Graphic by Sarah Kauffmann
By Nick Stulga, JRN 111 Student
We live in an age of mistrust of “the media.” At the same time, information is coming at us at all times. So how do we sift through it all?
That question will be the focus of a talk by information literacy librarian Tish Hayes and journalism professor Lisa Couch on Wednesday as they present part 2 of their event, “Blame it on the Media: The Erosion of Trust and Truth and What We Can Do About It.” The talk will take place from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. via WebEx.
Hayes’s job includes helping students find the most reputable sources for their research papers, so she has fine-tuned her ability to weed out faulty information. Couch is a former journalist who teaches Media Writing, Intro to Mass Communications, and Student Publications.
The event, which is part of the college’s Democracy Commitment program, will cover how to recognize “fake news.”
“Fake news” is described by event moderator Kevin Navratil as “news that’s designed to intentionally mislead viewers or consumers.”
Hayes more loosely describes it as “something that’s been politicized,” but more definitively recognizes it on Navratil’s terms.
Last semester, Hayes and Couch started the conversation during part 1 of this event by defining “media” and its role in a democracy and tracing the causes of the erosion of trust and truth.
As Hayes puts it, “The news is complicated and we wanted to kind of embrace that.”
At the end of part 1 of the talk, Couch pointed out that as citizens in a democracy, “we have a responsibility to seek out truth and evaluate it and know when we’re being manipulated…and to try to find the complexity and the context.”
Hayes says that there are different strategies that we can use to evaluate information. In part 2, she and Couch will talk through some of those ways.
To join the WebEx session, click HERE and follow the steps to register for the event.
