Lewis: Why Washington is Dysfunctional

For more than 30 years, the Flagler College Forum on Government and Public Policy has invited nationally recognized journalists and commentators to St. Augustine to discuss issues of importance in regional, state and federal government.

Hearst Newspapers’ Washington Bureau Senior Editor Chuck Lewis will be the next speaker in the 2010-2011 Flagler College Forum on Government and Public Policy.

Lewis will speak Jan. 13, at 7 p.m., in the Flagler College Auditorium. His topic will be “Why Washington is Dysfunctional.”

Lewis replaces David Broder of the Washington Post, who was originally scheduled to speak.

Lewis was named senior editor of Hearst Newspapers’ Washington bureau in 2009 after serving as Hearst bureau chief for 20 years, following four years as Washington bureau chief for the AP.

In 1991, Lewis won the National Headliner Award and the Edgar Allen Poe Prize with Hearst colleague Stewart M. Powell for coverage of ‘friendly fire’ casualties in the Persian Gulf War. Lewis covered Desert Storm from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait.

Before joining the AP, Lewis was a fellow at the Washington Journalism Center on leave from the Chicago Sun-Times where he was an assistant city editor. He also worked as a business reporter and assistant financial editor and is a veteran of the City News Bureau of Chicago.

Lewis served as an instructor at Medill School of Journalism in Evanston and in Washington. Since 1994, he has conducted quarterly seminars for Medill and University of Missouri students on “How to Approach the Job Market.”

He is on the board of directors of the National Press Foundation and the SJP Foundation of Washington. He is a member of ASNE and the Gridiron Club.

Lewis is a graduate of Loyola University of Chicago and Columbia University Law School and served as an enlisted man in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

Other speakers for the 2010-2011 season include:

• Feb. 17 – Kathy Kiely, Managing Editor for Politics, National Journal Group

• March 22 – Jim Toedtman, Editor, AARP Bulletin

All forums take place in the Flagler College Auditorium, 14 Granada St., at 7 p.m. Forums are free and open to the public, but seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign language interpreters are provided.