Produced by LA Theatre Works in partnership with New York Theatre Workshop and Affinity Collaborative Theatre, Leroy Aarons and Geoffrey Cowan's Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers closed with rave reviews and an impressive model for using theater to explore and discuss the role of media in a democracy. The USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy organized conversations focused on the tension between issues of national security and a free press that included journalists, scholars, jurists, and public policy leaders from partner organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Columbia Journalism Review, New York University, and more…….Continue Reading ‘Top Secret’ play and discussion series in New York City wrap with a bright future
News
Pentagon Papers: The Glory Days of Journalism
The Atlantic reviewed the play Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, by CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan. "Ultimately, the contents of the Pentagon Papers mattered less to events than the great confrontation over whether the press could override government's objections to their release," the article stated. "So if you get a chance to see Top Secret or watch the panel on C-SPAN, here's what to remember: important decisions being made today by proprietors and journalists will be judged by history. Let's hope they meet the test."……Continue Reading Pentagon Papers: The Glory Days of Journalism
Applications due for inaugural Kennerly Institute on Photojournalism & Communication Leadership
Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, David Hume Kennerly has teamed with the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy for a unique one-week summer Institute, June 20-25, 2010. Blending an extraordinary hands-on assignment-photography experience with intensive academic inquiry, the Kennerly Institute is tailored for individuals seeking to hone their photojournalistic skills and to become leading-edge visual communicators. Applications are due April 20, 2010. To learn more go to the Kennerly Institute website…….Continue Reading Applications due for inaugural Kennerly Institute on Photojournalism & Communication Leadership
Why Washington Doesn’t Work Anymore
What killed bipartisanship in the governing of America? Basically, I think, it was the jet plane and Blackberries. In fact, those two mechanical marvels may break up the whole nation into, say, 350 million countries. A country for every man, woman and child. Why can't the representatives of we, the people, agree on even the things they agree on? The answer is that they don't know each other. In the old days there was a community called Washington — or maybe just Georgetown — where Republicans and Democrats lived together. They carpooled. They had dinner with each other and exchanged……Continue Reading Why Washington Doesn’t Work Anymore
A Historic Moment for Health Care? Building a Birthright
The New York Times ran an op-ed by Senior Fellow Richard Reeves about the recently passed health care bill. "President Obama's success in moving toward universal health care (the core of the reform package is expanding the number of Americans covered) will become part of the American social fabric, a birthright, like Social Security and Medicare," Reeves wrote. "And the Republicans were right too, in understanding that this bill is a significant expansion of the American welfare state."……Continue Reading A Historic Moment for Health Care? Building a Birthright
‘Top Secret’: The Power And Struggle Of The Press
NPR New York bureau chief Margot Adler filed an in-depth piece about CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan's play Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, which was broadcast on All Things Considered…….Continue Reading ‘Top Secret’: The Power And Struggle Of The Press
‘Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers’
TheatreMania writes: "Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons crackling drama about that pivotal moment in history, Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, is now being presented at the New York Theatre Workshop in a brilliantly acted production under John Rubenstein's tight direction. Not only is it a great story, it's also great theater."……Continue Reading ‘Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers’
Fighting a War of Words About a Lot of Words About a War
The New York Times calls 'Top Secret' play, by CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan "cogent" and "intelligent and informative."……Continue Reading Fighting a War of Words About a Lot of Words About a War
Scoop up this one about the Pentagon Papers
The New York Post writes: "Scoop up this one about the Pentagon Papers. … Playwrights Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons have done an excellent job of dramatizing the story of how the newspaper battled the Nixon administration in court for the right to print their story."……Continue Reading Scoop up this one about the Pentagon Papers
Top Secret lifts veil on Pentagon Papers fight
The Associated Press writes, "This love affair with journalistic revelations in the face of great odds is artfully rekindled in 'Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers,' an engaging, well-acted, historical drama by Geoffrey Cowan and Leroy Aarons. With cloak-and-dagger intrigue, government suppression, courtroom drama and an unusual theatrical format, the play will please theater enthusiasts and history buffs alike. … The 'write what you know' maxim couldn't be more apropos in this case, evidenced by Cowan and Aarons' clear presentation of the facts and splendidly nuanced dialogue, which consistently rings true."……Continue Reading Top Secret lifts veil on Pentagon Papers fight