Likely 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is delivering the keynote speech at a political reporting award ceremony in March,
Syracuse University announced.
The Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting honors the late Robin Toner, the first woman to be national political correspondent for The New York Times, and will be awarded March 23 in Washington.
"It’s an extraordinary pleasure to have Secretary Clinton as our speaker at this important event," says Newhouse School dean Lorraine Branham. "She is a vivid example — like Robin — of a pioneering woman at the top of her profession."
But the event has its irony as well,
The Washington Post points out: Clinton’s reported disregard for the media.
"When you get beat up so often, you just get very cautious," Mike McCurry, a press secretary for Bill Clinton,
told Politico last year.
"She [has] had a very practical view of the media. … 'I have to be careful, I’m playing with fire.'"
An unnamed Clinton operative was more blunt about her relationship with the press, telling Politico: "Look, she hates you. Period. That’s never going to change."
The Post reports the award ceremony could help mend fences.
"It’s not a bad setting to see if you can reset the dial on the relationship," Peter Gosselin, the widower of Robin Toner and a longtime Washington journalist, tells the Post.
"This is an incredible act of personal kindness," adding she's not getting paid. "There’s no money to offer."
Vice President Joe Biden spoke at last year’s event.