Study Group with Bob Cohn: Truth, Fact, and Opinion: Journalism in an Era of "Fake News"

This study group will explore new realities facing media and politics at a time of business and technological disruption, and against the backdrop of the 2020 presidential campaign. We have today an incumbent who has encouraged violence against reporters and declared journalists to be enemies of the state. We have a media establishment that now routinely calls the president a liar, and whose leading practitioners sometimes turn to social media to decry the commander in chief in terms that, traditionalists say, flout the standards of the profession.

This conflict comes during a moment of profound transformation in both institutions. Publishers struggle as their long-reliable advertising model collapses, and as social and mobile platforms disrupt all but the most sure-footed media organizations. Politicians, meanwhile, find that digital media can be useful for organizing, fundraising, and message-delivery, but also that freewheeling direct-to-voter channels can be tricky to navigate. How will all this affect the 2020 presidential race, and coverage of it?

​Week 6: Truth, Fact, and Opinion: Journalism in an Era of "Fake News"

Join Bob Cohn for a conversation with James Bennet, who oversees the Opinion department at the Times. The former editor in chief of The Atlantic and a onetime correspondent for the Times, Bennet is known as a gifted writer and rigorous editor who can lead institutions through times of great change. They'll talk about the distinction between news and opinion, the challenges and opportunities of digital platforms, and the role of the press in this moment of national fracture.

Guest: James Bennet (Editorial Page Editor, The New York Times)

Location: Institute of Politics (L-163)