Journalists To Discuss Media’s Coverage of World Events

The Year of Globalization and Diversity event, which is free and public, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Annenberg Forum (Room 111) in Carswell Hall. Panelists will include Douglas Waller, a foreign policy reporter for Time magazine; Michael Riley, editor of The Roanoke Times and former Time magazine correspondent; Sandy Tolan, an international journalist and radio producer; and Lamis Andoni, a reporter and analyst of Arab and Middle Eastern issues.

Wayne King, a former New York Times reporter who teaches journalism at Wake Forest, will moderate the panel. Panelists will discuss a variety of issues, including how the media influences the perceptions of other countries and cultures. Panelists will take questions from the audience, as well.

Waller, a 1971 graduate of Wake Forest, covers foreign policy issues for Time’s defense, intelligence and foreign policy reporting team. Previously, Waller was with Newsweek, where he reported on the Gulf War and other military conflicts.

Waller began his career reporting for the News & Record in Greensboro and the Charlotte News. Waller has written five books, including “Air Warriors: The Inside Story of the Making of a Navy Pilots” and “The Commandos: The Inside Story of America’s Secret Soldiers.”

Riley, newly named editor of The Roanoke Times in Virginia, was recently an editorial director for Congressional Quarterly, where his responsibilities included Internet development. Riley created the Time-CNN Web site AllPolitics in 1995, and served as its executive producer for more than two years. Riley graduated from Wake Forest in 1981.

His career with Time includes working as a correspondent in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles and serving as Southern bureau chief, directing news coverage of 11 states and the Caribbean.

Tolan, executive producer of Homelands Productions, has been an independent journalist and public radio producer since 1981. He has contributed reports and documentaries to National Public Radio and Public Radio International news programs and more than 40 newspapers and magazines.

Tolan has reported and produced documentaries from across North, Central and South America; the Balkans; India and the Middle East. He focuses on the environment, international development, cultural identity and how the global economy effects local communities.

Andoni started working as a reporter in 1982 for the Jordan Times and Al Ra’i, the biggest Arab daily newspaper in Jordan. Within two years, Andoni started writing for the international press. She has reported for The Guardian in London, Middle East International, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Financial Times and various Arab magazines and journals.

Her reporting has focused on the Arab world, the Israeli-Arab conflict, the PLO and the Middle East policies of Iraq and the United States. Andoni moved to the United States in 1996 and continues to write for Middle East International, Al Ra’i, the Jordan Times and Al Ahram.

The panel discussion is part of the Year of Globalization and Diversity, a yearlong look at issues surrounding the world’s development into a more global community. For more information about the media panel event or the year, call 336-758-5788 or visit http://www.wfu.edu/yogd