"Submersion Journalism: Undercover Reporting in an Age of P.R." Co-sponsored by NYU and Harper's Magazine September 17, 2008

From: Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper's Magazine and editor of the anthology "Submersion Journalism: Reporting in the Radical First Person from Harper's Magazine"

Beyond the inherent pleasures of the storytelling, "Submersion Journalism" is also meant as an argument for why this sort of journalism—unsanctioned, immersive, stealthy—is utterly necessary today, when the P.R. and "spin" mentality has so polluted the national consciousness that the average American on the street reflexively responds to reporters in soundbites.

To that end, we're putting on a few panel discussions around the country to talk about undercover and participatory journalism, why they're vital forms of reporting, and how to do them well. The first, in New York, is coming up soon, and we'd love to see you all there. Here are the details:

Panel Discussion: Submersion Journalism: Undercover Reporting in an Age of P.R.

Wednesday, September 17th, 6:30 p.m.
Hosted at the NYU Department of Journalism; co-sponsored by NYU and Harper's Magazine
20 Cooper Square (Bowery across from E 5th St.), Sixth Floor

Panelists:
* Ted Conover, author of "Newjack" (Vintage; winner of National Book Critics Circle Award), among other books, and distinguished writer-in-residence at NYU

* Jeff Sharlet, author of "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power" (HarperCollins) and a contributing editor at Harper's Magazine and Rolling Stone

* Ken Silverstein, Washington editor of Harper's Magazine and author of "Turkmeniscam: How Washington Lobbyists Fought to Flack for a Stalinist Dictatorship" (Random House)

* Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper's Magazine and editor of the anthology "Submersion Journalism: Reporting in the Radical First Person from Harper's Magazine"

The moderator will be Brooke Kroeger, chair of the NYU Department of Journalism.