Register now for Friday forum on cooling hostilities between the press and public officials

A panel of journalists and past and present government public relations officials will discuss ways of reducing the increasing hostilities between the press and the people they cover at a forum on Friday sponsored by the National Press Club Journalism Institute, the Club's nonprofit arm.

The program, Can We Talk? Public Access, Security and Civility in a Hyper-Partisan Age, will run from 9:30-11:30 a.m.

Admission is free but RSVPs are required.

Capitol Hill will begin as the focus of this forum as it is the center of so much that happens in Washington (including press credentialing). One of our goals: To surface some of the themes and issues we hope to explore further in a larger First Amendment Summit later this year with the help of the National Institute of Civil Discourse. Journalists, newsroom managers, press secretaries, communications directors and security officers are invited to attend and bring their thoughts and questions for what we hope will be a learning experience for everyone involved.

Confirmed panelists include: Brendan Buck, counselor to House Speaker Paul Ryan; Mike McCurry, partner, Public Strategies; professor of public theology, Wesleyan Theological Seminary: former White House press secretary; Jennifer Talhelm, communications director, Sen. Tom Udall; Carolyn Lukensmeyer, executive director, National Institute of Civil Discourse; Don Ritchie, Senate historian emeritus; Billy House, congressional reporter, Bloomberg and chair, Standing Committee of Congressional Correspondents; John M. Donnelly, senior writer, CQ/Roll Call, president of Military Reporters and Editors, chair, National Press Club Press Freedom Team.

Kathy Kiely, press freedom fellow at theJournalism Institute, will moderate.