Pulitzer Prize-winner to deliver lecture at School of Law Auditorium
Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist David Cay Johnston will speak about the state of investigative journalism as well as his experience covering the business world in the USC’s Law School Auditorium tonight at 6:30 p.m.
“David Cay Johnston is one of the top investigative reporters in this country,” said Rob Wells, a visiting business journalism professor.
Currently a columnist for Reuters and the Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at the Syracuse University’s College of Law, Johnston won his Pulitzer in 2001 for a series of articles focusing on the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. tax system, which revealed the higher probability of the poor to be audited compared to that of the rich.
In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Johnston counts two best-selling books and the 2004 Investigative Book of the Year award among his honors.
Wells counts Johnston, a former competitor of his, as a mentor.
“I competed against him when I was at Bloomberg News. He was at The New York Times, and when I would run into him at a hearing or an event, he would have read all my stuff and point out something that he liked or something I could work on or improve,” Wells said. “That’s how he dealt with younger reporters, people who wanted to improve and learn.”
Johnston will also be speaking to journalism classes during the day.
“This is a guy who’s at the top of his profession, and he’s also very unusual in that he’s gone out of his way time and again to help younger reporters improve their craft,” Wells said.