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Week of 12 November 1999 Vol. III, No. 14 Feature Article At COM's Great Debate on November 3, journalist-student teams tackled the question: does celebrity news fulfill public desire at the expense of public service? Lead debater for the affirmative, Emmy award-winning journalist Gail Harris (left) and moderator Bob Zelnick, a COM journalism professor, listen to the closing argument of lead debater for the negative, Linda Vester (COM'87), anchor of Fox News Live. The answer to the question was a slim victory for the affirmative, with 57 percent of the audience agreeing that public preference and the profit motives of megamedia organizations were no substitute for journalism that serves the public interest by crafting informative, engaging narratives to keep the public aware of the critical issues of the day. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky