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World Affairs Council of Hampton Roads Launches New Democracy Series at VWU
Featured speaker will be NPR’s Senior White House Correspondent Tamara Keith
University News | February 25, 2026
The World Affairs Council of Hampton Roads (WACHR) is launching a new Democracy Series to advance its longstanding commitment to informed civic dialogue and global engagement. The inaugural program will take place March 10, 2026, at the Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan University and will feature Tamara Keith, NPR’s senior White House correspondent. A reception will begin at 6 p.m., followed by Keith’s address at 7 p.m. Registration is required.
At a time when public confidence in institutions is under heightened scrutiny, the Council’s inaugural Democracy Series will open with a timely and urgent conversation on the role of journalism in safeguarding democratic society. Keith’s presentation, “Democracy Depends on Trust in the Press,” will examine the evolving relationship between journalism, public trust, and democratic resilience.
Drawing on her years covering the White House and national politics, Keith will explore why many Americans have grown skeptical of traditional media, what that shift means for democratic governance, and how journalists navigate the pressures facing modern newsrooms. Her remarks will underscore the essential role a free, credible press plays in maintaining an informed citizenry and a healthy republic.
“Democracy depends on an informed citizenry,” said WACHR President Susan Boré, “and that requires a press corps committed to truth, accountability, and transparency.”
Keith has built a distinguished career in public radio. Since joining NPR in 2009 as a business reporter, she has covered major economic developments, including the debt ceiling crisis and the U.S. credit downgrade, as well as policy, legal, and technology issues. Her reporting has taken her to Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake and to the Gulf Coast during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In 2011, she created and reported the year-long series The Road Back to Work, which chronicled the experiences of six unemployed individuals in St. Louis through audio diaries as they searched for employment.
Her roots in public radio date back to her teenage years, when she wrote and voiced essays for NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday. While in college, she began her professional reporting career at KQED’s California Report, covering agriculture, environmental issues, economic developments, and state politics. She later reported on the 2004 presidential election for WOSU in Columbus, Ohio, and established the state capital bureau for KPCC to cover then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The event is sponsored by the Arts & Humanities Commission, WHRO Public Media, and the Batten Honors College of Virginia Wesleyan.
Founded in 1969, the World Affairs Council of Hampton Roads is one of nearly 100 chapters of the World Affairs Councils of America. A nonpartisan 501(c)(3) educational organization, the Council promotes understanding of global issues through public discussion and civic engagement, grounded in the belief that a well-informed public is essential to democratic governance and the conduct of foreign policy.
Register today to be part of this important conversation on democracy, trust, and the future of the press.