BUIES CREEK – The award-winning editor of the most influential Spanish-language daily newspaper in the Western Hemisphere will be the keynote speaker at 7:30 p.m. April 5, in Lynch Auditorium at Campbell University.
Manny Garcia, executive editor and general manager El Nuevo Herald, will speak on the upcoming presidential election as the annual symposium speaker. Garcia will speak on “Ethical Political Coverage in an Era of Instant News.”
“The most difficult job facing news editors heading into the conventions and general elections are how to deal with the onslaught of blogs, Twitter feeds, posts, secret committees, all putting out information that needs to be verified,” Garcia said. “We give you a behind the scenes look at our battle and how you as professors and students can figure out what is truth or fiction because knowledge is power as you walk into the booth to vote.”
Under Garcia’s leadership, El Nuevo Herald has seen year over year growth in home delivery circulation and its combined online and print reach.
Garcia has worked as a general assignment reporter and served on the Miami Herald’s Investigative Team. His stories have changed Florida law, led to the convictions of public officials and helped free a man wrongfully convicted of murder.
He has been a key writer on two Pulitzer Prize winning projects, as well as won numerous awards for investigative reporting. His nickname is “Father Manny,” because he has gotten people to confess to crimes and other nefarious behavior.?
As a manager, Garcia served as The Miami Herald’s Special Projects Editor, Metro Editor and Senior News Editor his last post before joining El Nuevo Herald. As a news executive, Manny is involved in mentoring and developing future leaders inside the company. He also teaches investigative reporting to college students and recruits interns and job prospects for both newspapers, and the McClatchy company.
A colleague of Michael Ray Smith of Campbell’s Department of Communication Studies, Garcia is vice-president of Investigative Reporters and Editors and is a graduate of Poynter Institutes Ethics Fellows program.?
Responding to Garcia will be Dr. John C. Mero, assistant professor of Political Science who came to Campbell in August 2008 and teaches American National Government, State and Local Government, Organizational Theory, Public Administration and Public Policy.
In addition, Dr. Edward Johnson, associate professor of communication studies, will respond. Johnson has been involved in journalism and politics since the 1960s, when he was a photographer for The Sacramento Bee and a “Barry’s Boy,” supporting the election of Barry Goldwater in 1964.
Dr. Don Schroeder of Campbell’s Department of History, Justice and Political Science, leads the symposium committee.