September 20, 2006

New York Times journalist to speak at SIUC

by Sun Min

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A New York Times journalist will visit Southern Illinois University Carbondale next week as part of the fall lecture series sponsored by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute.

Philip Taubman, the Washington bureau chief for The Times, will speak in Student Center Ballroom D at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 25.

The theme of Taubman's lecture is "Why We Publish Secrets." The day after Taubman's speech, the Institute will sponsor a panel discussion on how journalists decide to publish sensitive information, at 10 a.m. in the SIUC Student Center Auditorium. Both events are free and open to the public.

William H. Freivogel, interim director of the School of Journalism, played a key role in bringing Taubman to Southern Illinois. Freivogel praises Taubman's efforts during the recent controversy involving the press and national security issues.

"Printing national security secrets that reveal questionable government activities is a high calling for the press. But not every secret should be published. Phil Taubman has had the difficult job of weighing the White House's pleas not to publish important scoops uncovered by his reporters," Freivogel said.

Taubman is the recipient of two George Polk awards for excellence in journalism – the first in 1981 for national reporting about two former C.I.A. employees who provided aid to Libya and the second in 1983 for foreign affairs reporting for coverage of American policy in Central America.

Taubman joined The Times in 1979 as a reporter in the Washington bureau, initially covering the Justice Department and working on investigative projects and later specializing in national security and intelligence issues. Taubman served in Moscow from 1985 until the end of 1988, covering the first turbulent years of Mikhail Gorbachev's tenure as Soviet leader. He served as Moscow bureau chief from 1986 until 1988.

Taubman previously wrote for Time magazine, where he exposed the tangled finances of President Jimmy Carter's budget director.

Taubman, 58, holds a bachelor's degree in history from Stanford University (1971), where he served as editor of the campus newspaper, The Stanford Daily. He was a member of Stanford University's Board of Trustees from 1978 to 1982.

Taubman is the author of "Secret Empire: Eisenhower, the CIA, and the Hidden Story of America's Space Espionage."

Developing citizen-leaders with global perspectives is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint for the development of the University by the time it celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2019.

 

Philip Taubman

Philip Taubman
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