Journalist John Harris, Carleton Class of 1985, will deliver Carleton College’s weekly convocation address on Friday, October 23, 2009, at 10:50 a.m. in the Skinner Memorial Chapel. Harris is a 21-year veteran of the Washington Post, and author of two political books. In 2006, he co-founded a newspaper, The Politico, with Post co-worker Jim VandeHei and entrepreneur Robert Allbritton. The title of his presentation is "Barack Obama v. the Freak Show: Politics and Media on the Wild Frontier." This event is free and open to the public.

Harris stumbled into journalism during his freshman year at Carleton College, when a friend asked him to write a few articles for the school newspaper, The Carletonian.   From then on, political writing was his passion. He graduated from Carleton on a Saturday in June and started as a summer intern at the Washington Post the following Monday. At the end of the summer, he was offered a job, and stayed on as political journalist for 21 years. From 1995 to 2001, he covered the Clinton White House. Later, he expanded that experience with a comprehensive report on the Clinton presidency, “The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House” (Random House Trade, 2006). He is also co-author, with his friend Mark Halperin of ABC News, of a book on presidential politics, “The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008” (Random House, 2008).

After 20 years at the Washington Post, Harris set his sights on editing. He and VandeHei mused what it would be like to start a publication about politics from the ground up. In the fall of 2006, Allbritton, head of Allbritton Communications, gave them a chance to do just that. Since then, The Politico (a print newspaper in Washington) and Politico.com have captured the public’s attention. Harris and VandeHei assembled a team of high-profile reporters and editors who wake up each day looking for fresh ways to attack the best political stories in and around Capitol Hill. Plus, they are determined to have fun while doing it – something they claim is in lamentably short supply in newsrooms these days.

The Skinner Memorial Chapel is located on First Street between College and Winona Streets in Northfield. For more information regarding the convocation, please contact the Carleton College Office of College Relations at (507) 222-4308.