URI lecture series to be established
in memory of Taricani

JIM TARICANI with his wife, Laurie White-Taricani, who is president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MIKE SKORSKI

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The family of former WJAR-TV NBC 10 investigative reporter Jim Taricani, who died of kidney failure on June 21, has announced that a lecture series on First Amendment rights is being established at the University of Rhode Island in memory of Taricani.

“Journalistic integrity and ethics were deeply important to Jim,” his wife, Laurie White-Taricani, said in a statement. “Throughout his career, he was a champion of the news media’s First Amendment rights. He knew that protecting those rights is critically important – not only for journalists but for all of us.”

“Journalists bring sunlight to the stories that otherwise may stay hidden in the shadows. It is my hope that this lecture series will continue his legacy of inspiring the next generation of ethical and responsible journalists,” said White-Taricani, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, who earned a journalism degree at URI.

Taricani, who was 69, was a newsman on Rhode Island radio and TV for four decades, most of the time spent at WJAR-TV. He was known for broadcasting stories about the New England mob, and covering cases of corruption. In 2004, he was sentenced to six months of home confinement after he refused to reveal how he obtained an FBI video of a Providence city official taking a bribe.

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The family said those wishing to honor Taricani’s legacy can make contributions to the Taricani Lecture Series on First Amendment Rights, URI Foundation, P.O. Box 1700, South Kingstown, RI 02881. Contributions can also be made online at urifoundation.org (and note the give is in Taricani’s memory).

“We are proud to host this lecture series on the First Amendment – one of the most defining characteristics of American society for which Jim was a staunch defender and advocate,” said Adam David Roth, director of Harrington School of Communication and Media at URI.

William Hamilton is PBN staff writer and special projects editor. You can follow him on Twitter @waham or email him at hamilton@pbn.com.

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