Bob Schieffer, a TCU alumnus and chief Washington correspondent for CBS news, returns to TCU tonight to host the third annual Schieffer Symposium. The symposium, entitled “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of the News: The Media’s Role in a Democracy,” will feature some of today’s most influential journalists, including NBC News’ Tim Russert, New York Times editor Bill Keller, ABC News legal correspondent Jan Crawford Greenburg and Earl G. Graves Sr., founder and publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine.

“We have been fortunate to have some of the top figures in journalism participate in these sessions,” Schieffer said, “but this may be our best line-up yet, and with an election coming, the war in Iraq and a Supreme Court with two new justices, there will be no shortage of topics for our panel to discuss.”

Russert, host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” was recently in the national spotlight as a witness in the I. Louis “Scooter” Libby perjury trial. The recipient of numerous awards, Russert also anchors “The Tim Russert Show,” a weekly interview program on CNBC, and has authored two New York Times No. 1 best-selling books.

After more than 30 years as a professional journalist and 19 years with The Times, Keller became executive editor of the newspaper in 2003.

During his tenure with The Times, Keller has served many positions, including managing editor, senior writer, foreign editor and chief of The Times Johannesburg bureau. In 1989 he won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Soviet Union as The Times’ correspondent in Moscow.

Covering the Supreme Court and national legal issues, Jan Crawford Greenburg is an ABC News legal correspondent based in Washington, D.C.

Published in January 2007, Greenburg’s book titled, “Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court,” gives insight into the move toward a more conservative Court.

Before joining ABC, Greenburg served as the national legal affairs reporter for the Chicago Tribune, the Supreme Court correspondent for “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer” and as a legal analyst for the “CBS Evening News” and “Face the Nation.”

Founder and publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine, Earl G. Graves is nationally recognized as an expert in minority business.

He is chairman of Earl G. Graves, Ltd., the parent corporation for the Earl G. Graves Publishing Company, and has experienced entrepreneurial success in numerous business ventures.

In 1997, Graves’ book, titled, “How to Succeed in Business Without Being White,” made The New York Times and Wall Street Journal Business best-sellers lists.

Throughout his career, Graves has received a numerous awards and honors, including the National Award of Excellence for his achievements as a minority businessman.

When: 6:30 p.m.

-To order tickets, call (817) 257-5976; for information, call (817) 257-7808.