Gerald Boyd, managing editor of The New York Times, and Robin Stone, a former editor of Essence magazine, will give the Neal Shine Lecture on Ethics in Journalism today in the Union Gold Room.

The presentation, “Do the Right Thing: Social Change and Relevant, Responsible Journalism,” is free and open to the public. It will begin at 3 p.m.

Steve Lacy, director of the School of Journalism, said the event is the first in a series of lectures created to honor Shine, who spent more than 45 years working at the Detroit Free Press.

“This is an effort on the part of the Free Press and Knight Ridder to honor someone who’s been very important to their paper and the company,” Lacy said. “Neal was instrumental in starting the ‘Victims in the Media’ program. He was one of the first people to teach a journalism ethics class in the nation.”

The lecture has been in the works for about three years, but Lacy said he expects it to be worth the wait.

“They are excellent,” he said about the speakers. “They bring diverse backgrounds in media - online, magazine, newspapers. I am hoping that they will bring in a variety of viewpoints in the discussion of responsible and relevant journalism.”