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Moderated by Mr. Dionne, the closing plenary session consisted of panel members discussing the topic, “Why Becoming a Journalist Matters.” Topics included many stories of their experiences, dealing with criticism of their opinions, journalistic traditions of fair-mindedness, and progressive vs. conservative viewpoints. The panelists responded to questions from members of the audience.

Campus Progress holds a national conference for journalism students at the headquarters of Center for American Progress.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) spoke about the state of American politics and responded to questions from Capitol Hill interns. He talked about the importance of respecting the opinions of one another in both governing and public debate, and outlined how he would like political discourse to evolve. Among his comments he stated, “In a confident America .... we question each other’s ideas vigorously, but we don’t question each other’s motives. If someone has a bad idea, we don’t think that they’re a bad person. We just think they have a bad idea.” He cited his own prior description of people accepting government assistance as “takers” as an example of behavior he called “wrong.” He said he has since come to understand more about the root causes of poverty. Speaker Ryan was introduced by Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY).

Participating by remote connection from New York City, Dave Tomlin talked about Sunshine Week, the national initiative by journalists to focus on open government and the public’s right to know. It begins today in Washington, DC. He responded to telephone calls and electronic mail.

Taking its name from freedom of information laws, the American Society of Newspaper Editors' Sunshine Week is expected to host forums on what the public has a right to see and how they can obtain requested information.

Milo Yiannopoulos talked about his book Dangerous, in which he explores free speech. He was interviewed by Marji Ross, president and publisher of Regnery.

Marvin Kalb moderated a discussion with the executive editors of the Washington Post and the New York Times. They focused on freedom of the press and President Trump’s criticisms of the media. Other topics included the rise in readership at both newspapers, covering Donald Trump during the 2016 ecampaign season, implementing social media guidelines for reporters, and the appropriateness of newspaper reporters appearing on cable news networks. Following their remarks, they took questions from the audience.

Professor Kevin Schultz talked about the politics of the 1960s and what freedom meant to different groups, including students, women, African Americans, and Latinos. He described how the goals of these groups were often at odds with the federal government and the conformity of the 1950s. This class is from a course called “American History from the Civil War to Present.”

Journalists talked about the topic, “The Age of Spin: Controlling the Message,” moderated by John Powers. Many examples were discussed of spin, truth-telling or lying by governmental entities, the role corporate media, and political campaigning. After their presentations the participants responded to audience members' questions.

Joe Conason is the author of It Can Happen Here: Authoritarian Peril in the Age of Bush, published by Thomas Dunne Books. David Goodman is the co-author of Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back, published by Hyperion. Michael Isikoff is the co-author of Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War, published by Crown. Frank Luntz is the author of Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear, published by Hyperion.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing on the State Department’s response to Freedom of Information requests dealing with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails. Committee Chair Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) called for the State Deparment to release Secretary Clinton’s calendar and questioned why requests for information on her result in redacted documents.

The hearing occurred shortly after Representative Chaffetz requested the Justice Department hold another investigation into the former secretary of state’s emails deleted by a Denver-based technology firm. The FBI decided not to press for criminal charges after its own year-long investigation.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) spoke about the dangers of suppressing a free press.

This was a brief portion of his remote interview from Munich, Germany, with Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Panelists talked about freedom of the press. Panelists included author and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, author and National Memo editor-in-chief Joe Conason, and author and journalist Evan Thomas.

They spoke at the ninth annual Tucscon Festival of Books.