FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1/24/2007

Contact: K.E. Schwab  -- 724-738-2199

 karl.schwab@sru.edu

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peter Arnett to lecture at Slippery Rock University

                SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peter Arnett, best known for his 1991 on-the-scene coverage of the Persian Gulf War bombing for CNN and his TV interview with Osama bin Laden, will visit Slippery Rock University to deliver a free address to the entire University community at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

           Arnett, now working as a freelance journalist, will speak in SRU’s new Advanced Technology and Science Hall Auditorium. He will also join students and faculty for lunch and visit at least one communication class as part of his visit.

           The lecture is sponsored by SRU’s College of Business, Information and Social Sciences and the College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts.

            The veteran journalist, who received his Pulitzer in 1966 for reporting work on the Vietnam War for The Associated Press, also is known for being the first television reporter granted a 60-minute interview of pre-submitted questions with Bin Laden in 1997. The interview took place in eastern Afghanistan.

            Arnett has also worked for NBC, MSNBC, National Geographic and Britain’s Daily Mirror.

While serving as a war correspondent, he stirred up controversy by granting an interview with state-controlled Iraqi Television during which he commented on the American war in Iraq, saying, “The first war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance. Now they are trying to write another war plan. Clearly, the American war planners misjudged the determination of the Iraqi forces.” He later apologized for granting the interview, but not for his comments.

           Arnett is the author of “Live from the Battlefield: From Vietnam to Baghdad, 35 Years in the World's War Zones.”

SlipperyRock University is Pennsylvania’s premier public residential university. Slippery Rock University provides students with a comprehensive learning experience that intentionally combines academic instruction with enhanced educational and learning opportunities that make a positive difference in their lives.

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