All New PUBLISHING UNIVERSITY: November 4-6, 2007
Publicity Track
Session 2:
Nov 5th, 10:30 am to 12:00 noon
Panel Members: Jeff Sheler (U.S. News & World Report), Richard Ostling (Associated Press) & Patrick Reardon (The Chicago Tribune)
Session Title: General Market Media Panel
This panel features veteran reporters from TIME, Associated Press, U.S. News & World Report and the Chicago Tribune. Topics for this panel will range from changes in newspaper and newsweekly religion coverage and best practices for pitching mainstream short-lead media to how publicists can craft their pitch beyond a single title focus. Combined reporting experience from this 3-man panel: 100 years! The insights from this panel are sure to sharpen the skills of publicists and provide a valuable education for the novice publicity professional.
Panel Member Bios:
Jeff Sheler is an award-winning freelance journalist who has covered the American religion scene for nearly two decades. As a senior writer for U.S. News & World Report for many years, he authored more than 35 cover stories on religious topics ranging from American evangelicalism to the pedophile scandal in the Roman Catholic Church. He is the author of Believers: A Journey into Evangelical America (Viking, 2006), Is the Bible True? How Modern Debates and Discoveries Affirm the Essence of the Scriptures (Zondervan/HarperSanFrancisco, 1999), and the forthcoming Prophet of Purpose: The Rick Warren Story (Doubleday, 2009).
Sheler is an occasional correspondent on the weekly PBS public affairs program “Religion & Ethics News Weekly,” is a frequent guest on national radio broadcasts, and has appeared on network television programs including “Early Today on NBC,” “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” “CNN Headline News,” and “John McLaughlin One On One.” He continues to write for U.S. News as a contributing editor. His written work also has appeared in Readers Digest and Smithsonian Magazine.
A native of Grand Rapids, Mich., Sheler attended Olivet Nazarene College (now University), Kankakee, Ill., before earning a bachelor of arts degree in journalism at Michigan State University in 1971. In 1994, he received a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies at Georgetown University.
Sheler is a past president of the Religion Newswriters Association and is on the board of directors of the Religion Newswriters Foundation. He is married to the former Doreen G. Elias, a public school teacher. They have two grown daughters and three grandchildren, and enjoy sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.
Richard Ostling
Richard N. Ostling spent three decades with “Time” magazine as a staff correspondent, senior correspondent and the longtime religion writer, producing 23 cover stories. He then worked eight years at The Associated Press as a religion writer and weekly Bible columnist, and is now a freelance writer. With wife Joan he is the co-author of the critically acclaimed “Mormon America: The Power and the Promise” (HarperOne, revised edition 2007). He has also covered religion part-time for CBS Radio and PBS television’s “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.” His honors in the field include the American Academy of Religion, Supple, and Templeton prizes and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Religion Newswriters Association (the organization for specialists in the general or “secular” media). Ostling is a graduate of the University of Michigan (With High Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa) and holds master’s degrees from the George Washington University, in religion, and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, which named him a charter member of its Alumni Hall of Achievement.
Patrick T. Reardon is a feature writer and a former urban affairs writer for the Chicago Tribune where he has worked since August, 1976. Much of his feature writing is about books and writers. He is the author of three books, Daily Meditations (with Scripture) for Busy Dads, Starting Out: Reflections for Young People and Love Never Fails: Spiritual Reflections for Dads of All Ages, all from ACTA. He also wrote several chapters in the 1997 book, Chicago Days: 150 Defining Moments in the Life of a Great City, and contributed chapters to Christmas Presence: Twelve Gifts That Were More Than They Seemed, Hidden Presence and Diamond Presence, all from ACTA. His poems have appeared in many periodicals. A lifelong Chicagoan, he is married to Cathy Shiel-Reardon, a school social worker. Their daugher Sarah is a sophomore at Boston University, and their son David works as an auditor at Ernst & Young in Boston.
