James Simon, Ph.D., associate dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Fairfield University, will deliver a post-election lecture, "The Impact of the Media on Election 2012," at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 8, 2012, at the Fairfield University Bookstore, 1499 Post Road, Fairfield. The event, sponsored by the Fairfield League of Women Voters, is free and open to the public.

Dr. Simon, an award-winning journalism professor and researcher, has had a life-long interest in studying journalism and the impact of the news media on government, politics and elections.

"The news media have always played a dominant role in election campaigns, back to the earliest days of the Republic," Dr. Simon said. "But the recent, rapid changes in technology and changes in election laws have made it hard both for candidates to use technology effectively and for journalists trying to keep their audience informed."

Dr. Simon will talk about changes in the ways campaigns present themselves to the public and the efforts by reporters to keep candidates honest. He will provide an inside look at the 2012 campaign from three perspectives: from his experience as a campaign reporter, as a strategist in a presidential campaign, and now as an academic studying the process.

After receiving a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University, Dr. Simon joined The Associated Press, the world's largest news organization, as a reporter in 1974. He later covered Statehouse politics in Trenton, New Jersey, and served as New Jersey state news editor. In 1978 he left reporting and taught journalism full time as an adjunct professor at Rutgers. He returned to the AP in 1979, covering Statehouse politics in Providence, Rhode Island. He also covered Statehouse politics in Boston from 1981 to 1987, the last four years of which he served as Massachusetts AP Statehouse bureau chief.

Dr. Simon has worked in government as the assistant secretary of the environment in Massachusetts and he served as director of public relations for the Massachusetts Hospital Association.

He holds a Ph.D. from Arizona State University. He taught in the English Department at Fairfield before becoming associate dean in July.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Hastings, ehastings@fairfield.edu or (203) 254-4000, ext. 2688.

Posted On: 10-11-2012 11:10 AM

Volume: 45 Number: 73