VCU news

By Mike Porter

Mike Allen, chief political and White House correspondent for POLITICO, will deliver the 2011 Turpin Lecture in News Management on April 27 during Mass Comm Week 2011 at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Allen and other accomplished professionals in journalism, advertising, public relations and related fields will appear on campus during a week of lectures, panel discussions and workshops that runs April 25-29 and is sponsored by the VCU School of Mass Communications. All activities are free and open to the public.

Allen will speak at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, in the Richmond Salons at the VCU Student Commons, 907 Floyd Ave.

Allen, featured last year in a New York Times profile titled “The Man the White House Wakes Up To,” has been described as the most powerful or most important journalist in the capital.

Allen had previously served as the White House correspondent for Time magazine and spent six years at The Washington Post, where he wrote about national political issues. Earlier in his career, Allen covered local and state issues for The Free Lance-Star, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Allen grew up in Orange County, Calif., and has a bachelor’s degree from Washington and Lee University, where he majored in politics and journalism. 

The Turpin Lecture is named in honor of former VCU journalism professor Bill Turpin. After a distinguished career in newspaper management, Turpin spent 16 years coaching, advising and teaching hundreds of aspiring journalists in VCU’s School of Mass Communications.

The Turpin Lecture is one of 10 sessions included in Mass Comm Week 2011. Other featured events include:

·     WWBT-TV anchor and political reporter Ryan Nobles will lead a panel discussion titled “The Changing Landscape of Media.” Panelists are Jon Newman of the Hodges Partnership, NBC Dateline investigative producer Robbie Gordon, Reid Ashe of Media General, Kelly O’Keefe of the VCU Brandcenter and Michael Whitlow of CRT/Tanaka. April 25, 6 p.m., VCU Student Commons Theater.

·     NBC Dateline investigative producer Robbie Gordon, “Ethical Implications of Today’s Media.” April 26, 7 p.m., Temple 1169.

·     Matt Williams, The Martin Agency, “Creativity.” April 27, 4 p.m., Temple 1164.

·     Fred Thompson, Communications Collaborative, “The Top Ten Reasons to Major in PR (that your faculty adviser probably failed to mention),” April 28, 11 a.m., Trani Center for Life Sciences, 0155.

For a complete schedule, visit http://www.has.vcu.edu/mac/pdf_s/mascWeek2011.pdf.

The School of Mass Communications, founded in 1971, is one of the largest units in the College of Humanities and Sciences. The student population is one of the most diverse in the country among mass communications programs: 36 percent are ethnic and/or minorities and 64 percent are women. There are 20 full-time faculty members and more than 25 part-time faculty members.