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What Is A Journalist’s Role In Holding People In Power Accountable?

Evan Vucci
/
AP
President Donald Trump speaks during a "Friends of Ireland" luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 16, 2017.

The Confluence, where the news comes together, is 90.5 WESA’s weekly news program.

Each week reporters, editors and bloggers join veteran journalist and host Kevin Gavin to take an in-depth look at the stories important to the Pittsburgh region.

This week's topics include how President Donald Trump's budget could impact the commonwealth. NPR political editor Domenico Montanaro joins us in studio for a wide-ranging conversation about covering elections and the role of journalists of holding people in power accountable. And, as enrollments and the number of high school graduates in Pennsylvania decline, we'll discuss how the state universities are coping with these challenges. 

Trump's Budget

What will President Trump's budget mean for Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh region? We'll pose those questions to Laura Olson, Washington, D.C.-based reporter for The Morning Call and Howard Burns, editor of the Pittsburgh Business Times.

A Conversation with Domenico Montanaro

Repealing the Affordable Care Act, Russian relations and wiretapping are just a few of the topics we’ll address with Domenico Montanaro, NPR's political editor. He joins us in the studio for a conversation about the role of the media to provide checks and accountability.

Declining Enrollments Plague State Universities

Declines in state funding and enrollment since 2010 are resulting in a review of operations at the 14 state-owned universities. Joining us to address the challenges facing the schools are reporters Bill Schackner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Debra Erdley of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Past editions of The Confluence can be heard here.

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