Secretary of homeland security Tom Ridge will be the keynote speaker Wednesday at the Radio-Television News Directors Association’s first workshop on news and terrorism. The workshop will be at Chicago’s Kellogg School of Management. ABC News special correspondent John McWethy will moderate a panel.
Nine more workshops are scheduled to take place across the country. The workshops are produced with the National Academies and the Department of Homeland Security. Their purpose is to examine how vital information should be communicated during an emergency as well as to provide scientific background information on potential terrorist threats and guidance on how journalists and public-information officers can prepare. Each workshop features a scenario exercise, tailored to each location, allowing participants to react to a simulated terrorist incident.
The additional workshops will be held in Kansas City, Mo. (Sept. 21); Portland, Ore. (Oct. 14); Philadelphia (Oct. 26); Miami (Dec. 9); Austin, Texas (January 2005); Atlanta (March); San Francisco (April); Denver (June); and Boston (July 2005).
