Brief: ABC News executive to speak Sept. 29

The executive producer of "World News Tonight With Peter Jennings" will
launch the Professional Speaker Series in Journalism on Sept. 29.

Rick Kaplan, a UI alumnus, will speak at 3 p.m. in 112 Gregory Hall on
"How to Serve the Public Interest While Keeping the Public Interested:
Balancing Tonya, Michael and O.J. With Health Care, Bosnia and Rwanda."

Kaplan, winner of 24 Emmy awards and numerous other honors, was the
executive producer of a live, five-hour broadcast commemorating the
50th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy in May.

Prior to being named executive producer of "Prime Time Live" in 1989,
Kaplan was executive producer and creator of "Capital to Capital," the
historic series that marked the first live exchanges between members of
Congress and high-ranking officials at the Kremlin to air simultaneously
in the United States and the Soviet Union. He also has been executive
producer of "Viewpoint," the ABC News forum for criticism and analysis of
broadcast journalism; "The Koppel Report"; "Nightline"; "World News This
Morning"; and "Good Morning America."

Before joining ABC in 1979, Kaplan was a producer for "CBS Evening News
With Walter Cronkite" and "CBS Sunday Morning," and a field producer
for 10 years at WBBM-TV in Chicago.