Event



Political Reporting

Nora Magid Mentorship Prize 20th Anniversary Alumni Panel with Luis Ferre-Sadurni, Matt Flegenheimer, and Ashley Parker, moderated by Jessica Goodman
Oct 5, 2023 at - | Kelly Writers House | 3805 Locust Walk

A photograph of a panel discussion at Kelly Writers House

If you've ever wondered what it's like to report from the front lines of political campaigns, be part of the White House Press Pool, or expose the dark (and sometimes funny!) underbelly of our country's political climate, now's the time to find out. Join renowned political reporters Ashley Parker of the Washington Post, and Matt Flegenheimer and Luis Ferre-Sadurni of the New York Times as they share stories from the scrum, reveal their tips on sourcing and finding scoops, and offer advice for budding reporters. Moderated by bestselling author Jessica Goodman, the Political Reporting panel will focus on how to break into the industry, what it takes to be a successful political journalist, and how these ace reporters are preparing for the next major election season.

MATT FLEGENHEIMER (C'11) is a correspondent at the New York Times. His primary focus is long-form profiles of notable figures — in politics and otherwise — for the Times and Times Magazine. Since joining the paper in 2011, he has covered two presidential campaigns, the Trump era in Washington, New York City transportation and City Hall.

JESSICA GOODMAN is the New York Times bestselling author of young adult thrillers They Wish they Were UsThey’ll Never Catch UsThe Counselors, and The Legacies. She is the former op-ed editor at Cosmopolitan magazine, and was part of the 2017 team that won a National Magazine Award in personal service. She has also held editorial positions at Entertainment Weekly and HuffPost, and her work has been published in outlets like GlamourThe CutElle, and Marie Claire.

ASHLEY PARKER is senior national political correspondent for the Washington Post, and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. Most recently, she served as the White House bureau chief, covering the first two years of the Biden presidency, as well as the entirety of the Trump presidency. In 2022, she was part of the Washington Post team that won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, for their coverage of the causes, costs and aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. She was part of the Washington Post team that won a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2018, for their coverage of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. She was also part of the Washington Post team that won the George Polk Award for national reporting in 2022, for the project “The Attack,” which chronicled the January 6 attack. In 2019, Parker served as one of the moderators for the Democratic presidential primary debate in Atlanta, hosted by the Washington Post and MSNBC. Parker joined the Post in 2017, after 11 years at the New York Times, where she covered the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns, and Congress, among other things. She is an NBC/MSNBC senior political analyst, and has also written for the New York Times Sunday MagazineGlamour, and the Washingtonian, as well as other publications. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2005, with a degree in both English (creative writing) and Communications, and lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, New York Times political correspondent Mike Bender, and their three daughters.

Sponsored by: the Povich Journalism Program Fund, the Daily Pennsylvanian, and the Nora Magid Mentorship Prize

For more information, see the Kelly Writers House calendar.