More than 200 people attended a lunch and workshops during the three-day conference on communication sponsored by the School of Communication.

The lunch included a panel that brought together seasoned veterans in the fields of politics and journalism.

Fred Brown, political columnist and analyst, Denver Post Editorial Page Editor Sue O’Brien, Joe Rogers, former Colorado lieutenant governor, and Pat Schroeder, former Colorado member of the U.S. House of Representatives, participated in a panel discussion moderated by C-SPAN founder and CEO Brian Lamb.

The panelists took questions from the audience and addressed issues such as the liberal bias in the media, diversifying news rooms, American cynicism, the influence of the Internet and the corporatization of the media.

The panel was asked to define the relationship between the fields. O’Brien likened the relationship to a sibling rivalry.

“We each figure that we have a handle on the truth; politicians see it as their mission to be sincere, journalists see it as their mission to be skeptical.”

Communications students in the audience got advice for their present coursework and future endeavors.

All panel members agreed that a broad, liberal arts education was a journalist’s most important tool. Students were also encouraged to study topics that might not interest them.

“Study mathematics,” was Brown’s advice, which was met with groans from the audience, “you will be a hero in the news room if you can figure a percentage.”

Rogers encouraged students to never take shortcuts and “always seek the truth” in their future work.

The lunch was followed by five workships that focused on various areas of communication, from new media to screenwriting in Hollywood.

Wednesday night a gala dinner attended by 160 people opened the conference. The keynote speaker was Lamb, who said that C-SPAN would not exist without the support of the cable television industry.

The dinner also honored Robert and Barbara Hathorne who gave a grant that made the conference possible. Hathorne graduated in 1959 with a degree in radio-television-film.