Press Club of Western Pennsylvania Presents "Chasing Terrorists" a Program Spotlighting Reporting on Terrorists and Terrorism

PITTSBURGH, April 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Media professionals will have the rare opportunity to see how the federal intelligence community interacts with the media in reporting on terrorists and terrorism at a Press Club of Western Pennsylvania luncheon on Wednesday, April 27, at noon at the Engineers Society, Fourth Avenue, Downtown.  Associated Press investigative reporter Adam Goldman and Point Park University assistant professor Michael Finnegan, a former FBI agent, will provide details of their relationship that began when the AP reporter started tracking down the story of what happened to Khalid Al-Jawary, convicted of placing powerful car bombs in New York City in 1973, which led to his deportation after serving his sentence in U.S. prisons in 2009.  Because of their collaboration, the FBI reopened the case against al-Jawary and considered charging him based on new information brought to their attention.  Goldman wrote a series of articles about Al-Jawary – the complexity of his subsequent transfers through federal prison and the deportation proceedings surrounding him – as the government prepared to release him.  Finnegan worked on a team of intelligence agents who found and arrested Al-Jawary, among other cases.  Goldman has reported extensively on the CIA and the FBI.

Speaker biographies:

Adam Goldman has worked at The Associated Press for nearly a decade.  He began his career as a journalist in Jerusalem, where he immigrated after graduating from the University of Maryland in 1995.  After spending nearly three years in Israel, Goldman returned to the U.S. and reported for newspapers in Virginia and Alabama before joining the AP in Las Vegas, where he covered the casino and tourism industry.  In 2005, Goldman moved to New York City to work in the AP's metro bureau and began reporting on the FBI's counterterrorism efforts in the nation's largest city.  Goldman's reporting eventually led him to writing about the CIA.  And in 2010, Goldman moved to Washington, D.C., where he's currently on the AP's investigative team, focusing on intelligence and terrorism.  He has reported extensively on the CIA and the FBI.

Michael J. Finnegan became an assistant professor in the criminal justice program, School of Arts and Sciences, Point Park University, in 2006 after finishing his career with the FBI.  Among his career highlights, Finnegan was a member of FBI/NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force from 1988-1993 and served with the Pittsburgh Terrorist Task Force 2000-2004.  During his FBI tenure, he received letters of commendation from FBI Director William Sessions, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, EDNY, and FBI Director Louis Freeh.  Finnegan won the FBI's Major Case Incentive Award Pittsburgh Division in 2004 and 2000, and the Law Enforcement Agency Director's Award in 2003.  His work in capturing the Black September Terrorist has been covered on ABC News, MSNBC and NPR, among other media.  He received his undergraduate degrees in journalism and law enforcement from Penn State University, and a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh.  Finnegan has been a member of the Pennsylvania Bar since 1983.

Reservations are required and are $20 for Press Club members and $25 for nonmembers.  Tables of 10 cost $200.  Send your check by April 21 to The Press Club of Western Pennsylvania, Engineers' Building, 337 Fourth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15222.  

Questions?  412-281-7778

PR Newswire is the official wire of The Press Club of Western Pennsylvania.
 

SOURCE The Press Club of Western Pennsylvania