Paris Seminar Schedule
SMPA’s International Media Seminar in Paris in March of 2015 featured 24 substantive programs
over six days. Some 40 GW students were active participants and the speakers were impressed
by the intelligence and energy with which the group engaged in the discussions.
Please also take the opportunity to click onto the 90-second video report which Marshall Cohen,
one of our students, prepared for his Broadcast News class. It effectively captures the spirit of the
week., I think. Here is the youtube link—you may have to scroll down a few places in the
youtube listing in order to click onto the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c-IViRUlvw
And here is the 2015 Schedule:
The Center for the Study of International Communications, Paris (CECI) and The School of
Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University invite you to participate in an
International Media Seminar
March 8 - March 14, 2015 at The American University of Paris (AUP)
Schedule
Seminar sessions will be chaired by GWU/SMPA Professor, Lee W. Huebner.
Sunday, March 8
*2:00 pm BOAT CRUISE ON THE SEINE. An ideal introduction to Paris!
*5:30 pm OPENING RECEPTION. With a talk by Alissa Rubin, New York Times Bureau Chief
in Paris and formerly in in Baghdad and Kabul. She was seriously injured last August in a
helicopter crash in Kurdistan, rescuing Yazidi refugees from the ISIS forces. Students should
read her front page account of that experience, written from her hospital bed, as well as her two
long, path-breaking stories this week on the condition of Afghan women.
The Reception will be held at the home of Bianca Roberts, who heads the Mona Bismarck
Cultural Center, and Michael Eliason, veteran comedy writer for American film and television.
Monday, March 9
10:00 am --11:30 am “France’s Unique Culture.” Harriet Welty Rochefort, Her books include
“Joie de Vivre: Secrets of Wining, Dining, & Romancing Like the French.”
11:30 am – 1:00 pm Dominique Moisi, Noted scholar at the French Institute of International
Relations & Kings College. Author of “The Geopolitics of Emotion” (a class reading
assignment).
*3:30 pm – 5:00 pm -- Visit to the International New York Times. With talks by Anne
Bagamery, Senior Editor, and Kathleen Beckett, a New York Times free-lance contributor.
*5:30 pm: Buffet dinner at the home of Lee and Berna Huebner. Special talk by Vivienne
Walt, noted war correspondent for Time magazine, and her husband, Jeff Schaefer, Chief
European Video Editor for the Associate Press.
Tuesday, March 10,
12:15 pm Luncheon discussion at AUP with Nelson Graves. Former Reuters correspondent,
and founder of News-Decoder, an on-line service for bringing global context to the news.
1:00 pm -- 2:00 pm Discussion with Uzra Zeya, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy
in Paris and one of America’s senior Foreign Service officers.
*3:00 pm -- 5:00 pm Visit to Havas Media Group, one of the world’s leading marketing
companies. With Robert Fridovich, Global Head of Communications.
*6:00 pm Reception and talk at the home of Jim Bittermann, Senior European Correspondent,
CNN. Formerly with ABC & NBC News, Paris.
Wednesday, March 11.
10:00 am –11:00 am “Covering the European Economic Scene.” Anne Swardson, Editor-atlarge, Bloomberg News
11:00 am – 12:00 pm Stéphane Carrié, Paris Television Writer. ”The Changing Face of
Popular Entertainment--Within and Between Cultures.”
*2:30 – 4:30 pm (Option A) Visit to Radio Nova. With Chief Executive, Julien Bizot, and Marc
H’Limi, Head of Programming at this path-breaking global music station.
*2:30 – 5:30 pm (Option B) Visit to the Headquarters of OECD (Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development). Interactive workshop led by the OECD media team.
Thursday, March 12
11:00 am – 12:00 noon A talk by Alan Riding, formerly Chief European Cultural Correspondent
and Chief Latin American Correspondent for the New York Times.
12:00 noon – 1:00 pm "Covering the Fashion Scene in the World's Fashion Capital." Madeleine
Czigler, formerly with Canadian Broadcasting Company, Professor at AUP and Wells College.
1:00 pm–Talk by AUP/CECI student, Lamis Aljasem, from Raqqa, Syria, now the ISIS capital.
2:00 pm–3:00 pm “Media & Diplomacy. “Mitchell Moss, Press Counselor, US Embassy,
France.
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm Derek Thomson, Senior Producer at France 24 and co-editor of The
Observers, a collaborative TV program and web-site that uses evidence from “citizen journalists.”
4:00 pm. Greetings: Prof. Waddck Doyle, Global Communications Graduate Director at AUP
.
Friday, March 13
9:00 am – 10:45 am “Confessions of a Lifelong International Marketer.” Peter Barnet, Associate
Professor, AUP, and former Executive VP at Young & Rubicam and other global ad agencies.
10:45 am - 11:45 AM A talk about French journalism, with Jean Lesieur, formerly Editorial
Director (and co-founder) of the global news channel France 24. Veteran magazine journalist.
11:45 --- 1:00. Lunch at AUP with Eileen Bastianelli, media consultant for a variety of
international organizations, specializing in brand management in a social-media context.
2:00- 3:00 pm Visit to Libération. With Johan Hufnagel, now head of this French daily
newspaper; formerly chief editor (and a founder) of the French and African editions of Slate.
3:30 pm--5:00 pm A talk with John Morris, at his home. Now a very active 98 years of age,
Morris is one of the leading photo news editors of the 20th century. Former head of the Magnum
Agency and senior photo editor for Life Magazine, The New York Times, and The Washington
Post. Author of “Get the Picture: A Personal History of Photojournalism.”
*8:30 pm Montmartre Cabaret Farewell Dinner at La Bonne Franquette,
Saturday, March 15
OPTIONAL EVENT: Visit to Chateau de Versailles.