs in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma
• Marla Ridenour, Ohio State University reporter and columnist for the Akron Beacon Journal
• Julie Engebrecht, former sports editor for the Cincinnati Enquirer
• Andy Baskin, sports director, NewsChannel5 sports team.
  

Additional guests and panelists will be announced soon.

The event will stream live on the Web and on mobile devices. All participants can contribute to the workshop discussions and ask questions of the speakers via Twitter using the hashtag #ksuethics11.

King will deliver the keynote address, “Anti-Social Media: The Death of Civility in Sports Journalism.” As senior vice president, editorial, ESPN print and digital media, King oversees all content and video across ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Mobile, five ESPN local sites, espnW (the new initiative serving female sports fans) and ESPN Rise (the high school sports site).

Fox, editor of ESPN football blogs, Windhorst and Craig, professor and associate dean at the University of Oklahoma will be among those discussing social media and sports media in a session entitled “Tangled Ethics.”

In “Buckeyes Behaving Badly,” Ridenour, sports reporter for Akron Beacon Journal; Pluto, sports columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer; Marison and Wagner, from The (Columbus) Dispatch will discuss the controversy surrounding Ohio State University football.

Ludtke of Nieman Reports will appear live via cyberlink. Ludtke is the former Sports Illustrated reporter who sued Major League Baseball in 1977 so women could gain access to athletes’ locker rooms. Both Ridenour, sports reporter for Akron Beacon Journal and Engebrecht, former sports editor for the Cincinnati Enquirer will be in person joining the session “Women, Ethics and Sports Journalism.”

Detailed information:
What: Seventh Annual Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop, “Foul Play?” focuses on ethics and sports
When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011
Where: FirstEnergy Auditorium in Franklin Hall, 550 Hilltop Drive, Kent State University
Cost: $25 for media and public relations professionals, $20 for educators and FREE for students

Event website for details and registration: http://mediaethics.jmc.kent.edu/2011

Questions: Contact Jan Leach, 330-672-4289 or jleach1@kent.edu or Jennifer Kramer, 330-672-1960 or jlkramer@kent.edu

The Poynter Kent State Media Ethics Workshop is sponsored by the Poynter Institute, the Media Law Center for Ethics and Access, Kent State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Kent State’s College of Communication and Information, Kent State TeleProductions, Kent State’s Department of Educational Technology, Akron Area PRSA, the Akron Beacon Journal and the Online News Association.