Slate Editor Named 2011 Caulfield Lecturer at Loyola

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BALTIMORE, MD – Reflecting the changing landscape of American journalism, the editor of the prominent and influential online news magazine Slate.com, David Plotz, was chosen to give the 2011 Muriel and Clarence J. Caulfield Memorial Lecture, on Thursday, April 14, 2011, at 5:00 p.m. in McGuire Hall in the Andrew White Student Center on Loyola University’s North Charles Street campus. The title of Plotz' lecture was "The title of "'Celeb Baby Bump: Pregnant Oscar Winner Natalie Portman (PHOTOS)"—How to make great web journalism in an age of content farms, search engine optimization, and idiotic celebrity slideshows." This event was free and open to the public.

David Plotz accepted Slate editorship in 2008, after working through the organization as a staff writer, political columnist, Washington Editor, and Deputy Editor for the magazine. He also is author of the national bestseller, Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible (2010) and The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank (2005), and editor of The Best of Slate: A Tenth Anniversary Anthology (2006).

One of Slate’s original employees, Plotz came to the magazine in 1996 after working as a writer and editor at the Washington City Paper. He has written for the New York Times Magazine, Harper's, Reader's Digest, Rolling Stone, New Republic, Washington Post, and GQ, among other publications, and appeared on The Colbert Report, The View, and Good Morning America, among other shows. He has won the National Press Club's Hume Award for Political Reporting, the Online Journalism Award, and the Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Writing, and was a National Magazine Award finalist. A 1992 graduate of Harvard College, he grew up in Washington D.C. and now lives there with his wife, the journalist Hanna Rosin, and their three children.

The Caulfield Lecture series at Loyola was established 23 years ago by the family of Clarence J. Caulfield, a 1922 Loyola alumnus who spent 26 years as an editor at The Sun in Baltimore and was a mentor to such prominent writers as J. Anthony Lukas and Russell T. Baker. Hosted by the Communication Department, the annual Caulfield Lecture brings journalists and commentators of national stature to Loyola. CNN correspondent Frank Sesno gave last year's lecture, "Lose the News, Lose The Game: Reinventing Journalism to Win."The Department of Communication at Loyola University Maryland offers undergraduate study in Communication with a specialization in Journalism. Students learn newspaper, magazine, book, online, broadcast, and backpack journalism. Visiting Journalists on the faculty include Baltimore print journalist Stephanie Shapiro, and WBAL-TV Baltimore reporter Timothy Tooten, Sr.

Loyola University Maryland is a Jesuit comprehensive university comprising a Loyola College of Arts and Sciences, School of Education, and The Sellinger School of Business and Management. Established in 1852, Loyola enrolls 3,700 undergraduate and 2,600 graduate students from across the country.

Persons with disabilities who might require special services to attend Caulfield Lectures should contact the Office of Disability Support Services at 410-617-2062 or (TDD) 410-617-2141 at least 48 hours prior to the event.