The mantra of Robert MacNeil, co-founder of the PBS show, The News Hour, was “The truth above everything else.” The League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson and Pima County Public Library present a panel discussion from scholars of Communication, Journalism, and Government & Public Policy on the topic of misinformation, its impact, and what we can do as citizens inside this information environment.
Panelists will discuss the topic and take questions from the audience. Questions and ideas that will be discussed include:
What is misinformation and disinformation?
What tools can I use to evaluate the information I get from social media and the news?
How does conformation bias work and how does it affect me?
When should I be skeptical about the information I consume?
How do algorithms reinforce my beliefs and how can I see out of my ‘box’?
How does the existence of ‘deepfakes’ and voice cloning impact the way we view information?
What can be done about misinformation that doesn't involve censorship?
How can I improve civil discourse, make a positive impact, and spread factual information?
Please register to attend by clicking the link in the upper right.
Panelists:
Jeannine Relly
Dr. Relly is a professor of the School of Journalism with a courtesy appointment in the School of Government and Public Policy at the UofA. She has conducted research and has done educational partnerships around issues of disinformation and misinformation during conflicts, post-conflicts and humanitarian crises in a number of countries around the world. Dr. Relly developed and taught courses focused on quantitative and qualitative research methods, disinformation and information security, freedom of expression and the right to information and media and humanitarian crises. Before joining academia, she worked as journalist in the U.S. and Mexico-U.S. borderlands.
Kate Kenski
Dr. Kenski is a Professor of Communication and Government & Public Policy at the UofA. She teaches political communication, public opinion and research methods. Her current research focuses on incivility in online forums and multimedia teaching strategies to mitigate cognitive biases.
Yotam Shmargad
Dr. Shmargad is a computational social scientist at the UofA whose research focuses on understanding how digital platforms shape social and political life in the US. His research speaks to questions about how social media can both fuel political polarization and incivility as well as extinguish their flames.
Moderator:
Dylan Smith
Dylan Smith is the Editor and Publisher of the Tucson Sentinel, a pioneering nonprofit local independent online news organization. He was the founding Chairman of Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers, organizing a group of publishers of local news outlets across the country. Prior to founding the Sentinel, he was the Online Editor of the Tucson Citizen.