News, Truth and Opposing Views. Can We Handle All Three or is The Marketplace of Ideas Failing Today?


You are invited to a Zoom meeting Thursday, October 27, from 7 p.m to 8 p.m ET, on the topic: News, Truth and Opposing Views. Can We Handle All Three or is The Marketplace of Ideas Failing Today? This will be an important webinar not to miss as the U.S. heads into the November elections and afterward. We live in an increasingly polarized world in which the very concept of reality is being challenged on many fronts. Old reliable sources like news organizations are accused of peddling "fake news," polarizing groups of all persuasions are using well-crafted and technological messaging to limit or overpower discussions of important issues leading to the discovery of a “truth” most people can believe, the public green has become for those speaking frightening place because of damaging personal attacks and even violence. Lastly, how is the news media dealing with all this on behalf of its readers, viewers and listeners? A distinguished panel of experts familiar with these pressing issues will examine the complications and implications of these trends.

Register in advance for this one-hour Zoom webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvfuyqpj4oEtQwFd7Lu4r7GQvo11UFV1Qe
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Moderator Joshua P. Darr is associate professor and interim dean of the Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University. From 2022-2024, is also an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, conducting research on the connection between local media and political polarization. He, with others, authored the book, "Home Style Opinion: How Local Newspapers Can Slow Polarization."

Panelists:

Bina Venkataraman is an editor-at-large for The Boston Globe Opinion. From 2019-2022, she served as editorial page editor of The Boston Globe. She previously directed policy initiatives at the Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is author of "The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age," named a best book of 2019 by NPR, Amazon, and Science Friday.

Bruce Putterman is CT Mirror’s publisher and chief executive officer. Launched in 2010, The Connecticut Mirror is a digital-only source for in-depth and non-partisan news and reporting on public policy, government and politics in Connecticut. It focuses on a range of public policy topics including the state budget, economic development, politics, education, health, justice, housing, the environment, legislation, and other areas.

Dana Wormald is editor-in-chief of The New Hampshire Bulletin. It is an independent, digital-only non-profit news organization. The Bulletin staff follows the threads of policy into communities throughout New Hampshire to tell the people’s stories. Wormald, a lifelong resident of New Hampshire, has been a newspaper editor for more than 25 years. He began his career on the Concord Monitor’s news desk in 1995 and later was The Monitor’s opinion editor. Hon. John Nazzaro served as a Connecticut Superior Court Judge from 2007 to 2018. Before attending law school, he was a network radio news reporter. For ten years he was co-host of a cable TV public affairs program, “The Cutting Edge,” distributed throughout the country. His daughter, Miranda, is a digital content editor and news writer for Sinclair Broadcasting, WJAR, Turnto10, in Cranston, Rhode Island.

Marc Levy is founder and editor of The digital-only news site Cambridge Day, serving Cambridge, MA, and surrounding communities. Its writing may represent context and analysis of a situation based on fact-based reporting. It also provides an opportunity for expression of opinion in which diverse voices are heard. He has been in journalism for more than two decades, mainly in New England, as a reporter, columnist, copy editor and editor.

This event is sponsored by the HKS New England Alumni Association in conjunction with support from HKS Women's Network, Harvard W3D: Women in Defense, Diplomacy, and Development, the Northern Connecticut Harvard-Radcliff Club, the Harvard Club of Rhode Island and the Harvard Club of Vermont. It is the first of an occasional series on Contemporary Issues in The Media.