Annual John Breaux Symposium to be held April 19-20
On April 19 and 20, local civic leaders, journalists and national scholars will meet for the annual John Breaux Symposium to discuss possible solutions to racial inequality here in Louisiana.
Mayor Sharon Weston Broome will deliver a keynote speech on her efforts to adjust public policy to address inequalities of resources and representation. Her talk will be given in the Holliday Forum of the Manship School of Mass Communication on LSU’s campus on Wednesday, April 19, at 3 p.m.
A team of experts will kick off the first day of the Symposium by presenting the findings of the Manship School Community Resilience study research on race relations in Louisiana following the tumultuous summer of 2016. This presentation will be held in the Holliday Forum at 9 a.m. on April 19.
The Symposium’s second day will feature a Media Access Panel, which will bring together leading local journalists and civic leaders to examine how media outlets cover community issues, along with how members of Louisiana’s diverse communities can best connect with those outlets. This panel will take place on April 20 at 5:45 p.m. at Womack Park.
The Symposium will also feature a capstone class presentation on social media strategy developed for Dialogue on Race Louisiana, a presentation on LSU’s Cold Case Project focused on the reporting of unsolved Civil Rights era murders, a panel of top national scholars who will discuss race and public policy and a screening of local filmmaker Marcus Brown’s documentary, BetterR – The Newsroom on how intense, newsworthy moments like the Alton Sterling shooting can challenge local newsrooms.
The Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs at LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication will host the Symposium. All events on Wednesday, April 19 will take place in the Holliday Forum at the Manship School from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. On Thursday, April 20, the events will be held in BREC’s Milton Womack Park ballroom from 5 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.
The Breaux Symposium explores aspects of media, politics and public policy. Through keynote speakers, panels and presentations, the intent is to discuss the public’s knowledge about some aspect of democracy and identify possible actions to increase public awareness and constructive debate.
The mission of the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs is to generate thoughtful dialogue and research on mass communication and its many relationships with social, economic and political issues.