Media and Democracy: Time for a Reset
Channel: Ed Mays
Date: 04/10/2020

In the struggle to create more democracy, we cannot overlook the powerful influence of corporate media and the lack of media literacy in general in the United States. This is a situation that was always a problem but with the rise of social media, it is clearly getting worse. A large part of media literacy is basic critical thinking -another skill that seems to be on the wane. Join us and a panel of journalists, media academics, and teachers discuss the problem and what to do about it.

Panelist Bios:
Dr. John S. Caputo is Professor Emeritus and Walter Ong, S.J. Scholar and founder of the Master’s Program in Communication and Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University. He is the author of seven books, a lecturer and consultant. He is the founding member of the Northwest Alliance for Responsible Media.

Dr. Denis Muller is a journalist, broadcaster and academic. He worked as a newspaper journalist for 27 years and is currently a weekly commentator on media issues for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. One of his recent articles is “Media have helped create a crisis of democracy - now they must play a vital role in its revival.” 

Dr. Carolyn Cunningham is an Associate Professor of Communication and Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University. She serves on the Board and co-directs the media literacy center at Gonzaga (NWARM). She researches areas including girls and video games, women and leadership, and media literacy. She is currently working on a book project related to girls and climate change activism.

Sandra Williams is an activist, lecturer, filmmaker, and entrepreneur, with an extensive background addressing issues of discrimination, equity, and social justice. She is the Publisher and Editor of The Black Lens, [http://blacklensnews.com/] an independent community publication, based in Spokane, Washington.

Frank W. Baker is a media literacy education trainer. He has conducted hundreds of workshops with teachers in 20+ years. In 2019, he was a recipient of a UNESCO Global Media & Information Literacy award for his lifelong work in media literacy. He operates the Media Literacy Clearinghouse resource website [https://frankwbaker.com/mlc/], has authored four books and blogs at Middleweb.com.

About Fix Democracy First:  The mission is to achieve fair elections and government policies that reflect the will of the people, not the power of money.  The focus is on reforms intended to strengthen democracy in Washington State and nationally, such as campaign finance reform, public funding of elections, ranked choice voting, reversing Citizens United, expanding voting access, and increasing civic participation.  See: FixDemocracyFirst.org
Recorded 9/24/20

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