Enron Journalist To Speak At Wellington Conference
massey-university
Fri Aug 31 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Enron Journalist To Speak At Wellington Conference
Friday, 31 August 2007, 9:24 am
Press Release: Massey University
Enron journalist to speak at Wellington conference
A New York journalist who played a key role in exposing corrupt energy company Enron will be the international guest speaker at a journalism educators' conference in Wellington in December.
The Journalism Education Association conference will be hosted by the University's Department of Communication and Journalism on 10-12 December.
Financial journalist Bethany McLean is generally regarded as being the first journalist to raise doubts about Enron in a national publication, triggering one of the great financial scandals of recent times. Covering the story for Fortune magazine in 2001, Ms McLean challenged Enron over its financial accounting practices and questioned whether it was the powerhouse most people assumed it to be.
In fact, although Enron's accounts gave the impression the company was making handsome profits, it was heading for collapse. The scandal erupted several months later when Enron went bankrupt. Thousands of people lost their jobs and pension savings and Enron's accountants, Arthur Andersen, one of the world's top accounting firms, also collapsed.
In the ensuing raft of court trials, Enron's chairman and former chief executive were convicted of charges of fraud, insider trading, money laundering and conspiracy. Major new United States securities law was passed in the wake of the scandal. Ms McLean continued to cover the Enron story and co-wrote the book The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron, later made into an Academy Award-nominated documentary, in which she appears.
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"We are delighted to have Bethany at our conference," says association president and Massey Journalism head Dr Grant Hannis. "In the context of business journalism, the Enron scandal is one of the all-time great stories. With commentators frequently questioning the quality of business journalism in New Zealand, this is a golden opportunity to learn from one of the best.
"She will give three presentations - a keynote address, an after-dinner speech, and a research seminar - so delegates will have ample opportunity to hear her.
"Bethany's appearance is possible, thanks to generous support from our sponsors, including Fairfax and APN."
The conference will also feature several high profile local speakers, including Dominion Post editor Tim Pankhurst, looking at the past and future of print journalism, Radio New Zealand's Mediawatch host Colin Peacock and TV3 political reporter Duncan Garner.
ENDS
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