Kent State will host its eighth annual Poynter Media Ethics Workshop, entitled “Dirty Politics?” from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday in the FirstEnergy Auditorium in Franklin Hall.

The workshop will focus on fact-checking, polling and anti-gender bias in political reporting, according to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication website. Nationally recognized media and political experts will run panel discussions, Q&A sessions and debates. Media professionals, educators and students are all welcome to attend.

Pulitzer Prize-winner and Kent State alumna, Connie Schultz, is featured as the keynote speaker this year. Others speakers include Gregory Korte from USA Today, Mark Naymik from The Plain Dealer and Kelly McBride from the Poynter Institute.

Past years’ ethics conferences have focused on topics such as sports journalism, blogging and news. They have also featured Paul Steiger from ProPublica, Brian Windhorst from ESPN and Susan Goldberg from the Plain Dealer.

Anyone interested in attending the workshop must visit mediaethics.jmc.kent.edu/2012 to register for the event or contact Jan Leach at 330-672-4289 for more information. The event costs $25 for media and public relations professionals, $20 for educators and is free for students.

Contact Drew Woyat at [email protected].