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The
effect of technology on the media to be discussed
Panelists
from the media, watchdog groups and foundations will debate accuracy
and credibility issues in the media during a free, public forum
at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25.
The
panel will also discuss the effects – good and bad – that
new technology is having on broadcast, print and online journalism.
The
forum will be held in the Hughes Metropolitan Complex. WSU’s
Elliott School of Communication is hosting the forum, which is funded
by the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation.
Some
of the issues the panel will explore are whether the race to be
first is compromising the tenets of responsible journalism and even
the political process, such as when networks declared preliminary
winners in some states during the 2000 presidential election, and
whether instantaneous news is the same as truth in instances such
as live reporting of warfare or acts of terrorism.
Melissa
McDermott, anchor for CBS News Late Night in New York and former
anchor with KSNW-TV Channel 3, is scheduled to participate, although
since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks she’s been placed on "heightened
alert" by the network. She may join the group by satellite,
if she is unable to attend in person.
Local
participants include Al Buch, general manager since 1987 of KSNW
and three western Kansas stations that comprise the Kansas State
Network; Don Checots, president of KPTS public television in Wichita;
and Rick Thames, editor of The Wichita Eagle since 1997.
Other
experts participating in the forum are:
•
Adam Clayton Powell III, vice president for technology programs
at The Freedom Forum in Washington, D.C. Powell supervises forums
and programs on information technologies and new media for journalists,
media managers, educators, policymakers and researchers.
•
Jan Schaffer, executive director of the Pew Center for Civic Journalism
in Washington, D.C. The Pew Center is an incubator for journalism
experiments to create and refine ways of reporting to help engage
people in public life.
•
Alan Schroeder, interim director, School of Journalism, Northeastern
University. His book "Presidential Debates: Forty Years of
High-Risk TV" gives a behind-the-scenes history of televised
presidential debates from 1960-1996.
•
Charles Self, dean of the Gaylord College of Communications at the
University of Oklahoma and the 2000-2001 president of the Association
of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The
forum is part of the Elliott School’s Communication Week, which
includes activities for alums and students between Oct. 25-27.
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Compiled by Amy Geiszler-Jones
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