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PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: PALEYIMPACT: THE IMPACT OF JOURNALISM: HOW REPORTERS ON THE FRONT LINES ARE KEEPING THE PUBLIC INFORMED {EDITED MASTER}

Summary

One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented by The Paley Center for Media. This program in the Paley Center's virtual conversation series about news events and current affairs, PaleyIMPACT, addresses the unprecedented challenges facing today's broadcast journalists.

Charles Whitaker (Dean of the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University) moderates the following panelists: Weijia Jiang (CBS News White House Correspondent), Omar Jimenez (correspondent, CNN), and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson (author and professor of sociology, Georgetown University).

The conversation touches on such topics as: the importance of accurately framing a given story to illustrate the context and wider narrative; the ongoing questions about the nature of COVID-19 and the best solutions; why a "just the facts, ma'am" viewpoint is insufficient; Dyson's thoughts on the country's "dual pandemics" of coronavirus and racism; why the media must examine its complicity in spreading unbalanced stories with an irresponsible "if it bleeds, it leads" attitude; journalist Wesley Lowery's recent Washington Post piece on journalistic objectivity, and why Jimenez, as a black man, found it impossible to "go on auto-pilot" and detach completely from the story of the Minneapolis protests after George Floyd's murder; and Jiang's thoughts on how diversity within the newsroom "enriches our reporting" and prompts more informed questions and conversations.

Topics also include: Dyson's views of "mythical objectivity," with reference to the not-always-impartial Supreme Court, and how listening to others can help one to be "balanced and fair"; America's historical roots in "looting and thievery," as found in the slave trade and the 1773 Boston Tea Party; journalism as the first — and sometimes only — "draft of history"; how Jimenez's baseless May 29 arrest while reporting from Minneapolis, caught live on camera, informed his reporting on the story; his mother's reaction to the upsetting footage, particularly when he went off-camera and into the "limbo space" where Freddie Gray was infamously killed in 2015; Jiang's attendance at a May 11 White House Rose Garden press conference in which Trump told her to "go ask China" when pressing for answers about COVID-19 testing; her thoughts on "becoming" the story and maintaining her composure; why the media, especially white journalists, must actively call out similar incidents of racism and dishonesty from politicians; and Trump's ironically negative views of the FBI, which pressured and harassed Martin Luther King and other activists several decades ago.

Topics also include: how cell-phone videos of police brutality, like that of Floyd's death, help dispel the myths of victims somehow deserving their fates; Dyson's explanation of the end of "white invisibility"; the national sense of urgency regarding racism, spurred by the deaths of Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and others; Jiang's commitment to giving air time to "real people," like the medical professionals in need of personal protective equipment, to tell their own stories; the literal and metaphorical intersections of of COVID-19 and "COVID-1619," both of which prevent victims from "breathing"; telling not only accurate but complete stories, told from the appropriately authentic perspectives; why journalists still need more freedom to find the "right" voices for their stories; the importance of examining racial misconceptions and having "uncomfortable conversations" to encourage progress; detailed clarification of "white privilege"; why destructive riots are more an indictment of those who ignored peaceful protests, like that of NFL player Colin Kaepernick, than of those who committed the acts; praise for The New York Times' "The 1619 Project," created by Nikole Hannah-Jones, and debate surrounding its analysis of slavery; and why one should have societal "wake-up calls" every day, not just once in a lifetime.

Details

  • NETWORK: Paley
  • DATE:
  • RUNNING TIME: N/A
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: 141548
  • GENRE: Seminars
  • SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
  • SERIES RUN: N/A
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Charles Whitaker … Moderator
  • Michael Eric Dyson … Panelist
  • Weijia Jiang … Panelist
  • Omar Jimenez … Panelist
  • Rayshard Brooks
  • George Floyd
  • Freddie Gray
  • Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • Colin Kaepernick
  • Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Wesley Lowery
  • Donald J. Trump