UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Three photographers who covered the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in western Pennsylvania earlier this year will discuss that event and coverage of major news events in general during an Oct. 15 visit to the University Park campus.
The panel discussion featuring Rebecca Droke of AFP News Agency, Sebastian Foltz of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Scott Goldsmith of Politico will begin at 7:15 p.m. Oct. 15 in Kern Auditorium (102 Kern Building). The event, sponsored by the Department of Journalism, is free and open to the public.
The three award-winning photographers and visual storytellers chronicled the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in different ways. Their years of varied experience provide insights about the challenges of covering major news events, as well as how the role of photojournalists and visual storytellers has changed through the years.
Droke is a freelance visual storyteller based in Pittsburgh. As a staff photographer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, she covered breaking news, politics, daily life and high school sports. As the assistant managing editor for visuals at the Post-Gazette, she was part of the staff awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting of the Tree of Life synagogue mass shooting.
Foltz is a photojournalist for the Post-Gazette. Prior to working at the PG, he worked a combination of full time and freelance for publications in Colorado, Oregon and western Pennsylvania. He also spent time as the lead photographer for the Butler Eagle, north of Pittsburgh. Foltz also has experience as a feature writer in a range of subjects, frequently with emphasis on outdoor sports and tourism.
Goldsmith has photographed feature stories for a wide variety of magazines, including National Geographic, Life, Time, Fortune, People, Sports Illustrated, Politico, Rolling Stone and U.S. News & World Report.
Faculty member John Pendygraft, an assistant teaching professor of journalism, will moderate the discussion with the three award winners, who will show samples of their work during the session. Before joining the Penn State faculty, Pendygraft crafted his own award-winning career as a photographer and visual storyteller at the Tampa Bay Times.