Journalists and the people they cover to discuss civility Aug. 4

Reporters, press secretaries and outside observers will convene at the Club on Friday, Aug. 4, to discuss ways of improving the discourse on Capitol Hill.

The event, sponsored by the National Press Club's Journalism Institute, will take place from 9:30 -11:30 a.m. in the First Amendment Lounge. Admission is free but reservations are required and can be made online.

It comes after a House Republican leader, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, was seriously wounded while practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game. Some of the topics to be discussed will be explored further at a larger First Amendment Summit later this year with the help of the National Institute of Civil Discourse.

Confirmed panelists include Brendan Buck, counselor to House Speaker Paul Ryan; Mike McCurry, partner at Public Strategies, professor of public theology at Wesleyan Theological Seminary and a 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 for Bloomberg and chair of the Standing Committee of Congressional Correspondents; and John M. Donnelly, senior writer for CQ Roll Call, president of Military Reporters and Editors, and chair of the Club's Press Freedom Team.

Kathy Kiely, the Journalism Institute's press freedom fellow, will moderate.