Comic Harry Shearer addresses media mythmaking, March 14

Harry Shearer, famed voice of The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live cast member, radio host of Le Show, and star of the film This is Spinal Tap, will accuse the national press of perpetuating media myths in major news coverage at a National Press Club luncheon on March 14.

Shearer says he hopes to “enhance the feeling of shame among practitioners” in the press, whom he says have a “blindness to accuracy.” He will argue that the nation’s top editors and producers are “notoriously herd-oriented," cling to first-draft versions of news stories, and are reluctant to adjust news narratives when new facts come to light.

In his speech, Shearer will address the impact of 24-hour-news cycles, accelerated deadlines, budgetary constraints, and newsroom cutbacks on accuracy in journalism, citing reporting on such stories as the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s statue in Iraq and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In his documentary The Big Uneasy (2010), Shearer chronicled government’s failures that caused catastrophic damage in New Orleans during the hurricane.

Lunch will be served at 12:30 p.m. with the speech beginning at 1 p.m. and ending at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 for Club members, $29 for guests of members, and $36 for general admission. To reserve tickets, please e-mail [email protected] or call 202-662-7501. Tickets must be paid for at time of reservation.

To submit a question in advance, put SHEARER in the subject line and email to [email protected] before 11 a.m. on the day of the luncheon. If you are a journalists interested in sitting at the head table, please contact Patti Giglio, [email protected].

Upcoming Luncheons:

April 6, 2011 – Douglas Shulman, IRS commissioner

-- Patti Giglio, [email protected]