Election Debrief: Reporters’ Roundtable Joseph S. Murphy Institute/CUNY Friday, November 18 | 9:30am-11:30am Murphy institute 25 West 43 St, 18 Floor More info: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/election-debrief-reporters-roundtable-registrat... Join us this Friday to assess the surprising outcome of the 2016 elections, particularly the triumph of Donald Trump, a stunning victory raises more questions than it answers. To what degree is the election outcome largely a result of an anxious and enraged white working class, sections of which either endorse the Trump campaign’s virulent racism or are willing to overlook it in favor of his tough talk on free trade and a rigged political system? How should labor and progressive activists understand and respond to the racism the campaign both fueled and exposed? What did the 2016 election tell us about the wisdom and viability of the Obama coalition, which depends on demographic changes presumed to be advantageous, rather than on birthing a multi-racial working-class? What was the nature and extent of organized labor’s impact on the election, particularly in the rust belt? Speakers Laura Flanders is a best-selling author and broadcaster. After many years in public and commercial radio, she founded The Laura Flanders Show / GRITtv in 2008 to serve as an online channel for in depth conversations with forward-thinking people fromt he worlds of politics, economics, business and the arts. A primetime, daily broadcast, GRITtv with Laura Flanders aired for three years on Free Speech TV before moving to KCET/Linktv<http://www.kcetlink.org/> and teleSUR<http://videos.telesurtv.net/en/videos/programa/programa/laura-flanders-show>, as a weekly program. Flanders is a contributing writer to The Nation<https://www.thenation.com/authors/laura-flanders/> and Yes! magazine<http://www.yesmagazine.org/@@also-by?author=Laura+Flanders> (“Commonomics”). She is also the author of six books including the New York Times best-seller, BUSHWOMEN: Tales of a Cynical Species (Verso, 2004) and Blue GRIT: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians (Penguin Press, 2007). The Laura Flanders Show aired nationally on Air America Radio (2004-2008) before which she was the founding host of Your Call<http://www.yourcallradio.org/>, on public radio, KALW, and CounterSpin, the nationally-syndicated radio program from the mediawatch group FAIR. Flanders is a repeat guest on Real Time with Bill Maher and appears regularly on MSNBC. She’s also served as a substitute host for PBS veteran, Bill Moyers<http://billmoyers.com/guest/laura-flanders/>. Jamilah King writes about culture: how it's produced, who produces it, and what that production means in our social and political landscape. She started by working on the calendar section of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, where she wrote about local bands and film screenings. From there, she worked at WireTap Magazine, an online publication that was geared toward politically active young people, where she wrote and edited feature stories and helped manage an arts and culture reporting fellowship sponsored by the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Later, she worked with formerly incarcerated young writers at New America Media's Youth Outlook, which was the largest multimedia ethnic news agency in the country. She currently works as a senior staff writer at Mic.com<http://mic.com/>.

 Her work is informed by the stories of struggle and survival that she lived through and heard while growing up in San Francisco's Fillmore District. Since 2001, Harold Meyerson has been an editor of The American Prospect, the Washington-based liberal magazine, oscillating between the post of executive editor (his current position) and editor-at-large. From 2003 through 2015, he was a weekly op-ed columnist for The Washington Post, writing chiefly on politics and economics. From 1989 through 2001, he was executive editor of the L.A. Weekly, the nation’s largest metropolitan weekly newspaper, and currently is a monthly contributor to the op-ed page of the Los Angeles Times on matters concerning Los Angeles and California. He has also contributed articles to The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Republic, The Nation, Dissent, The Guardian, The New Statesman, and numerous other publications. The Atlantic has called him one of the nation’s 50 most influential opinion journalists, and his journalism has won a number of awards. He is also the co-author of Who Put The Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz?, a critical biography of Broadway and Hollywood lyricist Yip Harburg, and has published a range of articles on American culture in the first half of the 20th century. Educated in Los Angeles public schools and at Columbia University, Meyerson currently lives in Washington, D.C. As Digital Media Director and Political Editor for The Futuro Media Group, Julio (Julito) Ricardo Varela works with all of Futuro’s shows and is a key voice is shaping the company’s digital vision. He is also a frequent contributor to Latino USA and the editor of LatinoUSA.org<http://latinousa.org/>, AmericaByTheNumbers.org<http://www.americabythenumbers.org/>, InTheThick.org,<http://www.inthethick.org/> HumanizingAmerica.org<http://www.humanizingamerica.org/> and FuturoMediaGroup.org<http://futuromediagroup.org/>.
Before joining Futuro, Julio was digital producer for Al Jazeera America’s “The Stream” and his work has been featured in many global outlets, including The Guardian, The New York Times, ESPN, Quartz, Le Monde, WGBH, WNYC, Face the Nation, MSNBC, Fusion, Univision and Telemundo. He has made numerous national TV appearances for Latino USA and Futuro. He can also be heard as a regular guest and guest host for Maria Hinojosa on In The Thick.<http://www.inthethick.org/>

 In 2015, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists honored Julio with its inaugural DALE (pronounced like Pitbull would say it) Award, given to “given to an individual or company that steps up and goes above and beyond to ensure Latinos are fairly and accurately represented.” A native of Puerto Rico, Julio spent his childhood between San Juan and the Bronx. He was also a contributing reporter at The Boston Globe. Julio graduated cum laude from Harvard College.
In 2011, Julio founded LatinoRebels.com<http://latinorebels.com/>, one of the top U.S. Latino media sites in the world. Ed Ott is a Distinguished Lecturer in Labor Studies at the Murphy Institute.

 Ed has over 40 years of experience in the labor movement, most recently as Executive Director of the New York City Central Labor Council, which represents 1.3 million trade unionists from over 400 affiliated organizations. In that role, he gained a reputation for building productive and respectful relationships between organized labor and community-based organizations, especially those representing immigrant workers. During his tenure as Executive Director, the NYC Central Labor Council, the Taxi Workers’ Alliance became the first worker center organization in the United States to affiliate with an AFL-CIO central body. 

 Prior to assuming leadership of the Council, he served as its Director of Public Policy. In that capacity he played a pivotal role in several legislative initiatives, including passage of the Living Wage bill, the HealthCare Security Act, pension and social security protection, worker safety legislation, and campaign finance reform. Ott began his career in the labor movement as a union organizer, served as a local union officer, and later as the political director for several large labor organizations. He has lectured widely and has served on various public boards, commissions, and task forces. He is frequently quoted in the media.
 The forum is free but registration is required. RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/election-debrief-reporters-roundtable-registrat...