The NYPC Announces Its 2020 Speaker Series
The New York Press Club is pleased to announce its 2020 Speaker Series. In lieu of our acclaimed annual journalism conference, which has been cancelled due to circumstances related to the Covid-19 pandemic, we hope you will join us for this free online series with an incredible lineup of talented journalists.
Mark your calendars for:
She Said authors Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor (September 15 at 7 p.m.) Megan and Jodi are the recipients of this year’s Gabe Pressman Truth to Power award, which was originally scheduled to be presented at our annual awards dinner. New York Press Club award winners will be recognized after the discussion.
CNN’s Don Lemon (October 5 at 6 p.m.)
Dark Towers author David Enrich (October 13 at 7:30 p.m.)
AP’s Jonathan Lemire (October 14 at 8 p.m.)
CBS News correspondent Jeff Pegues (October 21 at 7 p.m.)
NYT’s Adam Liptak (November 17 at 7 p.m.)
CBS News president Susan Zirinsky (December 8 at 7 p.m.)
Register for the free events here.
Megan Twohey & Jodi Kantor will join the New York Press Club on September 15 at 7 p.m. The conversation will be moderated by Beth Karas. (Scroll to bottom of this page to view the archived event.)
Pulitzer Prize winning journalists Megan Twohey & Jodi Kantor are the recipients of this year’s “Gabe Pressman Truth to Power Award,” which recognizes the club’s late president and friend, who was a staunch supporter of the First Amendment. Past honorees include Jim Acosta and Marty Baron.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey are being recognized by the New York Press Club for their courageous investigation of Harvey Weinstein, which started a global movement.
About She Said: “For years, reporters had tried to get to the truth about Harvey Weinstein’s treatment of women. Rumors of wrongdoing had long circulated, and in 2017, when Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey began their investigation for the New York Times, his name was still synonymous with power. But during months of confidential interviews with actresses, former Weinstein employees, and other sources, many disturbing and long-buried allegations were unearthed, and a web of onerous secret payouts and nondisclosure agreements was revealed. When Kantor and Twohey were finally able to convince sources to go on the record, a dramatic final showdown between Weinstein and the New York Times was set in motion. In the tradition of great investigative journalism, She Said tells a thrilling story about the power of truth and reveals the inspiring and affecting journeys of the women who spoke up—for the sake of other women, for future generations, and for themselves.”
Beth Karas has offered insight, analysis, and on-the-spot reporting on legal stories across the country for more than two and a half decades. Beth is part of a team that produces documentaries and investigative podcasts at UCP, an NBCU production company. After eight years as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, she spent nearly two decades as a Court TV correspondent covering high-profile trials including Jodi Arias and Casey Anthony. Today, her television appearances include providing legal analysis for ABC’s 20/20 and hosting specials for NBCU’s Oxygen network.
Don Lemon will join the New York Press Club on October 5 at 6 p.m. The conversation will be moderated by David Cruz.
Don Lemon anchors CNN Tonight with Don Lemon airing weeknights at 10pm. He also serves as a correspondent across CNN/U.S. programming. Based out of the network’s New York bureau, Lemon joined CNN in September 2006.
A news veteran of Chicago, Lemon reported from Chicago in the days leading up to the 2008 presidential election, including an interview with then-Rep. Rahm Emanuel on the day he accepted the position of Chief of Staff for President-elect Barack Obama. He also interviewed Anne Cooper, the 106-year old voter President-elect Obama highlighted in his election night acceptance speech after he had seen Lemon’s interview with Cooper on CNN.
Lemon has reported and anchored on-the-scene for CNN from many breaking news stories, including Hurricane Florence (2018), Las Vegas shooting (2017), the Orlando shooting at Pulse Nightclub (2016), Charleston church shooting (2015), death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO (2014), the George Zimmerman trial (2013), the Boston marathon bombing (2013), the Philadelphia building collapse (2013),the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (2012), the Colorado Theater Shooting (2012), the death of Whitney Houston, the Inaugural of the 44th President in Washington, D.C., the death of Michael Jackson (2009), Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana (2008) and the Minneapolis bridge collapse (2007).
Lemon has also anchored the network’s breaking news coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the Arab Spring, the death of Osama Bin Laden and Joplin tornado. Lemon reported for CNN’s documentary Race and Rage: The Beating of Rodney King, which aired 20 years to the day of the beating. He is also known for holding politicians and public officials accountable in his “No Talking Points” segment.
Lemon joined CNN after serving as a co-anchor for the 5 p.m. newscast for NBC5 News in Chicago.
