2018 Michael Cromartie Forum

June 21-23, 2018
Washington, D.C.


About

The purpose of the Michael Cromartie Forum (MCF) is to help young journalists deepen their understanding of faith and current issues in the public square, and to advance their careers through mentorship and through networking with other journalists and key figures in culture and public life.

MCF is an extension of the work of the Faith Angle Forum, founded by Michael in 1999. FAF is grounded in a belief that journalism plays an indispensable role in a free society, and that both journalists and the public benefit from in-depth conversations about key issues in public life. Both forums provide a model for civil discourse and truth-seeking in an era where both are increasingly rare, and they honor Mike’s legacy of befriending and assisting journalists as they serve the public through their work.


Agenda

Session 1
TELLING THE (FULL) TRUTH ABOUT RELIGION
Dr. Grant Wacker
Professor Emeritus, Duke Divinity School

Session 2
AGAINST THE STREAM:
MEANINGFUL WORK IN TODAY’S MEDIA
Philip Rucker and Karen Tumulty
The Washington Post

Session 3
ISSUES AND POLLING TRENDS
FOR THE 2018 MID-TERM ELECTION
Matt Bennett, Third Way
Henry Olsen, Ethics and Public Policy Center

(view full agenda here)


Participants

Kelsey Dallas, The Deseret News

Patrick Filbin, The Gillette (Wyo.) News Record

Allana Haynes, The Baltimore Sun

Martyn Wendell Jones, Freelance Writer

Sam Kestenbaum, The Forward

Aysha Khan, Religion News Service

Kamelia Kilawan, Al Jazeera English

Morgan Lee, Christianity Today

Emily McFarlan Miller, Religion News Service

Maria Polletta, The Arizona Republic

Michael Reneau, The Greeneville (Tenn.) Sun

Sam Smith, The Christian Post

Moderator: Jon Ward, Yahoo! News


Michael Cromartie Conference Room Dedication

The forum began with a reception on the evening of June 21 to dedicate EPPC’s new Michael L. Cromartie Conference Room. The RSVP list for the reception included:

Mike Allen, Axios
James Astill, The Economist
Perry Bacon, FiveThirtyEight
Molly Ball, TIME
Adelle Banks, Religion News Service
Fred Barnes, The Weekly Standard
Martha Bayles, Boston College
Peter Berkowitz, Hoover Institution
Michelle Boorstein, The Washington Post
Jim Bowman, EPPC
Karlyn Bowman, AEI
Josh Britton, EPPC
David Brooks, The New York Times
Elisabeth Bumiller, The Washington Post
Daniel Burke, CNN
Carl Cannon, RealClearPolitics
John Carr, Georgetown University
Mona Charen, EPPC
Chris Crawford, Democracy Fund
Jenny Cromartie
Paul Farhi, The Washington Post
William Galston, Brookings Institution
Josh Good, Kern Family Foundation
Shadi Hamid, Brookings Institution
Cherie Harder, The Trinity Forum
David Hawkings, Roll Call/CQ
John Inazu, Washington Univ. Law School
Miranda Kennedy, NPR
Yuval Levin, EPPC/National Affairs
Matt Lewis, The Daily Beast
Daniel Lippman, Politico
Ryan Lizza, Esquire
Phoebe Miles
Richard Miles
Lance Morrow, EPPC
Henry Olsen, EPPC
Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post
Delia Rios
Natalie Robertson, EPPC
Robert Royal, Faith and Reason Institute
Philip Rucker, The Washington Post
William Saletan, Slate
Jody H. Sanchez, Pointy Shoe Productions
Jerome Socolovsky
Tim Schultz, 1st Amendment Partnership
Eugene Scott, The Washington Post
Mark Shanoudy, EPPC
Sarah Shanoudy
Luma Simms, EPPC
Peter Skerry, Boston College
A.B. Stoddard, RealClearPolitics
Sylvia Travaglione, EPPC
Kerry Troup, 1st Amendment Partnership
Karen Tumulty, The Washington Post
Grant Wacker, Duke Univ. Divinity School
Jon Ward, Yahoo! News
Peter Wehner, EPPC
George Weigel, EPPC
Ed Whelan, EPPC
Stephen White, EPPC
Sarah Wildman, Foreign Policy
Daniel Wiser, National Affairs

Event Media

 

Below are some selected tweets from participants:

Josh Good @josh_good_

Today 12 carefully selected journalists—all under age 30, with highly promising careers—join @EPPCdc scholars & @GrantWacker & @jonward11 for a deep-dive conversation re: changing trends in American religion, political parties, & the future of the press. #CromartieForum

 

Sam Smith @IamSamSmith

Excited to see what the inaugural Michael #CromartieForum has in store for us this weekend.

 

Kelsey Dallas  @kelsey_dallas

Tweeting today from #CromartieForum in DC. We’re discussing the temptation to oversimplify religion news and how to find purpose in a chaotic media landscape.

 

Morgan Pomaika’i Lee @Mepaynl

Btw, I have craved the type of pouring into, mentoring, and iron-sharpens-iron that I am getting at #CromartieForum. Thank you so much @EPPCdc and @jeromesoco for the vocation-affirming week!

 

Michael Reneau @MichaelReneau

Already encouraged by first few hours at the #CromartieForum: Being in a room of journalists who care deeply about understanding some of the most challenging questions society reminds me why we all got into this business.

 

Patrick Filbin @PatrickFilbin

Finally able to wind down and reflect from a busy, productive, insightful, generous and important #CromartieForum. Gratitude to the @faithangleforum, @EPPCdc and all the inspiring speakers from the weekend.

 

Michael Reneau @MichaelReneau

Still processing everything from #CromartieForum, but I can’t express enough of my thanks to orgs like @EPPCdc and @faithangleforum, and their staff. Plus great speakers, talented and impressive fellow forum-ers, thoughtful and kind moderator @jonward11. Proud to be a #journo.

 

Aysha Khan‏ @ayshabkhan

Shout out to @EPPCdc / @faithangleforum for hosting me and 11 other young journos for a remarkable #CromartieForum in D.C. last week. It led to many thoughtful and invigorating conversations and several new relationships, none of which I will easily forget.