On February 27th, LPE@HLS will host Public Writing and the Law. What the law is and how it functions, or how it should function, is central to how Americans understand their political, economic, and social lives. For many people, legal understanding is informed equally by news coverage and popular culture—police procedurals, courtroom dramas, reality television. Journalism, therefore, plays a crucial role in explaining the law to a general audience, and how journalists write about the law plays a formative role in collective political understanding. LPE@HLS has organized Public Writing and the Law to facilitate dialogue between journalists, editors, and legal professionals in order to expand the scope of legal journalism, bring more legal perspectives to the general public, and encourage public writing that advances innovative understandings of how politics and the economy are shaped by the law.
Please join us for a lunchtime panel discussion with Rose D’Amora (managing editor, The Nation), Liza Featherstone (columnist at Jacobin and The New Republic and author of Divining Desire: Focus Groups and the Culture of Consultation), Natasha Lennard (journalist and author of Being Numerous: Essays on Non-Fascist Existence), and Max Strasser (editor, The New York Times), moderated by Professor Nikolas Bowie on journalism and public understandings of the law in a time of political crisis (12:15-1:15 PM in WCC 2036, Millstein East). Lunch will be provided.
Two afternoon writing workshops will be held for Boston-area law students, legal scholars, and practitioners interested in writing for a general audience. (3:30-6:00 PM, registration required) Panelists will lead workshops on developing ideas for a public audience, pitching editors, and cultivating style.
