MODERATORS

SID DAVIS writes and lectures on the media, where he spent more than 40 years as a reporter, White House Correspondent, and news executive. Sid spent most of his time as a network journalist. He was a Vice-President and Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News, and Washington Bureau Chief for the Westinghouse Broadcasting Company.

He has served as a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution studying the media. He spent seven years as Program Director of the Voice of America, directing its worldwide broadcasts in 46 languages.  As White House Correspondent for Westinghouse Broadcasting, Mr. Davis traveled hundreds of thousands of miles covering Presidents. He made trips with Presidents to Vietnam, the former Soviet Union, the Peoples Republic of China, Korea, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe. He was at the White House during some of the most urgent crises of our time. As a news executive over the years, he directed coverage of political conventions, Watergate, and other major stories. He oversaw coverage of the Gulf War and the uprisings that brought the end of the Cold War.

After covering the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas n November 22, 1963, Mr. Davis was one of three correspondents to witness the swearing-in of President Johnson aboard Air Force One. His description of the solemn ceremony was the first word flashed to the world of the orderly transfer of power from the fallen leader to Lyndon Johnson. The November/December 2003 issue of American Heritage carried Mr. Davis’ account of the swearing-in of President Lyndon Johnson aboard Air Force One on the 40^th anniversary of the assassination.

Sid shares his fascinating experiences with our seminar groups. His talks are laced with personal anecdotes about our Presidents: How they handle the vital affairs of state, how they endure the tragic results of war and death, deal with the media, the Congress and the people, and how they savor the rare, lighter moments of the Presidency.

Mr. Davis has written for The WashingtonPost, American Heritage Magazine, TV Quarterly and Broadcasting Magazine. He has also done media commentary on National Public Radio and continues to lecture on the media at the Brookings Institution and at university seminars. He began his professional career as a reporter, then became news director at WKBN-TV in Youngstown , Ohio, covering the City Council, the Mayor and the Mafia (He enjoyed the Mafia the most). Mr. Davis is a graduate of Ohio University at Athens, Ohio where he was recently honored with the L. J. Hortin Distinguished Alumnus Journalism Award and has been selected as a member of the Ohio University Communication Hall of Fame.

Mr. Davis has been a regular speaker for Alan L. Freed Associates' Capitol Hill Workshops and White House Workshops and special Media Seminars since 1982. Since his retirement from Voice of America in 1998, he has become a frequent moderator for Alan L. Freed Associates' Public Policy Seminars.