Samuel Freedman, a New York Times Columnist and a professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, spoke to students attending the Congressional Student Leadership Conference on Media & Journalism. The teen leadership conference is sponsored by LeadAmerica (www.lead-america.org).
Professor Freedman spoke to the group of aspiring journalists about the challenges facing them and the profession. In his talk, titled "21st Century Challenges to Journalists and
Journalism", he spoke about the effects of the media climate on young journalists. "There is a real concern among journalists about where the next generation is coming from and how it
will learn journalistic ethics," said Freedman. "These are young people who are growing up in a really different media climate that's much more dominated by opinion journalism and
blogging and talk radio."
Students attending the CSLC (www.lead-america.org/conferences/cslc/index.html) program learned about the fields of
media and journalism and career paths they might pursue. They met leading journalists, like Freedman, who gave them an insider's view of the profession. Throughout the conference,
students worked in teams to research, write, edit and publish a newspaper. Alexa Gorman, a student from Prospect, CT remarked, "I think that the opportunity to jump into our field and get
going as early as possible is just phenomenal."
About LeadAmerica
LeadAmerica is the nation's premier youth leadership organization. With a commitment to providing quality leadership education, LeadAmerica empowers teenage leaders and instills in them
ethical and principled leadership values, attitudes and skills. Each of its high school conferences is college-accredited and its programs are approved activities of the National
Association of Secondary School Principals. LeadAmerica sponsors the Congressional Student Leadership Conference for high school students, the National Junior Leaders Conference for
middle and junior high school students, Ambassadors Abroad international study programs in China, Australia and Europe, and Washington Summer Scholars, a college-level academic program
held in partnership with American University.
About Samuel Freedman
Samuel G. Freedman is an award-winning author, columnist, and professor. A columnist for The New York Times and a professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he is the
author of the six acclaimed books, most recently Letters To A Young Journalist (2006) and Who She Was: My Search for My Mother's Life (2005). His previous book, Small Victories was a
finalist for the 1990 National Book Award and The Inheritance was a finalist for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize. Upon This Rock won the 1993 Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism.
Four of Freedman's books have been listed among The New York Times' Notable Books of the Year.