Jazz, Paywalls and TV Highlight First Week of June at Club

June begins with a bang at the National Press Club with a series of events for members.

On Tuesday, June 4, Gary Evans, a digital communications expert and former USA Today executive, will provide his perspective on the current state of the business side of journalism at the next Communicators Breakfast. The breakfast will be held in the Truman Lounge. Admission is free for NPC members. The Club’s free breakfast will be served at 8 a.m. and the program starts at 8:30. Click here to RSVP (login required): http://press.org/events/npc-communicators-breakfast-paid-content-media-strategies.

That same evening, Walter Cronkite IV, grandson of the famed CBS News anchorman, and Maurice Isserman will discuss and sign copies of their new book "Cronkite's War: His World War II Letters Home" on June 4 at 6:30 pm. Registration is required at http://www.press.org/events/cronkite. Tickets are free for NPC members and $5 for the general public. This event is a fundraiser for the NPC Journalism Institute and no outside books will be permitted.

Also Tuesday, the NPC Journalism Institute's Professional Development Committee is offering a primer on how to do it at 6:30 pm in the Holeman Lounge.

This session is designed to explain how to get the attention of bookers as a subject matter expert and stay on their lists. Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post opinion writer and an MSNBC contributor; Lucy Spiegel, executive director, Contributors and Audience at CNN; Alla Lora, producer of Washington Week with Gwen Ifill; and Amy Shuster, producer of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show, will share insights in a discussion moderated by Club member Barbara Cochran, journalism professor at the University of Missouri and former Washington bureau chief of CBS News.

This program is made possible by a generous grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation.

The next night, WUSA-TV investigative rReporter Russ Ptacek will speak at the Young Members' "Piano Lessons,'' beginning at 6:30 pm in the McClendon Room. The cost is free for members and $5 for nonmembers. Questions? Contact Pat Host at [email protected].

Also on Wednesday, June 5, the Fourth Estate Restaurant will host its monthly “Jazz Night” in conjunction with Blues Alley, The June Jazz Night falls on the opening night of the DC Jazz Festival, which celebrates jazz at venues all around Washington.

Music will be provided by members of the Blues Alley Youth Orchestra. The musicians will be play from 6-8 pm during dinner as background music. There is no cover charge. There will be unique offers from Blues Alley for performance discounts and jazz items. Call
202-662-7638 for reservations.

In addition, gun rights supporter Dick Heller, the litigant in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court case that ruled for the first time that there was an individual right to bear arms under the Second Amendment, will talk about gun legislation at a Newsmaker beginning at 10 am.