David Folkenflik, an acclaimed media correspondent with National Public Radio, will explore “The Future of News: Technology and Journalism” as the keynote speaker in the 2013-2014 Arts and Sciences Brown Bag Lecture Series on Thursday, Feb. 20, at noon at Rosch Recital Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Reports by Folkenflik, heard regularly on NPR news magazine shows that include, “All Things Considered,” and “Morning Edition,” offer insight into the operation of the media during a time of tectonic shifts in the industry and cast light on figures that help shape the way the news business work.
In recent reports, Folkenflik addressed a new biography that argues Fox News chief Roger Ailes uses the network to divide the nation; how NBC will cover gay issues during the Sochi Olympics; and the use of articles called “native advertising” that are written by people working for news outlets.
Folkenflik also provides media criticism on the air and at NPR.org on coverage of a broad array of issues — from the war in Afghanistan, to the financial crisis, to the saga of the "Balloon Boy."
The author of, “Murdoch's World: The Last of the Old Media Empires" – about media mogul Rupert Murdoch – Folkenflik is currently investigating how the storied Washington Post is undergoing change under its new owner, Amazon.com founder Jeffrey Bezos.
Before joining NPR in 2004, Folkenflik covered higher education, Congress and the media for more than 10 years for The Baltimore Sun. His reporting career began at the Durham (N.C.) Herald-Sun.
In 1991, Folkenflik graduated with a bachelor's degree in History from Cornell University, where he served as editor-in-chief of The Cornell Daily Sun. A three-time winner of the Arthur Rowse Awards for Press Criticism from the National Press Club, Folkenflik won the inaugural 2002 Mongerson Award for Investigative Reporting on the News, presented by the Center for Media and Public Affairs and the University of Virginia's Center for Governmental Studies.
Folkenflik's work has received top honors from the National Headliners Club and the Society of Professional Journalists. He was the first Irik Sevin Visiting Fellow at Cornell and speaks frequently at colleges across the country. He has served as a media analyst on CNN's “Reliable Sources,” ABC News' “Nightline,” Fox News' “O'Reilly Factor” and MSNBC's “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.”
