Homeland Security Communications Director
to Speak at ASBPE Conference

Tasia Scolinos will explain classes of restricted information; Philadelphia Inquirer editor to moderate discussion.

April 6, 2004—Could editors or publishers of technical publications be held liable for for publishing certain information under the USA PATRIOT Act?

Tasia Scolinos, the Department of Homeland Security’s senior director for communications, will answer this and other questions as a luncheon speaker at this year’s National Editorial Conference, which takes place June 24-25 in Philadelphia.

Many business publications cover issues that touch on national security — for instance, infrastructure issues or international financing issues — and thus must make editorial decisions on stories that could come under the definition of “critical infrastructure” in the USA PATRIOT Act.

Scolinos will speak about the types of information restrictions put in place by the USA PATRIOT Act and offer suggestions on how editors can keep themselves informed about the restrictions.

Moderating the discussion with Ms. Scolinos at the June 25 luncheon will be Amanda Bennett, editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, a member of the Pulitzer Prize board, and a major voice among American newspaper executives.

About the Conference

Each June, ASBPE holds a two-day National Editorial Conference in a different U.S. city. The conference is an opportunity for editors to meet their colleagues from across the country and to keep up with the latest on topics like doing editorial research, improving readership, and more.

As part of the conference, the annual Awards of Excellence are presented at a dinner banquet.

This year’s conference will take place June 24 –25 at the Sofitel in downtown Philadelphia. The Awards of Excellence banquet, on the evening of June 24, will take place at the Pyramid Club.

Other conference speakers at this year’s conference will include Marjorie Martin, editorial director of WebMD, who will speak about the integration of consumer-oriented and professional-oriented material in one online environment and about the WebMD business model.

At a special conference session, award-winning graphic designer Jan White will take a special look at the relationship between words and pictures.

Other planned conference sessions include:

• Evaluating Research for Publication.

• Managing and Automating Editorial and Design Workflow.

• Do You Have a Disaster Plan?

• Editorial Advisory Boards: How to Make Them Work.

• How to Increase Reader Involvement.

• ASBPE Magazine of the Year Case Histories.

• Open Forum: Editorial and Design Tips & Tactics.

For more information, see our Conference page.

Back to ASBPE News page