David Cruz is news editor for the Gothamist/WNYC. He previously worked as the editor-in-chief for the Norwood News in the Bronx. His work has been recognized by the Silurians Press Club, the Deadline Club and he was named a City & State Bronx Power 100 Honoree.
David Enrich will join the New York Press Club on October 13 at 7:30 p.m. The conversation will be moderated by Leslie Wayne.
David Enrich is the business investigations editor at The New York Times. He is the author of “Dark Towers” about Deutsche Bank and Donald Trump.
Enrich previously was finance editor. Before joining The Times, he was a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal in New York and London. His first book, “The Spider Network,” is about the mildly autistic man at the center of a vast financial scandal.
Praise for Dark Towers: “A jaw-dropping financial thriller” —Philadelphia Inquirer
Leslie Wayne is an award-winning former business reporter for The New York Times specializing in financial investigations. In more than two decades at The Times, she produced more than 1,500 bylines and is currently a contributor to The Times. She has written on illicit finance, Wall Street and the economy and was a member of The Times’ campaign finance team in Presidential election from 1996 to 2008.
Wayne worked as a senior writer for The International Consortium of Investigative Reporters in Washington, D.C. in 2013 and 2014 and was the lead reporter on “Lux Leaks,” which exposed Luxembourg’s secret corporate tax breaks. In 2015, Lux Leaks earned a George Polk award, a New York Press Club award and a Society of American Business Editors and Writers Award. She was also a senior editor at 100Reporters.org from 2010 to 2012.
Jonathan Lemire will join the New York Press Club on Wednesday, October 14 at 8 p.m.. The conversation will be moderated by Scott Detrow.
Jonathan Lemire is a White House reporter for The Associated Press and a political analyst for MSNBC and NBC News. For the AP, he covers the day-to-day workings and drama of President Donald Trump’s administration, has interviewed the president in Oval Office, has traveled with the president to the Middle East, Asia and Europe and received attention for his news conference questions to Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin at their July 2018 Helsinki summit. He is a frequent guest on MSNBC programs including “Morning Joe,” “Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace” and “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams.” Lemire covered Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, including the candidate’s June 2015 Trump Tower campaign kickoff and nearly 100 rallies in 2016. He previously covered New York City and State politics, including the 2013 mayoral election. Before joining the AP in 2013, he spent more than a decade at the New York Daily News, covering the 2012 presidential election, City Hall and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He graduated from Columbia University
Scott Detrow is a political correspondent for NPR. He covers the 2020 presidential campaign and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.
Detrow joined NPR in 2015. He reported on the 2016 presidential election, then worked for two years as a congressional correspondent before shifting his focus back to the campaign trail.
Before that, he worked as a statehouse reporter in both Pennsylvania and California, for member stations WITF and KQED. He also covered energy policy for NPR’s StateImpact project, where his reports on Pennsylvania’s hydraulic fracturing boom won a DuPont-Columbia Silver Baton and national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2013.
Jeff Pegues will join the New York Press Club on October 21 at 7 p.m. The conversation will be moderated by Steve Scott.
Jeff Pegues is the CBS News Chief Justice and Homeland Security Correspondent based in Washington, D.C. He joined CBS News in July 2013 and reports for all CBS News broadcasts and platforms.
Since joining CBS News, Pegues has led the Network’s coverage of some of the biggest stories of the last decade. In May of 2020, Pegues was among the first network correspondents on the scene in Minneapolis within hours of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police. For more than a month he covered the unrest and social justice protests that followed in cities across the country. From the Russia investigation to recent active shooter events and terrorist attack, Pegues is often at the top of the CBS Evening News. Pegues has also become one of the most visible and informed journalists on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. His latest book Kompromat: How Russia Undermined American Democracy investigates how Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hackers poked into U.S. voter databases and what is happening now to shore up election systems in states across the country.
In addition, he has become one of the most informed voices on the conflict between the black community and police. Not only has he reported extensively on recent police actions and Justice Department investigations in Baltimore and Ferguson but he has also authored a book on the issue. Black and Blue: Inside the Divide Between Police and the Black Community is available everywhere books are sold. Pegues is the recipient of three Emmy Awards, numerous local and national Emmy Award nominations, the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, and in 2017 was part of the CBS News team that earned an Edward R. Murrow Award.
Steve Scott is morning news anchor at WCBS Newsradio 880 in New York City. He came to WCBS in 2006 after 20 years in Chicago radio, the last 13 at WLS-AM. His first day at WCBS was 9/11/06, the five-year anniversary of the terror attacks. Career highlights include reporting on the aftermath of 9/11 from Ground Zero, interviewing Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba, reporting from Bosnia, and covering the Kosovo war from Albania and an aircraft carrier in the Adriatic Sea. He has reported on every U.S. president since Jimmy Carter, and was in the WCBS anchor chair for such historic events as Superstorm Sandy, the “Miracle on the Hudson,” Pope Francis’ visit to New York City, and the election of Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
He is a past president of the New York Press Club and currently serves as a trustee and as the First Amendment Chairman.
