Edinboro,
Pa. -- Jack Speer, an award-winning newscaster with NPR, will discuss “Election
2008: Is the Economy Still the Essential Issue for the Candidates and the
Voters?” at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania on Thursday, October 16, in the
Frank G. Pogue Student Center multipurpose room at 7:30 p.m.In his talk, Speer will identify and explain the major business and economic issues influencing the current U.S. presidential election. Regarded as one of the nation’s top business journalists, he has produced hundreds of stories for NPR, ranging from an award-winning series on securities regulation and the need for greater transparency in the financial markets to human interest stories such as a feature on the history of America’s oldest brewery.
Speer’s lecture is part of the 2008-2009 Edinboro University PRSSA Distinguished Lecture Series, hosted by the Edinboro University Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and the Department of Communication and Media Studies. Past PRSSA lecturers include Brigadier General Mari K. Eder, deputy chief of public affairs for the United States Army, award-winning Philadelphia Inquirer photojournalist Sarah J. Glover, and former U.S. Congressmen Ken Hechler (D-WV) and Steven Kuykendall (R-CA).
Speer’s hiring at NPR in 1998 launched a significant effort to expand the depth and breadth of business coverage offered by NPR. Over the years, his reporting has appeared consistently on NPR’s top news shows including All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition.
He previously anchored daily business reports for WUSA Channel 9 TV in Washington, DC, and worked as a news and business anchor on WTOP-AM, the city’s premier all-news commercial radio station. The1981 Edinboro University graduate has also worked as a reporter for the Washington Business Journal, and at radio stations in Erie, Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Ohio; and Trenton, New Jersey.
Over his career, Speer has won numerous awards. They include American University’s 14th Annual Journalism Award for “Excellence in Personal Finance Reporting,” Best News Feature in the AIRS Awards, Best Editorial Commentary from the Washington Journalism Society, and a Best Newscaster Award from the New Jersey Press Association. In 2004, he was awarded a National Press Foundation fellowship.
PRSSA is a pre-professional organization designed to build positive relationships between public relations professionals and students who are studying public relations. Created by its parent group, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in 1968, PRSSA provides member students with a variety of professional development opportunities as well as scholarships, award programs and other regional and national activities. Edinboro University was awarded its PRSSA charter in 2003, recognition that Edinboro is among colleges and universities nationally that “offer substantial programs of public relations at the undergraduate level,” according to PRSA.
Speer’s lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact public relations at 814-732-2193.