Washington Ideas Forum Comes to Close

That’s a wrap!  The second and final day of the Washington Ideas Forum came to a close this afternoon following a lively panel discussion featuring Margaret Carlson, NBC’s Chuck Todd, Atlantic Media’s Ron Brownstein, Charlie Cook and CNN’s John King.  The crew discussed a variety of topics but ultimately landed on the media’s role in politics and why a very disenchanted American public believes that Washington is broken and disconnected.  Chuck Todd conceded, admitting that Americans have a lack of faith in the media because ”we’re doing a poor job covering the recession.”  Todd went on to explain that the media makes a spectacle out of issues that aren’t of great concern to the average citizen.  “Rahm leaving, Rahm not –that’s why the media doesn’t have the trust of the public.  It’s just stupid,” he said. 

But journalists weren’t the headliners for most of  the event, attended by a ”who’s who” of media, business and the political set.  Director Spike Lee, Governor Haley Barbour, Richard Holbrooke, Senator Jim Webb, Tony and Heather Podesta, and  Ahmed Chalabi all took to the stage today.  Spotted taking in a few sessions were CBS’s Chris Isham, The Daily Beast’s Lloyd Grove, Slate‘s Dave Weigel, HuffPost’s Sam Stein, NYT‘s Maureen Dowd, CNN’s Edie Emery and Michelle Jaconi, Sally Quinn and The Atlantic‘s Marc Ambinder. 

Members of the media view interviews from the press room.

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