A California native, Steve is proud to have graduated from San Jose State University in 2020, more than 40 years after he started as a freshman in 1979. Steve lives in New Jersey with his wife, Jeanne.
Adam Liptak will join the New York Press Club on November 17 at 7 p.m. The conversation will be moderated by Jennifer Williams-Alvarez.
Adam Liptak covers the United States Supreme Court and writes Sidebar, a column on legal developments. A graduate of Yale Law School, he practiced law for 14 years before joining The New York Times’s news staff in 2002. He was a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting. He has taught courses on the Supreme Court and the First Amendment at several law schools, including Yale and the University of Chicago.
Jennifer Williams-Alvarez is a senior reporter for Agenda, a Financial Times publication. At Agenda, Jennifer covers legal, regulatory and audit issues. Prior to joining the Financial Times Group, Jennifer worked as a reporter for ALM Media covering in-house legal departments. She has also worked as a researcher for a legal analyst at Fox News. Her work has been recognized by the Specialized Information Publishers Association for feature writing and investigative reporting. Jennifer serves on the New York Press Club’s board of governors.
Susan Zirinsky will join the New York Press Club on December 8 at 7 p.m. The conversation will be moderated by Melody Hahm.
Photo: John Paul Filo/CBS ©2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Susan Zirinsky is President and Senior Executive Producer of CBS News, a position she began on March 1, 2019. Within her first nine months, Zirinsky oversaw an overhaul of the news division, including launching the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH NORAH O’DONNELL and moving the broadcast to Washington, D.C., where it is the only broadcast network nightly newscast to be based in the nation’s capital. She has re-imagined the CBS THIS MORNING anchor team with co-hosts Gayle King, Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil and has further integrated the linear and digital newsrooms to continue to grow CBS News’ multi-platform presence. She also named new executive leadership and several new executive producers of several flagship programs including 60 MINUTES, CBS THIS MORNING, CBS EVENING NEWS, 48 HOURS, and a newly created CBS NEWS SPECIAL EVENTS unit.
Zirinsky, an acclaimed journalist and highly respected senior executive producer at CBS News, began her career in the CBS News Washington bureau two weeks after the Watergate break-in. Over the next four decades she produced a wide variety of award-winning documentaries and programs, and she covered a range of historic stories, from the Gulf War to the student uprising in Tiananmen Square, from the White House for 10 years to the 9/11 attacks, and from the Paris terrorist attacks to the mass shooting at a Parkland, Fla. School.
Prior to taking on her new role, Zirinsky was the senior executive producer of the award-winning 48 HOURS and was responsible for numerous CBS News breaking news specials. She was also the senior executive producer of 48 HOURS: NCIS and the senior executive producer of the CBS primetime series WHISTLEBLOWER.
A prolific producer on a variety of issues and subjects, her work has been lauded by critics and honored by her peers with journalism’s top honors, including Emmys, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award and the George Foster Peabody Award.
Zirinsky brings to the position extensive experience leading teams of investigative journalists, building and developing new non-fiction programs; creating innovative ways to report news; and mentoring and guiding the careers of some of the industry’s brightest journalists.
In 1984, while covering the Democratic National Convention, Academy Award-winning producer James L. Brooks interviewed her about her job. As a result, while still working at CBS News, Zirinsky became the technical advisor/associate producer for Brooks’ film “Broadcast News,” starring Holly Hunter as a Washington network news producer.
Melody Hahm is the West Coast correspondent for Yahoo Finance based in Los Angeles. She covers the startup industry, entrepreneurship, venture capital, technology and culture on-air and in written reporting. Melody was previously a New York-based senior writer and host for the outlet’s morning show, “YFi AM.” She has interviewed leaders across business, tech, politics and entertainment, ranging from 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang, billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio, Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar, actor and producer Will Smith, Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry, among others. Prior to joining Yahoo Finance, Melody was a producer and social media editor at CNBC’s flagship show “Squawk Box.” She is fluent in Korean and Spanish.
New York Press Club members and friends,
Since we can’t be together in person right now, we hope you will join us for the 2020 Speaker Series, which has been made possible thanks to our generous sponsor, ConEdison. All of the events in our speakers series are being offered free of charge.
Register here.
Check back for updates on this page.
See you soon.
Stephanie Forshee, programs and events chair for the New York Press Club