Session 2:
Nov 5th, 10:30 am to 12:00 noon
Panel Members: Jeff Sheler (U.S. News & World Report), Richard Ostling (Associated Press) & Patrick Reardon (The Chicago Tribune)
Session Title: General Market Media Panel
This panel features veteran reporters from TIME, Associated Press, U.S. News & World Report and the Chicago Tribune. Topics for this panel will range from changes in newspaper and newsweekly religion coverage and best practices for pitching mainstream short-lead media to how publicists can craft their pitch beyond a single title focus. Combined reporting experience from this 3-man panel: 100 years! The insights from this panel are sure to sharpen the skills of publicists and provide a valuable education for the novice publicity professional.
Panel Member Bios:
Jeff Sheler is an award-winning freelance journalist who has covered the American religion scene for nearly two decades. As a senior writer for U.S. News & World Report for many years, he authored more than 35 cover stories on religious topics ranging from American evangelicalism to the pedophile scandal in the Roman Catholic Church. He is the author of Believers: A Journey into Evangelical America (Viking, 2006), Is the Bible True? How Modern Debates and Discoveries Affirm the Essence of the Scriptures (Zondervan/HarperSanFrancisco, 1999), and the forthcoming Prophet of Purpose: The Rick Warren Story (Doubleday, 2009).
Sheler is an occasional correspondent on the weekly PBS public affairs program “Religion & Ethics News Weekly,” is a frequent guest on national radio broadcasts, and has appeared on network television programs including “Early Today on NBC,” “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” “CNN Headline News,” and “John McLaughlin One On One.” He continues to write for U.S. News as a contributing editor. His written work also has appeared in Readers Digest and Smithsonian Magazine.
A native of Grand Rapids, Mich., Sheler attended Olivet Nazarene College (now University), Kankakee, Ill., before earning a bachelor of arts degree in journalism at Michigan State University in 1971. In 1994, he received a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies at Georgetown University.
Sheler is a past president of the Religion Newswriters Association and is on the board of directors of the Religion Newswriters Foundation. He is married to the former Doreen G. Elias, a public school teacher. They have two grown daughters and three grandchildren, and enjoy sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.
Richard Ostling
Richard N. Ostling spent three decades with “Time” magazine as a staff correspondent, senior correspondent and the longtime religion writer, producing 23 cover stories. He then worked eight years at The Associated Press as a religion writer and weekly Bible columnist, and is now a freelance writer. With wife Joan he is the co-author of the critically acclaimed “Mormon America: The Power and the Promise” (HarperOne, revised edition 2007). He has also covered religion part-time for CBS Radio and PBS television’s “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.” His honors in the field include the American Academy of Religion, Supple, and Templeton prizes and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Religion Newswriters Association (the organization for specialists in the general or “secular” media). Ostling is a graduate of the University of Michigan (With High Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa) and holds master’s degrees from the George Washington University, in religion, and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, which named him a charter member of its Alumni Hall of Achievement.
Patrick T. Reardon is a feature writer and a former urban affairs writer for the Chicago Tribune where he has worked since August, 1976. Much of his feature writing is about books and writers. He is the author of three books, Daily Meditations (with Scripture) for Busy Dads, Starting Out: Reflections for Young People and Love Never Fails: Spiritual Reflections for Dads of All Ages, all from ACTA. He also wrote several chapters in the 1997 book, Chicago Days: 150 Defining Moments in the Life of a Great City, and contributed chapters to Christmas Presence: Twelve Gifts That Were More Than They Seemed, Hidden Presence and Diamond Presence, all from ACTA. His poems have appeared in many periodicals. A lifelong Chicagoan, he is married to Cathy Shiel-Reardon, a school social worker. Their daugher Sarah is a sophomore at Boston University, and their son David works as an auditor at Ernst & Young in Boston.
 Jeff Sheler |
 Patrick Reardon |