CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Joseph Urschel, the executive director and senior vice president of The Newseum in Washington, D.C., will visit the University of Illinois in late March.
A speaker in the College of Communications‘ “Distinguished Speaker Series,” Urschel will talk about “Journalism: Not the Oldest Profession – But the Best” at 1 p.m. Monday (March 27) in 213 Gregory Hall, 810 S. Wright St., Urbana. His presentation, which is free and open to the public, will include a film about the Newseum and the First Amendment. A question-and-answer session will follow. Urschel will be a guest on “Focus 580,” broadcast on WILL-AM 580 at 10 a.m. March 28.
A UI alumnus, Urschel earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1974.
He joined the Newseum, the interactive museum of news, in 1997, after a distinguished career in journalism. He worked for USA Today from 1982 to 1997 in various positions, including managing editor/Life section, managing editor/special projects, senior writer and a columnist for the editorial pages.
Urschel’s honors include an Emmy for a news documentary on campus crime, which he wrote and co-produced, and awards from the National Association of Newspaper Columnists and the National Association of Sunday and Feature Editors.
Previous speakers in the series include film critic Roger Ebert, television host Oprah Winfrey, CNN/U.S. president Rick Kaplan and former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon.
